Sick of the ratbags? Here's the Rugby League Repute XVII

You want a recipe for trouble? Here’s a beauty.

Ingredients:

• A large quantity of young men who are very good a rugby league
• Thousands of people who think the young men are great and tell them they are special
• The expectations of a civilised society
• Lots of disposable income
• Plenty of spare time
• A very macho environment

Method:
Set aside the expectations of a civilised society – these aren’t required.

Add all of the other ingredients together and mix. Place into an environment of intense competition and training. After a full preseason leave to cool in bars and nightclubs.

Tip: To get some extra trouble, surround with lots of coaches, officials and sponsors who’ll forgive, cover up and even encourage all manner of bad behaviour.

Since 1998 the NRL has baked some of the best trouble professional sport has ever seen.

I don’t know about you but I’m sick of constantly hearing about rugby league players getting in trouble. I’m sick of drugs, drinking, violence, bizarre and disgusting acts, sexual assault and gambling.

Last year I put together ‘Rugby League’s Team of Disrepute‘ and it seemed to touch a chord with you readers.

On the other hand my mother – an NRL club member of 25 years – hated it. She said it was “yellow journalism”.

My first thought was, “Who are you calling a journalist?” But then it got me thinking, we (you, me, the NRL audience) never really make a big effort to celebrate all of the really good blokes in the NRL. For the most part we only hear about the bad stuff and we don’t know about the charity work, the community involvement or just the basic decency of many of our football stars. So I’ve done one.

The following list is my own, from my own impressions and experience.

8 – Shane Webcke
From 1995 to 2006 this superb prop took the ball up for the Broncos, Queensland and Australia. He was a no-nonsense player and he played clean. There was no niggle or cheap shots in his game.

Off the field he is regarded as a sensible bloke with a strong moral compass.

9 – Danny Buderus
It was really hard to dislike Buderus, even when he was tearing my side apart. One of the better number nines I’ve seen, the Taree-born player won the Dally M in 2004.

On the field he always played clean and he was competitive right up until the moment he was knocked out in his final game. A favourite son of Newcastle, NSW and Australia.

10 – Petero Civoniceva
Apparently one of the best blokes to play the game, he was also pretty good at it. Petero played a total of 309 games for the Broncos and Penrith and holds the record for the most games played for Australia by a forward.

11 – Wayne Pearce
Amidst all of the celebrations at the end of the historic 1989 Grand Final there was an image of Pearce on his haunches, trying to come to terms with the cruel loss.

Pearce was an ornament to the game and truly deserved a premiership, the only prize that eluded him in a glittering career that included Origin series wins and Kangaroo tours. His integrity is beyond reproach.

12 – Steve Menzies
How can it be that a bloke can play for one of the most hated clubs and yet be almost universally popular? That’s the case with Steve Menzies. He amassed 419 top-level games, 349 of them for his beloved Sea Eagles. A try-scoring freak for a second rower, his distinctive black headgear was an all too familiar sight crossing the stripe.

Beloved by the Brookvale faithful, he was also admired by the general NRL public.

13 – Bradley Clyde
You know that really good footballer that you went to school with who was a real jerk, a bully and an asshole? I bet you do. We all knew them. That’s why Bradley Clyde stands out for me. He was the best of the footballers I knew at school but he was also a great fella. He was fair, polite and nice to people. He never bullied a soul and never bragged about his achievements.

Clyde carried those characteristics into his first grade career and was arguably the best lock forward of the modern era. Although I still feel that the 1991 fairytale would have been complete if Royce Simmons had been awarded the Clive Churchill medal, there was no question that Clyde was herculean in defeat that day.

7 – Peter Sterling
When you work in the media the celebrities you work for and around can be all smiles when the camera is rolling and just horrible when they are off. At Channel Nine I met my share of horrible people, but I also met some gems. I’m happy to tell you that Ray Martin, Eddie McGuire and Peter Overton are great blokes. However, it was when I met one of my sporting heroes in Peter Sterling that I was really delighted.

He was as great a bloke as I hoped he would be. I’m a huge fan of both Johnathan Thurston and Ricky Stuart, but Peter Sterling is still the best halfback I’ve seen. He’s also one of the best commentators going around.

