What happens when the body is battered and broken yet the competitor still has kilometres to run, rounds to box, runs to score and scrums to pack?
A simple decision is made from within the individual – press on no matter what; no matter the pain, no matter the critic and no matter the opposition because the thought of failure and letting your mate down is despicable.
That fuel to continue is spirit; it’s heart and it’s honest. It can’t lie because it has no sense of the word.
The Wallabies must be this honest and this determined if they are to defeat the English this weekend at hallowed Twickenham.
Make no mistake – the English can smell blood in the water and are lining up for a southern hemisphere scalp. Arguably their favourite.
The challenge now for Robbie Deans and the Wallabies is to win the game before it’s played. And that’s the mental game, the spirit game.
In attack the Wallabies have been as threatening as a slightly agitated sloth. I don’t anticipate these problems will be fixed come Saturday.
The game will not be won by what the Wallabies do with the ball, it will be won with a collective understanding to a man that each will die before defeat.
It’s simple as that. Our rugby skills won’t win, but our chance is by stepping up in spirit and refusing to step back.
If the Wallabies are short on inspiration, they need to just walk around Twickenham and remember what has been achieved by Wallabies past at this most famous rugby arena.
The Wallabies of 84, the 91 World Cup, Bernie Larkham and his famous drop goal of 99 and the deeds of Al Baxter in 2008.
If that is not enough then remember the late great Tony ‘Slaggy’ Miller, who is one of the toughest to ever pull on a boot for Australia.
Miller, who made his debut for the Wallabies in 1952 as a number 8, went on the 1966-67 tour of the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Canada as 37 year old prop forward. This touring party also included props Roy Prosser, Jim Miller and John Thornett.
Leading up to the Test against England, Miller contracted a severe infection on one his big toes. He would have been well within his rights to withdraw from the team considering the quality of props on that tour. But that’s not Slaggy.
No, Miller didn’t think that way. He knew the English would expect the injury to rule him out. Miller won the mental battle, the spirit battle before kick-off.
He cut out the front of the relevant boot, leaving his infected toe exposed to the English winter and forward pack.
Could you imagine how cold it would have been and what the Poms must have been thinking? Here is a 37 year old war horse, his best rugby behind him, but he still wants to be here. He wants to take us on.
With the English jumping on his infected foot at every opportunity, coupled with the bitterness of an English winter, the legend just ploughed on and with O’Gorman, Catchpole, Crittle and co. the Wallabies left the park as winners 23-11.
Slaggy Miller left the field unbeaten in spirit and further affirmed his reputation as being the hardest of the hard.
Come this weekend there is no doubt the English will be tough. To secure a famous win this weekend, the Wallabies just need to be tougher mentally and press on.
Like Ross Turnbull, himself another hard man of Australian rugby, said of the 78 Wallabies at Eden Park, “You just need to get on with it.” The rest is history.
The final factor and never to be underestimated is that the English generally look down upon Australians as ill-manned heathens and almost sense it is their right to beat us so things can return to their natural order.
I can only echo the comments and sentiments of the former Irish Flanker Stewart McKinney before the Irish took on the English at Twickenham, “They think we’re just a bunch of ignorant Paddies from the bog. Let’s not disappoint them.”
Stand up Australia. It’s Miller time!
James Miller
Guest
I am his grandson and hearing all these stories etc is quite uplifting makes me proud to be a miller. I unfortunately never met the bloke I was born a bit later but from what I know and have heard about him he’s sounds like a one of a kind bloke. On the rugby situation I say bring back the boot. No one ever died getting rucked. My dad used to say that if they lie on the ball they deserve a few sprigs to the back and if you do it well enough they won’t lie on that ball again
The Lone Spectator
Guest
With The Warringah Rugby Club holding its 50th Anniversary of its founding ( which nearby Marlins supporters sadly brandished a banner at a recent local derby claiming " 50 Years of Average"), no doubt a great many Slaggy stories will be unearthed or retold. The teams he coached were definitely not " Average" and he would have bristled at the slight.
