The ARU has made an excellent choice in appointing Nick Farr-Jones to the Wallaby Hall of Fame.
He was one of the best of the gentleman players, the breed of fine athletes and sportsmen who played rugby with passion and skill on the field and then, whether they won or lost, got on with their lives with equal enthusiasm and a smile on their face.
As a player, Farr-Jones was very much in the golden tradition of great Wallaby halfbacks such as Chris McKivat (“One of the finest all-round halfbacks in history of Australian rugby,” according to the rugby historian Jack Pollard); Cyril Burke (“New Zealand experts rate him ahead of Ken Catchpole among distinguished Australian halfback,” says Pollard); Des Connor (a Wallaby and All Black and the best halfback I’ve seen); Ken Catchpole (the greatest Wallaby ever, according to Peter Crittle); and John Hipwell (“the son of a country carpenter who built one of the great records in Australian Rugby history,” says Pollard).
Farr-Jones was big for a halfback and took on opposition packs with gusto. He had the knack of converting bad ball into good ball for his backs.
He was a strong runner with a talent for making the telling break. His passing was not as quick and direct as the other great halfbacks but, like George Gregan, he had the ability to deliver a pass that was invariably catchable.
As a captain he was indomitable.
He led from the front. Was tireless in rounding up loose balls and getting attacks going. And he was fierce, too, in demanding strong performances, especially on defence from his team-mates.
A memorable image is of Farr-Jones laying down the law to David Campese behind the Wallaby tryline after the great winger had made a defensive mistake.
Off the field Farr-Jones (who was the subject of an admirable biography written by his great friend, Peter FitzSimons) was as amiable and gregarious as he was confrontational when on the field.
Not long after he became the captain of the Wallabies, he attended a lunch with the editors and rugby writers of the Sydney Morning Herald.
I was astonished to see him accept a cigar at the end of a fine meal and puff away contentedly enjoying the occasion in the tradition of the ‘smoko events’ that were a feature of the old-time rugby tours.
Since his rugby career has finished, he has gone on to have a successful career as a lawyer for a French bank, and a shorter career in politics as a member of the Sydney City Council.
He found the bitterness of politics and the hostility shown towards him after he revealed his Christian beliefs too unpleasant to continue on to State and Federal politics. The community has been the loser in this exit.
From time to time Farr-Jones has been a television commentator on the rugby Tests, and he’s been insightful and warm in his comments.
And when Bledisloe Cup Tests come around, he invariably comes up with effective barbs against his old enemy, the All Blacks.
It is no surprise that in the days before the first Bledisloe Test of this year, he has touched the rawest of Kiwi nerves by claiming (with only the slightest poetic licence) that New Zealanders are ‘death-riding’ the All Blacks due to widespread animosity in New Zealand to Graham Henry.
On and the off the field, the new Wallaby Hall of Fame personality has a knack of exploiting the weak links in the opposition.
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