Serial pest Michael Ennis reminded us all in the 37th minute of Sunday’s historic NRL grand final of why so much vitriol surrounds him.
After putting a dinky ball to boot that Cameron Smith would cough up, he gave Melbourne’s captain a mischievous pat on the back.
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Second-rower Jordan McClean was first at the scene, charging in to send Ennis flying what seemed like 20 rows back.
It was a push that offered a trademark example of just how good Ennis is at ruffling the feathers of the opposition.
Just over 40 minutes of football later, I may well have been a lone wolf in my applause of this same niggling journeyman for retiring with a win in a grand final.
Ennis joined rugby league giants in Mal Meninga, Glenn Lazarus and Shane Webcke to retire with a premiership.
For a number of reasons I witnessed him do this with a smile as big as that of the hammerheads of the Sutherland-Shire.
Straight off the bat, you have got to give credit to the man for remaining one of the most consistent rakes in the NRL across 273 games.
Couple that with the fact that hookers absorb an incomprehensible load of impact in defence every game and you can’t have anything but admiration for the retiree.
What’s more is that Ennis would have to go down as one of the best players to have not pulled on a Test jersey.
No sane rugby league enthusiast would ever have deemed him a fitting candidate for the Kangaroos’ Number 9 jersey – not in light of the giant in Smith who has filled those boots since 2006.
It was the sort of shadow that Stuart McGill felt the antagonising restrictions of in his patchy career in the baggy green.
Despite this, however, Ennis would not have looked out of place in an Australian jumper.
He was given a taste of representative football in 2009, the same year in which he was named Dally M Hooker of the Year, when he was selected for the Blues in Game 3.
It was a position he retained for the following two years, playing in all three games in both 2010 and 2011.
Winning his second Dally M Hooker of the Year award in 2015 and being pivotal to the Sharks’ strong tilt at the 2016 title should have earnt him another NSW call-up this year. However, Laurie Daley opted for rival Robbie Farah in all three clashes.
As for those with the opinion that Ennis was a grub… Really he was a serial pest – nothing more, nothing less.
He revelled in planting an elbow in the ribs and treating a face to a thorough forearm massage.
Giving an opposition player a pat on the back after spilling their lollies was another favourite in ‘Ennis the Menace’s Book of Tricks’.
He also enjoyed having a word or two with the men in pink.
Not once, however, did he do what James Graham did to Billy Slater in the 2012 grand final and try to take a chunk out of another player’s ear.
Nor did he ever exercise the antics of the infamous John Hopoate.
While we’re on that note, nor did Ennis ever pull out the Sammy Burgess squirrel grip either.
He also didn’t feature in the most infamous fist-fight in 21st century rugby league, that being the Adam Blair versus Glenn Stewart encounter en route to the sin bin in 2011 (although that did make for quality medieval theatre).
Ennis was not a grub, rather merely a serial pest.
You could liken him to the Giants’ Steve Johnson in the AFL, forever a pig in mud whenever a couple of tempers boil over.
The theatre that Ennis brings to the stage sport needs.
It’s what a litany of his sporting contemporaries offer as well – not only Stevie J, but Brent Harvey in rag-dolling opposition combatants and David Warner in his relentless barking of sledges from the cover-point region.
Ennis ran out of the sheds on Sunday with a calamitous grand final record hanging over his head.
He was at the Broncos in 2006 when they last won the premiership, however a knee injury forced him to watch from the sideline.
Then in 2012 with the Bulldogs he got a taste of grand final defeat against Melbourne.
Two years later, in 2014 and still with Canterbury, he was again forced to watch from the sideline like in 2006, this time with his foot in a moon boot as the Rabbitohs secured their first premiership in 43 years.
On Sunday night, in his swansong, it was only fitting that he said farewell with a premiership.
Sean Farrar
Guest
Ennis is a jerk full stop, end of story. I always thought that you should your skill do the talking. Him goading players and then running for the hills is just cowardness. He deserved to be thumped on the chin many times but the new laws state that that player would be binned. Ennis would just get away with it. There should be a ruling that if you invite a Melee then off you go for 10. It'll get rid of the crap. At least Gallen let his fists do the talking. Ennis is definitely a player I will not miss.