Wendy Allotta (nee Miller)
Guest
We as the children of Slaggy heard these antidotes and many more. Did you hear about the Lions prop who had a bandage over his nose. He asked Slaggy at the end of the game why Dad targeted his nose gently. The answer was because it was there. This prop never put a bandage when playing ever again. That was his favourite Slaggy story.
Kerry Miller
Guest
I've just gotten onto the Roar site and as one of Tony "Slaggy" Miller's daughters (he had three daughters and one son, Robert who also played for Manly and The Rats) and must say I'm so proud of my father and all these lovely comments about him. He passed away in 1988 but he is still larger than life in our hearts and there are still some very funny stories being told, always getting bigger better as time goes on. I know he was tough on that rugby field, but gentle off the field. He was very fair and only expected the guys he coached to do their very best and above all work as a team. He used to say, "we, not me" to the players. He had confidence in all those he coached. He was the utmost gentleman off the field and a wonderful father who loved my mother, Joyce who was his inspiration, loved his kids and grandkids. I do remember when Dad had the toe infection on the 1966-67 Wallabies trip to the UK - I wasn't very old at the time and we missed him awfully when he was away for 5 long months. He was in a lot of pain with that toe (that I do know) but the game obviously went on.
Argyle
Roar Guru
Hi Everyone, Thanks for all your responses to this article. Even the negative ones. I love free speech! I had the pleasure of meeting Tony and am thankful I did. I hope the article did him justice and God Bless Slaggy Miller.
Nigel Imrie
Guest
Well Slaggy, your Wallabies put the old foe to the sword, just talking about you brought your spirit back to life, the boys played well, I agree with the Lone Spectator, Grunter was one of the finest players to have never worn the Green and Gold, pity. Always remember his little pep talks, Come on Chaps blah, blah,blah, RIP Sir.
The Lone Spectator
Guest
Tony Miller as a coach converted Warringah Rats into a force to be reckoned with. Teams went to water at the thought of running out on Rat park when he was coach. He injected mongrel into his forward pack, and with Grant Grunter Andrews as the pivot ( arguably one of the very best grade players) ensured that the forwards were always going forward.
Minz
Guest
Mate, sloths have great long claws! They'd be murder in a forward pack! Wish I could say as much for our Wals :(
MAJB
Guest
Tony Miller was an electrician. He had a business with an equally tough piece of works, Billy Raynor, the South Sydney Rugby League forward. I did business with them in the 1970s. Tough but honest! Anyway when you are talking about an old electrician, do you think that he would have put a bit of spark into the current (sorry unintentional) Wallaby pack?
Nigel Imrie
Guest
Well said Uncle Argyle, I played first grade for the Mighty Green Rats under the Great Man and he is an inspiration, he had done it all and lived to tell the tale!! Our current Wallabies have the ability to be a great team, however it is all about mental toughness, they had that when they drew against the All Blacks, no other team in the world will achieve that feat. For those who are not familiar with rugby it is a hard game, eighty odd minutes of wrestling, tackling, putting your life on the line for your mates and country is not the way most people would like to spend a Saturday afternoon but there are a lot of us out there who would love nothing more than to do just that. To be chosen to have the honour of representing your country at rugby is the ultimate, someone once said that rugby was a gentleman's game played by thugs. The discipline involved in getting a pig skin from one end of the field to the other through fifteen other dedicated men makes me sullivate, be as tough as you want, you don't have to play dirty Slaggy use to say just tackle him hard, that'll hurt him more and so it goes on, this new crop of players have to come to their own conclusions, to be concistantly good is not easy but it is all in the mind, the All Blacks, the English they are only men, they bleed, they get tired, they experience fear, you just have to know that, own that, respect those that have gone before, respect the colours, R od McQueen another great Green Man motivated his charges with a visit to the cemetries of our fallen soldiers in France before the RWC final. Perhaps at this point I call on all Wallaby supporters to support the motion of having an Australian coach only for the Walabies, no disrespect to Deans,but I do believe that regardless of our game being professional some things are still sacred.
