Wendell Sailor: tales from the vault

HARD as it is to believe, the great Darren Lockyer was somebody’s servant once. Even the very best have to start at the very bottom.

Wendell Sailor (L) & Darren Lockyer after game, broncos vs Sydney Bulldogs semifinal, Winfield Cup 1995 at SFS. Sport / Rugby League / Alone headshot nsw

WHEN I was a young bloke coming through the Broncos as an 18- or 19-year-old, Wayne Bennett tried to put the young guys with the senior players so there was no divide there: so the big dogs didn’t just stick together and the rookies stick together.

When I first came in, I had to room with a guy called Gavin Allen. He was old school, really hard. I didn’t know what to do and, funnily enough, I just stayed really quiet.

Everything changed a couple of years later, in 1995, when a young Darren Lockyer was rooming with me.

Now I was on the other side of the fence. Not so much a big dog, but an experienced player.

One time I was lying in bed and he’s just sitting there really patiently.

He says to me, “Can I get you anything? Do you want anything?”

I said, “I’ll have a cup of tea.”

It was his first real away trip, we were over in Perth, and here he was making cups of tea for me.

He’d go, “Mate, how do you have your tea?”

And I’d say, “Black with two sugars.” I didn’t like milk.

He loved his tea and every time he’d get up he’d ask, “Do you want one?”

“Not another bloody tea, mate.”

It’s funny how that system works in and around sport, with seniority. Everyone’s got to do their time.

Locky and I are best mates now. I was groomsman at his wedding. That’s where that camaraderie has taken us even though we are totally different personalities.

He was a real leader. He had this confidence about him, but never big noted himself — obviously very different to me — and he was a guy who was always confident in his own skin and he just got along with everyone.

He didn’t say boo when we roomed together. But everyone’s got an alter ego. Locky won’t mind me saying this, but he was always the life of the party after a few drinks.

The biggest stepping stone I saw with Locky was in 1998, he debuted off the bench for Australia and he had one of the most forgettable debuts anyone could have. We lost the Test match, he dropped a couple of balls, let a try in and just had an unhappy night.

That was on a Friday night, and then two days later — showing the mental edge he had — Locky was man of the match for the Broncos. For a guy in his early 20s, that’s a really tough thing to do to get back on the horse after being embarrassed like that.

It was a privilege to watch him develop as a player and a leader.

And I’ve made a cup of tea for him now, too, don’t worry.

MORE TALES FROM THE VAULT

LOTE TUQIRI’S TRAINING ‘FAINT’

Lote Tuqiri’s training “faint” coincidentally took place in the most convenient of places.

WE used to do this training thing at an army camp up Canungra, in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Lote Tuqiri was about 18 and it was one of his first preseasons, we were all on the bus and Wayne Bennett said to the driver, “Mate, pull up.”

All of a sudden he pulled up and we had to carry one of those big ropes on a run for about 6km into camp.

It was 30C and we were about 3km in, and Lote falls on the road and half faints.

Bennett was doing it with us and he says, “Everyone stop. Lote, unless you get up we’re not going.”

Lote sort of half pretended to faint and where he fainted, it was in the only bit of shade on that road.

MATT GITEAU’S LOVE OF JACKO

“Who’s the old man now?”

I roomed with Matt at the Wallabies and I’m one of the guys who’s all or nothing on tour. So if it’s cold and training’s been wet and it’s been -4C, I’m happy to just go back and have a shower and just watch TV, not be annoyed and be anti-social – to just miss the team lunch, order room service and wait for the next session.

Anyway, Matt Giteau on his first tour, we were in Europe and he loved Michael Jackson. He used to put his music on all the time and one time I just had enough, and I said, “Mate, turn that music off.”

He said, “Why? I’ve heard so much about this Wendell Sailor and all he is, is a grumpy old man.”