Zachary Gates
Roar Guru
Thanks mate. It is great to see sports stars retire on a high.
Chinmay Hejmadi
Roar Guru
Nice tribute to a rather underrated player. Great read.
Muzz
Guest
It's all about entertainment, right? I find Michael Ennis highly entertaining.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yawn...everyone thinks he's amazing? No one has copped harsher treatment for so little from media and fans - sydney or otherwise.
Doogs
Guest
Yeah. So that makes it right for what he did. Are you cool with that?
Doogs
Guest
I agree he was an awesome player. Would love to have him on a team I support. But the headpats and the rest were sheer garbage and should not happen. But he is from Sydney so everyone thinks he is amazing
Doogs
Guest
yeah wow. He is a great guy. Not
Doogs
Guest
No I think the pats on the head are childish and he should have left that out of his game. Especially in his last one
Muzz
Guest
I was surprised he wasn't fined for patting a protected species on the back.
Zachary Gates
Roar Guru
Spot on.
Zachary Gates
Roar Guru
Now Les Boyd was an absolute grub, and just another player whose on-field behaviour made Ennis appear a saint. He was infamous for breaking Darryl Brohman's jaw in Game 1 of the 1983 Origin series - in which Brohman debuted, I will add. He copped a 12-month suspension for it. Not only that; in just his second game back he eye-gouged Canterbury hooker Billy Johnstone and was rightfully dealt a further 15-month suspension. Ennis was not a grub; Boyd was a grub, just as every other player mentioned in my article were/are.
matth
Guest
I love the little stirrer. To be honest when he played for the Broncos (my team) I often cringed with embarrassment at some of the garbage he got up to, but to me he is one of those players who has just got better and better with age. He is an absolute leader and you could almost say he has taken Cronulla from almost to all the way, although I think Jimmy Maloney may have a say about that.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Ennis deserved nothing. He is not the player he, and many others, think
Zachary Gates
Roar Guru
I can't say I saw Ennis hand the kicking tee to Smith, however it just goes to that he is not a grub; he is merely fierce competitor and a serial pest. I will note that earlier in the game Suliasi Vunivalu tossed Ennis' headgear away, so for Ennis to not return fire with fire in this later incident shows that he isn't all bad news.
Zachary Gates
Roar Guru
I honestly don't have a problem with the pats on the head and pats on the back. As noted in the article, I really think it all adds to the theatre of the spectacle. It livens the atmosphere, creates a contest within a contest, gives us all something else to talk about in day-to-day business, etc. Sport needs characters like Ennis and Stevie J.
madmax
Guest
Unfortunately Barry, Ennis will only ever be remembered for being a grub...............Since the inception of banning punches he actually increased his tactics. I think in the days of Les Boyd etc. he would have spent more time in the casualty ward than on the field. Anyone that carries on as he does / did, then cowers behind his own players is not the traits of a great player!
Albo
Guest
Yep ! Good points ! Ennis has been a great player for every club he has played with. Always gave 100 % in every game, and was very tough & durable. Would certainly have played more representative games but for the fact that Cam Smith dominated the past decade and he too being tough & durable not to miss any games, that may have given Ennis his chance. He well deserves his GF win and he contributed mightily to the Sharks success this year !
SewingMachine
Guest
Ennis also didn't play for Kangaroos because of Tim Sheens' love for Farah..Ennis should've toured with the Aussies in 2009 as Smith's deputy..but Sheens, as Farah's club coach, demanded Farah's selection ..even though Ennis had replaced him in the origin team and won Dally M hooker of the year..plus the Bulldogs almost made the GF..when the Tigers didn't feature in the finals.. Any other coach would've took Ennis.. Just a side note..Farah only represented Australia under Sheens..a fortunate boy..this was echoed again this year when Daley chose Farah over Ennis..although it was clear to see Ennis was in tremendous touch and was clearly a head of Farah in both form..and fitness..
MAX
Guest
Michael made a difference for every team he played for and it was great to see him go out a winner. The question now is, will he replace Ben Ikin on 360 as Paul Kent suggested ? Or was that a joke?