Uncle Argyle
Guest
Slaggy Sheek :)
sheek
Roar Guru
Uncle, Your story about Slaggy Miller's toe reminds me of my own experience. Before Waverley's northern tour in 1974, I was practising goalkicking barefoot down at Queen's Park on the Thursday prior. Actually, I was in mortal combat with our regular goalkicking winger, a French-New Caledonian five-foot-nothing wet rag. Anyway, he plopped one over from halfway & I thought, if he can do that, & I'm a fearsome lock & twice his size, then this is a shoo-in. So ins I run & unfortunately I made contact with mother earth before the ball. Needless to say, the knuckle on my right foot was the size of a pineapple in no time at all. Regretfully, I missed the Saturday game against Gregory Terrace at Ballymore as a curtain-raiser to Brothers-GPS 1st grade. Missing my one opportunity to play at Ballymore really hurt. The boys won a tough game 14-4. Ballymore never got to see my 'in & out.' The next Tuesday we played Nudgee at Nudgee. I was determined that I hadn't come to Qld not play a single game. In the morning, I went to put my boot on, to see how it would go, & I had tears of pain running down my cheeks. "There's no way I can play, I thought." A nuggety old Christian Brother accompanying the team who had coached the 1st XV several years previously, told me how I could still play the game, but I would have to be prepared for some initial pain. We were billeted at the school since it was Qld school hols, & we walked to the main oval several hours early. I strapped the boot on, & for about an hour & a half before everyone else arrived, I just walked up & down the field, slowly numbing my toe. Incredibly, by the time the game started, it was as if everything was okay. No painkillers, what a toughie! I played the entire game without any discomfort but by gee, when I went to remove my boot after the game, all the pain came flooding back! As for the game itself, quite inexplicably, Nudgee jumped out to an 18-0 lead after about 20 minutes. By half-time we had hit back with one try. Despite dominating the second half & reducing the margin to 16-18, & bombarding their line at the death, we were beaten by time & sleepiness at he start. Ahhhh, those were the days.....
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
Oh great article by the way, Uncle.
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
Uncle I would reiterate what Daz said. Even though we hated the "Filth" especially T Shaw, I secretly would have loved to have had him in our team he was a mongrel, but what a player. In later times having met him socially you would not find a nicer guy.
OldManEmu
Guest
Yaaaawn
Daz
Guest
UA I've always maintained the difference between men and between teams is the muscle between the ears and the muscle that lies in our chest cavities. If you think about it, most teams are the same in terms of size and strength and skills and power, barring a few exceptional individuals. The Wallabies have this as much as any other team on earth though it has been subdued for a few years now. As they say it's the top two inches. In their halcyon days when Tony Shaw was playing Brothers Rugby Union in Brisbane were a perfect example of this. They had as their mottos sayings such as "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog" and "When the going gets tough the tough get going."
Billy Bob
Guest
Nice one Uncle. I knew the great man. I'll never forget waking up in the grandstand looking at Slaggy's laughing face. As someone who must've lost consciousness many times, he thought it was hilarious that I'd been knocked out and didn't know where I was. He used to say ' we are only as strong as our weakest link'. And on that note - I hope our weakest links are stronger this week.
wannabprop
Guest
Great anecdote Uncle A - brought a tear to my eye (really - had to tell my wife a 'sad tale' of why I was teared up...).
jeznez
Roar Guru
Nice one UA, hope the Wallabies read this to help get them in the right mind-set.
Buzzy
Guest
Slaggy is a perfect example of a true Wallaby. He had natural finess even though he was a big man, but also had natural toughness.These two qualities are lacking in our current squad. Horwell reminds me of Slaggy but sadly he has been overtrained to the extent that we loose him for the better part of a season for a Hammy!!. Slaggy would roll in his grave.Lets select naturally tough strong forwards and keep them within their natural fitness, not make them look like a Mr Universe waddling around the park.