Adam Ashley-Cooper talks of Kurtley Beale with admiration, says he could make huge difference

KURTLEY Beale has transformed from rugby outcast to a driving force behind the cultural change of the Waratahs, Adam Ashley-Cooper has revealed.

Adam Ashley-Cooper and Kurtley Beale during NSW Waratahs training at Moore Park. pic Mark Evans

“I LOVE him, I absolutely love the guy,” Adam Ashley-Cooper declares, “and I don’t mind you printing that at all”.

He is talking about his great mate Kurtley Beale, who in 12 months has gone from a pariah at the Melbourne Rebels, to one of the leaders of a cultural revolution at the NSW Waratahs.

“When he walks into a room, he instantly affects everyone in it, he is a guy who over time has had a genuine influence on me, and on others, whether he likes it or knows it,” Ashley-Cooper said.

“Hopefully in time he will realise that and embrace it, because he could make such a difference down the track.”

There he was at a Brisbane hotel, the showman Beale, grabbing the tube of a hotel vacuum cleaner from its head and blowing into the opening, producing an incredible didgeridoo sound as he told the story of kangaroos and wallabies.

Ashley-Cooper, his roommate, was in awe. Soon Beale was out the door, telling the story as he played the makeshift didg and added tales of emu and kookaburras in a tree.

Waratahs players came out of their rooms to check out the fuss, and soon they were all gathered in the hallway as Beale, front and centre, continued his impromptu performance while the hotel cleaner wondered where her vacuum head had gone.

“The sound he was making from it was just like a didgeridoo, and the blokes were looking at him thinking ‘this is absolutely incredible’,” Ashley-Cooper said.

This time last year, Beale was in limbo after the Rebels cut ties with him, an unsurprising move after he had punched captain Gareth Delve and teammate Cooper Vuna after a night out drinking in Durban.

Beale’s issues with alcohol became public, and he underwent counselling to deal with them.

The Waratahs, who had begun the process of overhauling their culture under new coach Michael Cheika, were seen as taking a big gamble on Beale when they signed him 11 months ago.

But now, on the eve of the club’s first home semi-final in six years, Beale is lauded as an integral part of NSW’s success.

“The impact he’s had has been dramatic and dynamic, and I’ve been around a while and in a few teams so I know which guys have an influence, and he’s had a greatly positive impact,” said Ashley-Cooper, the Waratahs’ vice-captain.

“He just has a contagious energy. He is a guy that you want to be around.”

These are statements that would have been hard to fathom about Beale last July. So what happened?

Firstly, it’s clear he didn’t fit the culture at Melbourne, and the culture didn’t fit him.

Secondly, Beale finally understood that he had to face his demons. He did so, and learned that his actions were not only affecting his professional livelihood but his family.

Returning home was a cathartic step, while the acceptance from his Waratahs teammates instilled the confidence for Beale to climb back from the canvas to become the knockout artist most predicted he would be as a schoolboy prodigy.

The fatherly advice of Cheika, and the brothers-in-arms camaraderie of Ashley-Cooper cannot be underestimated, while Beale’s own strength of character in turning his life around is often underplayed.

And as with any journey of redemption, it is the little steps that matter.

It’s when Beale taps the bar and calls it a night, just as others are gearing up for the big few hours ahead. Or when he just decides that staying in is the smart option.

It’s when arrives in the early hours of the day at Waratahs’ headquarters to do his own video footage study, or tend to niggles on the physiotherapist’s table.

It’s when he pulls his pants up to his armpits before doing a weights session, cracking up the gym.

“It’s when blokes are comfortable being themselves,” Ashley-Cooper said.

“When they’re comfortable with their own image, and their connection to the group.

“That is what forms relationships, and culture.

“Here at the Waratahs, every player and staff member is comfortable being who they are, and we all respect each other for that.

“I don’t think you can get a tighter bond, and Kurtley is a great example of that, he is a leader of that cultural contribution.”

Beale has carried the weight of expectation for NSW rugby since he departed school and debuted as an 18-year-old. At 25, with a wealth of up-and-down life experiences wired into his mentality, Beale has found the inner calm that allows him to hold that weight comfortably.

And to be the real Beale: performing, amazing - his teammates and his supporters.

Originally published as Adam Ashley-Cooper talks of Kurtley Beale with admiration, says he could make huge difference