Waratahs lock Jed Holloway to explain himself to rugby mums after elbowing opponent
Instead of hiding in the shadows during his three-week suspension for elbowing rival Thomas du Toit last weekend, Jed Holloway is doing his best to lift the dark cloud hanging over rugby.
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Instead of hiding in the shadows during his three-week suspension for elbowing rival Thomas du Toit last weekend, Jed Holloway is going to junior clubs to talk to mums about keeping their sons in rugby.
In an admirable step of maturity and resilience, Holloway has recognised the dark cloud hanging over rugby at the moment, and feels a responsibility to publicly apologise for his indiscretion at Bankwest Stadium last Saturday.
In the 45th minute of the Waratahs’ match against the Sharks, du Toit held Holloway back in a ruck, and the NSW lock lashed out with his arm, leading the prop to fall theatrically and stay down, leading to Holloway’s send-off and subsequent three-match suspension by the SANZAAR judiciary.
“I’ve let the team down, but I also don’t like to see that sort of stuff on the rugby field,” Holloway told Rugby Central.
“People can see that and think I’m a dirty player, and it could potentially put people off rugby.
“I don’t want mothers to see that and pull their sons out of the game, so it’s on me to go out there into the community to show I’m not that type of person and that this is not what rugby is about.
“I want to change people's opinion of me so they don’t think I’m dirty.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on in rugby at the moment and I want to try to spread a positive message.”
Jed Holloway RED carded for this elbow off the ball#WARvSHA pic.twitter.com/brU5Vb6IkK
— Steve Lenthall (@steve_l15) April 27, 2019
Holloway was suspended on Monday night, and on Tuesday morning walked into Waratahs HQ.
“I just said to our staff, ‘What can I do to help?’ I’ll do some club rugby visits, go to St Andrew’s [Cathedral School] next Tuesday, bouncing around different clubs putting my face out there,” he said.
“I asked if I could go back to Southern Districts, I find that it’s really humbling to be alongside guys who just enjoy being down there training and playing footy after working all day.
“So I’m going to be down there Tuesday and Thursday nights, then training with the other seven Waratahs guys — we do some game simulation stuff on Saturdays.”
Holloway feels extremely frustrated not being on tour with the Tahs squad in South Africa; they play the Bulls in Pretoria this weekend, followed by the Lions in Johannesburg, and must win at least one of those games to keep their finals hopes alive.
“The feeling of letting the team down — the game was in the balance, it was 10-all — to be held back trying to get away, I reacted the way I did, and in those moments you don’t really think until it’s happened,’ Holloway said.
“I made sure I sought out Thomas after the match to apologise.
“What I am most disappointed about was letting down the team, we went down to 14 men for the last 35 minutes of the game, I hold that quite heavily on myself.
“You do reflect on it, and wonder, ‘What was I thinking?’
“But in a game of rugby, in the moment, you can have those reactions.
“I know that the people who know me know that it’s not in my nature to go out there to deliberately hurt someone.”
For those who don’t know much about Holloway, he’s the guy that spends most of his off-season in hospital wards, visiting terminally ill children.
His cousin Liam Jerrems died of leukaemia in 2003, and Holloway has taken on an active role with The Starlight Foundation since turning professional.
Spending time with sick children, and having become withdrawn from the public earlier in his career when facing hardship, Holloway has learned some valuable lessons on how to deal with setbacks.
“You can look at it two ways; you can sit there and be down in the dumps and kick stones, or you can be proactive about it and get out and do something,” Holloway said.
“I’ve seen both sides. A few years ago when I had all my hamstring injuries, I closed myself off, and it ended up being worse for me. I wasn’t doing as much because you develop lazy habits and then your motivation suffers.
“I think getting out and into the community will be good for me as a person and as part of my motivation when I come back into the team.”
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