Johnny on the spot at Suncorp

John Eales will be the first rugby player to be honoured in bronze at Suncorp Stadium.

Former Queensland and Wallabies captain John Eales stands next to a scaled model of a statue of himself at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: AAP.

What possible southern invader would try to storm Suncorp Stadium now, what with Wally Lewis on guard at the northern end and, soon, John Eales manning the southern ramparts? Well, statues of them, at any rate.

While the Caxton Street end of the ground is populated with the greats of Queensland rugby league, Eales will be the first rugby player to be honoured at the stadium, with his statue ­expected to be unveiled at the Milton Road end on September 8, the date of the Wallabies-Springboks Test there.

The statue has been commissioned by the Queensland Rugby Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the QRU, with support from Stadiums Queensland, AEG Ogden and the Queensland government.

A more reluctant hero to cast in bronze it would have been difficult to find. Eales, though one of only two Australian captains to hold aloft the Webb Ellis Cup and one of only five Australians to have figured in the 1991 and 1999 triumphs, blushes down to the roots of his hair at being singled out for an honour such as this.

It was only when it was explained to him that the statue envisaged by Liam Hardy, the sculptor who created the Mal Meninga and Arthur Beetson statues at the other end of the ground, would portray that most unique of rugby confrontations, the lineout, that Eales gave the project his reluctant permission.

“One of the important considerations from my point of view was that they wanted to show something that was typically rugby, and that’s where the lineout came in,” Eales told The Australian. “It’s a really typically rugby thing and the lineout is a very team-oriented thing and, my view is that rugby is such a team game.

“Still, I feel embarrassed and I don’t feel right in being ­recognised this way. I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for all my teammates over many, many years who I played with.”

Lewis may well have been the Emperor of Lang Park but Eales, very much Australian rugby royalty, made only three appearances at the ground. In 1996, captaining Australia for only the sixth time, he started off his Suncorp experience with a 32-25 ­defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, a familiar last-gasp try by Frank Bunce ruining what was to be a perfect record for him at the ground.

A 32-20 win over the Springboks followed the next year, capped in 1998 by the historic 76-0 drubbing of England. Jonny Wilkinson would hark back to this Test in the aftermath of an extra-time World Cup victory over Australia in 2003 as the burr under his saddle.

But from Eales’ perspective, it was the Test that launched the Wallabies to arguably their greatest heights, not just to the victory over France in the final of the 1999 World Cup at Millennium Stadium but to four Bledisloe Cup triumphs, two Tri-Nations wins and, in his final outings for Australia, the 2-1 ­series victory over the British and Irish Lions in 2001.

Curiously, although he played 112 times for Queensland, he never once set foot on Lang Park in a maroon jersey. All of his home matches for the state were played at Ballymore.

The young Queensland team are slowly rebuilding their reputation, particularly at Suncorp, and would go a long way towards re-establishing the ground as their fortress if they defeat arch-enemies NSW there on Saturday.

“They showed on the weekend that they are a very physical team,” said Waratahs assistant coach Chris Malone yesterday. “I wouldn’t imagine we’ll get too much support from the locals.”

None at all, in fact.