While I was in Melbourne for "Super Round", I was lucky to get to interview a real legend of the game, former Reds and Wallabies flyhallf Elton Flatley!
(Click here to read about our trip last weekend with Elton, Bill Ross and 50 other Reds members. Now is a great time to be a Reds member and supporter!) A special thanks to Minako for helping arrange the interview!
What have you enjoyed most about this trip so far?
Probably the people! We’ve got a great touring group that are very passionate about Reds rugby. It’s good to feel a part of the Reds family again!
What are your thoughts on the current Reds squad?
It was a disappointing night last night, they started really well, but I think they’ve got a great squad. There’s some great young talent and some older guys like James O’Connor. It’s disappointing he wasn’t out there last night, but the young 10 [Lawson Creighton], he had a good game, especially for his first game in that role.
Sam Cordingly along with Brad Thorne have done a really good job of developing that squad over the years and I think they’re in a pretty good space.
What was it like being one of the first players in the “professional” rugby era?
It was good… it was a great moment getting paid to play the game that you love. While there were still some amateur components, it’s definitely wasn’t as professional as they are now. They train really hard and they have to be a lot more dedicated to what they do.
We had a good mix of having a good time off the field and playing professionally on the field.
What’s your favourite memory, playing (or training) at Ballymore stadium?
What’s your number one memory from the 2003 World Cup?
It was great playing a World Cup in front of your friends and family. The semi-final against the All Blacks was a great game. They beat us on that same field several months before by around 40 points and to go on and turn that table and beat a good team in the semi-final was great. Sadly, a week later we were obviously very disappointed that we couldn’t get across the line against the English, they were a very good team. But just having a World Cup at home was very special and we’ll look forward to 2027 when we have it here.
I always did what my older brother did, basically, whether it was playing soccer, rugby league or rugby. Then I went to a boarding school that played rugby, Nudgee College… I had a great coach there, Tom Barker, that taught me the game… but yeah I fell in love with rugby at Nudgee College.
What’s been your main game since you retired from rugby?
I’ve got a financial planning business. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning! I went and worked for a few of the big banks to do my apprenticeship and then I started my own business about 10 years ago.
What advice would you give to players that want to play rugby professionally, both girls and boys?
I think a lot of it comes down to hard work. If you really want to get something, really want to be a professional rugby player or whether you want to be very good at something else, you’ve got to work really hard and devote yourself to it. There’s no secrets really. It’s hard work - and try and find the best coaching you can get. I had some great coaches and mentors when I was a young person. But all of it comes down to hard work.
What’s your favourite thing to that has nothing to do with rugby?
I love taking my dog for a walk every day. I take him up to the dog park every day, and that’s my little hour of relaxation that I really enjoy. There’s plenty of other thing, but that’s the daily thing that I enjoy.
Thank you very much for your time.
No, thank you Tom. Thank you for coming and thanks for supporting the Reds!
No comments:
Post a Comment