An Interview with Slipper the Skipper

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to sit down and interview one of the nicest guys in Queensland, who happens to be the Reds captain, James Slipper.

I know you grew up in Queensland... which club did you play for?

I grew up on the Gold Coast, and I played for the Bond University Breakers.

When I finished school, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Reds, here in Brisbane, but I've always been supporting the boys back in the Gold Coast.

I've got a really good, deep connection with the Gold Coast and I love it, but overall, Queensland's the winner.

What do you like about Brisbane?

There's a lot of things.. I guess I've have to say the weather. Look at today, it's a beautiful day, it's always hot, it rarely gets cold so, for me, Brisbane's just a large country town I guess. It's never too busy, but there's always a lot going on. I've got a lot of friends and family here, so it feels like home to me.

I know your a loose-head prop, what is your role in that position?

My role as a loose-head prop.. it's basically to go out there and do the majority of the work and get no recognition for it... no just joking. We really enjoy our role out there, we work hard and kind of lay the platform for our backs to score off, so we get a lot of satisfaction from seeing our team-mates score the tries. As long as we win, we're the happiest in the change-rooms.

What's the most challenging thing about being the captain?

That's a real interesting question. Probably, communication with different blokes. A certain young fellow, you might have to address him or talk to him in a different way than you could to one of your closer mates, or an experienced players. I think that aspect of it, I'm still learning basically, I think I find that probably the most tough, but one that I'm looking to improve.

What is the highlight of your career?

I think representing my country at the World Cups, back in 2011 and 2015. Beating the All Blacks a couple of times, that's always pretty up there. I guess any time you play for Queensland, it's a highlight.

Can you tell us something about yourself that no-one will know?

[Pauses and smiles] ... that's probably the hardest question of the day I think!

I like to be clean and neat, believe it or not.. coming from a front-rower, it seems a bit hard to believe, so I guess I go against the current a bit. Everything has to be in the right place, in terms of my house, or bedroom, everything has to be put away and I think that's just carried through to me since my Mum drilled it into me when I was a kid.

What is your advice for an aspiring player, for boys and girls?

It all comes down to enjoyment for me, if I could give any advice that I thought was useful for my career, it's enjoyment. When you're going out there, when your training, or your going out there to play for your mates, if you're having fun, that's probably the best sort of advice I can give you. That's where you're going to be positive about what your doing, you're going to work hard to reach your goals, so I feel like having fun is the main priority, and I think basically if I look personally for myself, that's what's pushed me ten years into my career. I'm still enjoying the fact that I get to put on the boots every day and go out there and train hard and play on the weekend. It's a major reason why I do play.

Thanks James for your time.