DALE, YOU’RE ON THE HOGS NATIONAL TOUR AGAIN – HOW’S IT BEEN AND ARE YOU RIDING?
I’m in the support vehicle, I started on the HOGS Tour last year and I actually went to get my bike license and my wife told me, ‘Absolutely not!’
Essentially, what we do is a PCYC visit in the morning and visit a Westpac branch – they’re a major sponsor – and obviously it’s about riding the bikes through the day with ‘Freddy’ (Brad Fittler) and Ian Schubert and a number of others.
So that’s kind of on repeat for 20 days going up through Queensland then back through New South Wales and Victoria.
YOU’VE BEEN ON THE RLPA BOARD AND HAVE MORE RECENTLY TAKEN ON A TRANSITION MANAGER ROLE THERE. HOW ARE YOU FINDING THAT?
It’s been really good. The past player transition program is only a couple of years old now, essentially for the zero-to-10 years period post-career. There’s a number of services and benefits that we offer those guys.
I’m really enjoy doing that … there’s about a hundred guys that I look after and there’s a team of seven officers working that program, so it’s been really satisfying.
I’M SURE YOU CAN RELATE TO A LOT OF THOSE PLAYERS, BEING IN THE EARLY STAGES OF RETIRING FROM THE NRL YOURSELF – AND HAVING TO DO SO PREMATURELY DUE TO HEAD KNOCKS. HOW HARD WAS THAT TO COME TO GRIPS WITH, EMOTIONALLY AND MENTALLY?
Yes, I’m very much in that stage myself, that transition period. It’s been about
finding my way a bit but at the same time I’m going through it with the guys that I’m talking to [in my RLPA role], so I think that’s helpful. In terms of how I’m travelling myself, I’ve found this role really fulfilling and then I’m doing a couple of coaching roles as well in the Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm junior systems.
I’m really content with where I’m at.
GROWING UP IN BEGA, A SMALL TOWN TUCKED AWAY IN SOUTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES, DID IT FEEL POSSIBLE TO REACH THE HEIGHTS IN RUGBY LEAGUE FROM THERE?
It was always a dream of mine and something that I actually strongly thought was a possibility and something to aspire to. I went through the Canberra Raiders’ Harold Matts system for a pre-season – I missed out on the team but that was my introduction into professionalism and that quality of coaching.
From there I knew that was something I wanted to pursue. That’s when I picked up a manager and a contract with Canterbury. I was lucky enough to have success in that first year (winning the 2009 SG Ball title) – it was the first real success that I’d had and I made my first New South Wales team in that year [in the under-18s].
I was elevated to the under-20s the week after that grand final, so it was a real sliding doors moment.
IN 2012 YOU PLAYED IN A GRAND FINAL IN JUST YOUR 14TH NRL GAME – WERE YOU ABLE TO GRASP HOW HUGE THAT WAS AT THAT EARLY STAGE OF YOUR CAREER?
It was really surreal. I debuted in Round 13 and we went on a run – we won 12 games straight – and I and then obviously we went on to play in the grand final against Melbourne.
We narrowly lost that one, but I certainly didn’t take it for granted. I knew I was extremely lucky to be there and that it was really hard to get there.
HOW DID THOSE GRAND FINAL LOSSES WITH THE BULLDOGS AS A YOUNGER PLAYER COMPARE WITH BECOMING AN INTEGRAL MEMBER OF THE STORM PACK, WHERE YOU LOST ANOTHER COUPLE OF DECIDERS AND WON TWO TITLES?
It’s interesting, I actually don’t have any recollection really of those games, there’s little moments I remember … but particularly in that first grand final, I didn’t feel like I had an impact.
I think I played 10 or 15 minutes off the bench. Then I played maybe 30 minutes in the [2014 grand final] against South Sydney, so I didn’t really feel like I had much of an impact on the game until I got to Melbourne, where I was a starting middle forward obviously playing longer minutes and could have an influence on the result.
But I never took those [earlier] grand finals for granted and always felt I was fortunate to be there – I looked at guys who over the course of their careers didn’t get to play in a grand final and kind of reflected on that.
AFTER SEVEN SEASONS WITH THE STORM AND ANOTHER PREMIERSHIP IN 2020, WAS LEAVING FOR CRONULLA THE HARDEST CALL OF YOUR CAREER? OR WAS IT MORE A NATURAL PROGRESSION FOR YOU AS A LEADER?
It was really difficult. I loved Melbourne, I’m lucky enough to win two premierships there, I’ve still got mates there and we have the Old Boys weekends to celebrate those moments we all shared together.
But at the same time, I was really excited to be working with Craig Fitzgibbon in his first year as a head coach, I’d had a relationship with him working at Country Origin level and then in the Origin series where he was an assistant coach.
With myself, Cameron McInnes and Nicho Hynes signing there, I was really excited with the opportunity to go to the Sharks.
And I’m excited to see how those guys go this year – the nucleus of the team has been there quite a while now, and having been part of that side for three or four years, I’d like to see them be successful.
YOUR NAME CONSISTENTLY COMES UP WHEN YOUR EX-TEAMMATES TALK ABOUT THE TOUGHEST PLAYER – PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY – THAT THEY’VE PLAYED WITH. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THAT?
I don’t read into that too much, to be fair. I’ve played with some super tough players and I don’t think toughness is necessarily putting big shots on and that sort of thing … there’s guys I’ve played with who I consider extremely mentally tough.
Like Slade Griffin, who I played with at Melbourne, he had 4 ACL reconstructions, a couple of shoulder reconstructions, he could have potentially had a 250-game career.
But that he was resilient enough to bounce back and still keep turning up – that to me is tough. And guys like Ryan Hinchcliffe, Tim Glasby, some of unheralded guys who people probably don’t talk about, I think they’re tough.
HOW DID IT FEEL TO FINALLY BREAK INTO THE NSW TEAM IN 2019?
It’s funny, because at the start of that year … I stopped stressing about [rep selection] and how other players were playing, comparing myself to how they were going.
When I focused on myself and adopted that mentality, I felt so much more free and I think I played better football.
KANGAROOS SELECTION WASN’T TO BE – YOU WERE ON STANDBY IN 2017 AND 2019, THEN THERE WAS A COUPLE OF YEARS WHERE NO TEST FOOTY WAS PLAYED – BUT SEEING FELLOW BEGA PRODUCT KEZIE APPS REPRESENT THE JILLAROOS MUST BE REALLY SATISFYING?
I’m so proud of ‘Kez’ – we actually started playing together when I was eight years old. We played together until we were 12, when girls have to stop playing in boys teams.
The women’s game wasn’t as strong then and she’s been one of the pioneers for that. She’d travel up to Wollongong every week to play for Helensburgh.
She’s re-signed until 2029, which takes her to 38 years old. Kez has been at the forefront of growing the women’s game and I’m really proud of her.
DATE OF BIRTH
7 September, 1991
CURRENT AGE
34
BIRTHPLACE
Bega, Queensland
POSITIONS
Lock, prop
PLAYING HISTORY
2012-14: Canterbury Bulldogs
2015-21: Melbourne Storm
2022-24: Cronulla Sharks
REP FOOTBALL
2014-17: NSW Country
2019-21: New South Wales
JUNIOR CLUB
Bega Roosters
TOTAL MATCHES
260
TRIES | POINTS
18 | 74
