Passion - To Simon and the players

I honestly think that you forget who and what you represent. I know, having played and coached a lot of sport, teams and players over the years that we are each driven by different things. These days I know I am considered old school and I laugh at that when I think about what I considered to be old school and what today’s new-school thinkers might make of that! When I think old school I think about Ron Barrassi ruthlessly tearing shreds off one for the sake of all others – making a sacrifice of one to find something that will shake the rest into action. My old school is different. My old school is about passion. And I get that passion is old school. But unlike the Barrassi ruthless sprays that, like racist and misogynist behaviour, are now looked upon as inappropriate and from another time - passion is passion. Passion always lives on.

When I think passion I think representation. When I was playing with passion - as weird as this will sound to you - I wasn’t playing for my team mates. Don’t get me wrong – I loved playing with them, I loved carrying them – them carrying me, I loved their support, I loved the laughs we had – but I wasn’t playing at the level on account of them. I was playing at the level because I had passion.

There were times when I played against opposition that were far too good for me – players who were quicker, smarter, more skilful, more experienced and when I pitted myself against them it was always futile to simply draw on my skills, the support of my team mates or the strategies of a coach and expect that was going to be enough. There always had to be a reason to be in the fight, to take the blows, wear the bruises put up with the abuse. I had to be defending something, representing something, refusing to give up because of something. Passion!