Izzard sinks teeth into sushi

WHEN Blues players were spotted at a Coogee sushi train this week, punters wondered what had happened to rugby league's hard men.

Brad Izzard

WHEN Blues players were spotted at a Coogee sushi train this week, punters wondered what had happened to rugby league's hard men.

If only they knew what former NSW star Brad Izzard had been getting his teeth into since retiring.

A sea change from Sydney's west took Izzard to the far north coast town of Lennox Head, where he ran a sushi bar and juice shop until 18 months ago.

"We made all the sushi on the premises, fresh daily," he said. " It was very successful."

A family illness led to Izzard leaving the business and he's now a stay-at-home dad for his two young children, Brylei and Lex.

"It was good in the sushi bar, because we had up-to-date music to listen to," he laughed. "Now it's all about Hi-5 and The Wiggles. Now and then you'd like to get out and have some adult conversation, but I still wouldn't swap it for anything in the world."

A career player for Penrith, Izzard went out on a high after scoring a try in the 1991 grand final victory over Canberra.

He worked at Telstra while playing, before moving to an airconditioning company shortly after retirement.

"I stayed in Penrith for about 10 more years," he said. "I knew some people from charity work who lived in the Byron Bay area and we'd come up to visit quite a bit. That's when we decided to move here and although Penrith will always be home in my heart, I can't see us moving back with the kids.

"You look at the bulletins with all these shootings in Sydney's west and wonder whether it's the best place to bring them up."

OzTag and touch footy keep Izzard fit away from his domestic duties.

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