'Gonna have to go harder': Dark times and a 'bad idea' behind him, Aus A tour has Gibbon ready to seize Wallabies chance

After a tough and tumultuous journey, Matt Gibbon is back where he was three years ago, in a Wallabies camp, with a gold jersey right there, ready to grasp.

The Melbourne Rebels prop is with the squad preparing for duty in Argentina after a toe injury to Angus Bell, and his own impressive performances on the Australia A team’s Pacific Nations Cup run in Fiji, where the throwback style of rugby boosted his spirits and allowed him to shine.

While there certainly are Wallabies who grew up with the silver spoon, Gibbon’s life story is far removed from privilege, except that which comes from his family’s love.

Until he was 10 Gibbon and his brother Alex lived with their parents in Alstonville in NSW. Chrissy Pollock, his mum, and Chris Gibbon, his dad ,had met at the House with No Steps, a farmhouse for people with disabilities to work.

Chrissy was born with cerebral palsy and has the mental and emotional range of a 10-year-old, Gibbon told the Herald Sun in 2020. Chris had been in a car accident as a child and received severe brain damage.

“They thought they could be responsible enough, but they just couldn’t,” Gibbon told the paper, adding his childhood was overrun with “bikies and drug addicts” who took advantage of his parents.

“There were some pretty dark times, not great people hanging around the house. It wasn’t a great environment for kids,” Gibbon said.

Matt Gibbon during an Australian Wallabies training session at Royal Pines Resort on July 27, 2022 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“My parents were aware of every day things, but they just didn’t understand them properly.”

Their father was “getting pretty bad, he was up to a few things, so we left him,” Gibbon recalled. The boys were taken in by their grandfather Dave Pollock, who became their rugby coach and got them helping out on his cattle farm.

“I’d be up in the morning milking a cow or there’d be one loose on the road I’d have to go get it and then I’d go to school. It was much more stable,” Gibbon said.

“My grandfather was my first rugby coach, too. He used to make us run at training, and one time we just said we wouldn’t run, and he said ‘OK’ and walked off to his car. He came back with a stock whip and cracked it a few times. You should have seen us run.”

In 2019 Gibbon was working as an electrician and playing club rugby in Sydney when he went on trial with the Rebels. Then coach Dave Wessels was a fan and played him in every game.

He was called up for Wallabies camp before the World Cup, but on Wednesday acknowledged he probably should have passed up the chance.

“It was actually great,” Gibbon said. “There was early morning trainings where it it was me, Nela and all the other fatties climbing up and down the beach at Coogee.

“To be honest, I was supposed to get a shoulder recon before I went into that. I just said I don’t want one if I’m in the Wallabies squad, I want to f—ing try and stay there. So I just kind of brushed a shoulder recon.

“That was probably a bad idea. My shoulder started falling out during the year. But it was a great experience there and it’s great experience now and we’ll see how we go.”

Gibbon had to grow up faster than most kids. He told the Herald Sun he and his older brother would wander the streets at night.

“My brother and I did some bad things, hung out with bad people,” Gibbon said.

“No one would tell us ‘no’. We really just did what we wanted, we just thought that was normal.”

Maturity is on going.

“I’ve definitely grown up a bit,” Gibbon says of the time between the 2019 camp and now. “I’m 27 now and I was 24 at the time. Before that I was a ‘sparky’ so it was my first year of rugby and I didn’t really know how everything worked.

“I think since then I’ve learnt preparation and stuff like that how – important that is and also getting into that rugby state of mind rather than just you’re there to have fun – you’re here to work.”

Gibbon had that shoulder reconstruction he needed at the start of 2021 and this year was left out of the Rebels opening Super Rugby games.

Even after he returned he was benched for two weeks mid season.

His coach Kevin Foote, “wasn’t very happy with me after a scrum against the Force. I think it was actually me and ‘Bobby’ Tuttle who was also an Australian A rep. We didn’t play well but that gave us the kick up the arse to turn things around. If you’re gonna get dropped, you gonna have to go harder. “

All in all it was a successful campaign.

“The big thing for me was just putting weight on and I think building through last season. I was a bit apprehensive with my shoulders and tackling and I had a really good preseason,” Gibbon said.

“Building into this year, I wasn’t first choice but I knew that if I could get my shoulders right and get confident and put some weight on, I was confident in my scrums.

“I started to build my game around good scrummaging and then everything after that was extra. My carries started getting better, my tackling started getting better and eventually they started giving me a couple of starts.”

Gibbon was called up to the Australia A tour, and you can tell it’s an experience he cherished despite the heat in Fiji and the first up loss to Samoa.

The games were old school – with no TMO in place, and that took the Aussies by surprise.

“I think we went in there not expecting the TMO not to be there,” he said. “It wasn’t talked about and  there were a few things where we didn’t react well,” said Gibbon.

“Then after that first game, we kind of realised, okay, this is not here so we can just  play some footy and that’s why I think we played so well against the Fiji team.

“We were expecting a bloody good side and we knew that whatever was going to happen would happen, so just play rugby, play what’s in front of you if the ball goes down, don’t stop running, just keep playing.

“I bloody enjoyed it. You’re just playing rugby.”

The team had to come together quickly, and follow Wallabies game plans and calls to get them prepped for call ups to the top squad.

“That first week was a little bit tough,” said Gibbon.

“After that it was great. We started gelling really well, the boys were together, playing good footy, playing against quality players. I think we did bloody well to be honest, and it was really good preparation for this.”

Gibbon’s early childhood struggles have given him a resilience and perspective as he nears the greatest achievement any rugby kid across the land can dream of.

“I’ve been around the path for a while now. I’ve been struggling a little bit with injuries but always been head up looking to try and get back in here and trying to really give it a crack.

“After a while, you just realise this is rugby, this is the pinnacle of it playing for Australia. I’ve had a little bit of time to think about it but until I get that gold jersey on I’ll just keep fighting.”