You don’t know what you got (till it’s gone)

The physio room is generally one of the best sources of wisdom (and gossip!) within the team environment.

Discussions can range from the events of the day, to the people involved in them, and all things in-between!

It was from within this environment that arguably the most appropriate tribute to today’s Wallaby retiree Pat McCabe, was offered, when discussing the bloke’s quality.

“Imagine if your daughter brought him [McCabe] home one night? [As a potential father in-law] you’d be pretty happy!”

You would indeed.

For McCabe is one of those guys it is simply impossible not to feel positive about: a ‘clean skin’, but in the best sense of the term.

Not only is he hugely respected as a player, and one of the cleanest and most accommodating roommates in history, he is also genuinely liked as a bloke.

He is one of those guys who always has something positive to say, but also thinks things through carefully before offering an opinion.

When Pat speaks, everyone in the room listens.

The reality, of course, is that sport is a subjective business.

Punters make up their minds on a performer’s value based on a number of factors, which, more often than not, don’t include an intimate knowledge of the individual concerned.

Playing style, provincial parochialism, admiration for a positional rival, commentator’s opinions – all are factors that can influence the way an individual is perceived by the public.

It was Pat’s misfortune that he fell into this never-never land. Hugely regarded from within by his peers, but a polarizing figure beyond the realms of the team environment.

How often did you hear someone criticizing the McCabe game, lamenting his supposed ‘limitations’ while suggesting an alternative that was ‘better’?

Be honest.

Many of you reading this were probably, at one stage or another, of that mind yourself.

Not that the constant public examination and evaluation ever fazed the man himself. Well, if it did, he was able to hide it from his teammates pretty damn well!

Now that his career has been brought to a premature end, you will read many fine ‘eulogies’ to his efforts.

It is rare for people to speak ill of the dead, and now that Pat’s career is finished, don’t be surprised to see that he has many more external fans’ than ever appeared apparent while he was actually playing the game.

From the perspective of the ‘Outsider’ the word I will most closely associate with my memories of Pat, the rugby player, is determination.

He is a guy who would have literally run through a brick wall if the team required it, indeed it must have felt like it at times as he ploughed through the heart of the All Black or Springbok defence to get the Wallabies on the front foot.

Such fearlessness was a massive attribute on the rugby field however, as his early retirement has shown, it was perhaps always going to be unsustainable in the long term – the human body is simply not built for the physical sacrifice Pat was asking of it.

Still, it was probably no coincidence that Australia won the Tri-Nations during Pat’s only full season as a Wallaby.

Twice that year, at Durban during the Tri-Nations and then again in Wellington during the Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the South Africans seemed to make it their mission to try and over-run Pat in the Australian midfield.

Maybe the Bok players saw it as a test of their own manhood; perhaps it was simply tactical, figuring that if they could ‘break’ such a central part of Australia’s defence, it would break the Wallabies as a whole?

Either way, it didn’t work.

Pat kept tackling, and kept carrying directly at them when he had the ball.

Australia won both games.

He did it the second time around with an injured shoulder, which eventually finished his World Cup a week later in the semi-final, but not before he’d made way more tackles than anyone else – and he was only on the field for just over half of the game!

Only coaches know why they make their decisions, and I’m sure there’s always good reasoning behind them, but it always seemed a bit strange to see Pat playing out on either the wing or at fullback.

He was capable enough in both positions, but it just looked a bit of a waste, when his toughness was probably better employed closer to the heavy traffic – as last Saturday night in Auckland arguably showed.

Not that Pat ever complains.

He was as proud to be a Brumby as he was a Wallaby, and just as proud to be a (Warringah) Rat!

Whatever the jersey, Pat could be relied upon to give his all, which wasn’t surprising given he’d overcome plenty of doubters as his career progressed.

Pat only made Australia A Schools during his time at Sydney’s St Aloysius College, and then had to head to the Brumbies after initially being part of the NSW Academy.

He quickly earned plenty of respect in Canberra, getting the player of the tour award on his first trip away, during the Brumbies Development trip to Europe in 2009.

Less than a year later, he’d been both an Australian Sevens rep (although he, perhaps fatefully, never got to play
because of injury), and then a Wallaby.

Yet there was always more to Pat than just rugby.

He studied right the way through his playing career, sitting the odd exam while his teammates were out seeing the sites on the team’s day off.

For this reason, I have no doubt that he will be successful, regardless of what path he chooses to pursue from here.

Such is his way with people, and the respect with which he is held, it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up running the country.

He’d get my vote. He’d do a good job too!

But, for now, the chapter has closed on his rugby career.

Farewell ‘Nik Nak’.

Cinderella once sang: ‘You don’t know what you got (till it’s gone)’.

Australian Rugby is gonna miss you!