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Pull your head in Kurtley and remember where you came from

25th March, 2013
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Wallaby Kurtley Beale speaks with teammate James O'Connor and coach Robbie Deans.
Expert
25th March, 2013
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4082 Reads

Kurtley Beale had better watch his step, or flush a stellar Wallaby career down the toilet.

The latest incident in Durban, forcing Rebels management to send Beale home with Cooper Vuna for fighting each other following a drinking session after the 64-7 flogging by the Sharks, is symptomatic of Beale forgetting his St Joseph’s College doctrine and philosophy of rugby.

Both benchmarks were set by the incredible Brother Henry, a schoolboy coaching legend. He was both a gentleman, and a gentle man.

But one helluva rugby coach.

Between 1923 and 1953, excluding World War II, Brother Henry won 18 GPS first XV and 15 second XV premierships, coaching both sides together.

His doctrine – possession, position, and pace.

His philosophy – play hard, play fair.

Beale is not doing either too well at the moment, and it was much the same story in his time with the Waratahs.

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Brother Henry died in 1970, aged 93, but he would have loved to have seen the spindly, head-geared Kurtley Beale dominate GPS rugby in the fly-half slot from 2004 to 2006.

Beale was his ultimate – possession, position, and pace.

Joeys won the premiership all three years on the back of Beale’s sheer brilliance in attack.

The first time I saw Beale he reminded me instantly of Mark Ella at Matraville High 30 years earlier.

The same instinctive, intuitive, ability to find holes that weren’t apparent to the naked eye.

And suddenly Ella and Beale were in the clear. Uncanny.

Now Beale’s at the crossroads. Ella never reached that point, he was never a problem. Nature’s gentleman.

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But Beale is just proving if you forget where you came from, you are lost.

Beale is lost. Joeys has produced a long line of Wallabies, far more than any other school in Australia. Little wonder.

Since 1903, Joeys has won 54 first XV premierships. Next best in Kings with 27. Between them, their combined 81 premierships makes a huge hole in 110 years of GPS rugby.

But Joeys can thank Brother Henry for his doctrine and philosophy that still holds good today in the hallowed halls of Hunters Hill.

Remember those days Kurtley, and pull your head in. You are too good a bloke, and too good a Wallaby, to let these recurring brain explosions ruin your life.

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