6 – Darren Lockyer
The boy from Roma played it clean and he played it brilliantly. There is not a prize in the game that eluded him, apart from the Dally M Medal.

While I really don’t like the blue suit that he wears on telly – and a number of you Roarers have compared his speech to a cement mixer full of gravel – I’ve got nothing but admiration for this superstar who holds the record for most games for the Kangaroos, most games for Queensland and the most first-grade NRL games.

5 – Hazem El Masri
I’ve never been a huge fan of Canterbury Bankstown. This has a lot to do with how damn good they’ve been since I started really watching my footy in the late 70s and early 80s – they’ve always had a habit of beating my sides. Plus it can be quite intimidating when their fervent supporters yell “Booldog!” or “Dowitdoggiestyle!”

But how could you do anything but admire El Masri? Not only a superb winger and ace goal kicker, he played clean on and off the field and is someone the whole NRL community looks up to.

4 – Ivan Cleary
Anyone who has followed my articles knows I’m a big fan of Ivan Cleary the man. I love how he has rebuilt Penrith on an ethos of integrity, dedication and professionalism. During his 186 games for four different clubs he earned a reputation as a consummate professional.

The great Billy Moore said of him, “Ivan was Mr Cool. He was never fazed by an occasion or an opponent. He had the respect of not only the playing group but all around him. He was a great steadying influence.” We need more Ivan Clearys.

3 – Steve Renouf
The kid from Murgon scored 142 tries for the Broncos, many after he was diagnosed with type one diabetes. He was a superb and irrepressible centre who seemed to glide past his opponents.

Another player in this team who played the game clean and achieved pretty much everything there was to do in rugby league.

2 – Preston Campbell
The only time Campbell ever played on the wing was in defence, however this super bloke just had to be in this side. He played 267 first-grade games across four clubs, and won the 2001 Dally M Medal by one point from Andrew Johns. A proud Aboriginal man, he was the first Learn Earn Legend! ambassador and was behind the push for the Indigenous All Stars Game. Preston is also a bloke who puts his money where his mouth is, personally funding and running youth projects in his home town of Tingha.

In 2008 Campbell was awarded the Ken Stephen Medal by the NRL for his tireless work with Indigenous communities.

1 – Gary Belcher
Belcher was a superb fullback – excellent under the high ball and blessed with great hands. He was the custodian everyone wanted. However, his best attribute was that he was a great team player. When something went wrong or a fellow player had a shocker, ‘Badge’ would be straight in there to lift their head and build them back up.

He also was a great ambassador off the field. Well spoken, polite and well behaved. We could use more like him now.

14 – Alan Tongue
Quite simply, Alan is one of the finest men I’ve ever met. I’ve had the privilege of working alongside him in commentary for the ABC for three seasons now and it has been a pleasure.

A man of the highest integrity during his playing days, he now works with incarcerated youth, trying to build their self esteem so they can build a better future. He was rightly named in the Raiders best ever 17 in their 25th anniversary season.

15 – Billy Moore
When you are threatened with being bashed if you call out “Queenslander!” and your reaction is to run out onto the field screaming it, well you are a bit of a legend.

Moore played all of his 211 games for his beloved North Sydney Bears, as well as representing Queensland and Australia. A hard-working and clean playing lock-cum-second-rower, Billy is one of the nicest blokes you’ll meet.

16 – Tim Mannah
You know when you meet a person and the decency and goodness just shines out of them? That’s what it is like with the Parramatta captain. A great front rower, he is at the core of the Eels and on him rests much of their hopes.

The Parramatta faithful can be assured that this tireless prop will represent them with honour and courage on and off the field.

17 – David Furner
I first met Furner in a swimming pool locker room when we were both kids. Another kid was trying to draw attention to the fact that the bloke next to him was Don Furner’s son. I remember him looking at me, ready for me to say how much the Raiders sucked (I think it was 1983). I think he was quite relieved when I said the Raiders were my team. You could tell he’d been brought up right.

I had a bit to do with him when he was playing and as a coach, and I found him to be one of the most decent and honourable people I’ve met in the game. He was also a hell of a player, with a Clive Churchill Medal to prove it.

I encourage you to tell me about the players you know to be good blokes – and not to make any allegations of bad behaviour.