An Excellent Chat with (Quarantined) Eddie Quirk

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Eddie Quirk is one of my old mates from way back (I still wear the Reds shirts he gave me almost 10 years ago). He came through the Queensland pathway, debuting for the Reds back in 2010. He went on to play 6 seasons of Super Rugby with them and was of course a part of the squad during their 2011 championship year! Since then, he has played in Japan for the Sunwolves and is now playing for Top League club Canon.

While rugby is on hold almost worldwide, he has come home to Brisbane with his family. His wife and baby girl came over early and he made it in time for a hotel quarantine!

When I chatted with him using Facetime on Friday, he was in day 9 of 14, isolated in a hotel. He told us what it was really like, before sharing a lot of rugby memories. I hope you enjoy reading our chat!

You’re in day 9 of Quarantine! What’s it really like?

Yeah, day 9 in quarantine Tommy, it’s tough, but I think some other people are doing it tougher. I’ve got a lovely room here at the West End. The hardest thing is probably having no sun and fresh air. But look, that’s ok, it’s over in a few days. I can see into another building and I can see here are some young families that are doing isolation in similar rooms to me… 4 people in those rooms.  I get to work out, watch some movies and get on the phone and chat around. So it is tough, but it’s not the worst thing.

How were things in Japan, just before you came home?

Yeah, it was crazy because there was a lot of stuff happening with the Olympics that were still to go through and there were still uncertainties around our season in Top League, as well as the Corona Virus happening. Probably the hardest thing, being in Japan, was knowing that Australia was going into lockdown and there were some windows that we had to make to potentially get home, so my wife and baby came home ahead of me. So Japan, you were still very free, you were still able to go shopping, go to restaurants and get on trains and so forth, during that time. So it was good to have the freedom and good to be able to do normal rugby training, but there was still that element where I had to get to home to be with family, if things went really crazy, here in Australia. It was good to have that freedom, but I needed to get home.

How many rugby games have you watched in the last week?

(Laughs) A fair few! There’s been a lot of rugby league on and some union games that I’ve been able to watch, which has been good. I have looked up a few old school Reds games, including the British Lions game against the Reds and some old Sunwolves games, which have been good ones. I’ve kept the ones where I’ve been yellow and red carded out of it, they obviously weren’t good times! I love all sports, so I’ve also just been watching whatever on TV at the moment.

What’s you’re favourite Reds moment?

When I debuted for the Reds against the Highlanders, I was only 18, that’s stuck with me as one of my favourite ones. Unfortunately Higgers [Scott Higgenbotham] ended up breaking his leg almost in that one and I got to play 75 minutes on my debut, which is pretty unheard of. I think that’s the moment that sticks for me, obviously playing the British Irish Lions for the Reds [in 2013], beating the Tahs and getting the Bob Templeton cup and being a part of the Super Rugby championship that year! To be honest, it’s hard to pick one. I do still remember my debut very clearly.. I think there was a huge scrap, probably five minutes in… I think I got dusted up in that, that was pretty cool memory. That’s probably the one that sticks with me the most.

What are some things you’ve learnt from that 2011 championship year, that you’ve held on to ever since?

Probably the lead in. I played I think about 10 or 12 games, then got injured with my shoulder. Probably, some things I’ve taken out of that was just how fun that year was. It was a good feeling being part of a winning team week in, week out. I made some really good friendships that year. There were a lot of young guys and we all continued on, we were all a similar age and one of the youngest teams… probably just the camaraderie, we were always able to celebrate afterwards and go and get beers and go out for dinner afterwards, that was one of the most enjoyable years I’ve had with the Reds, that’s the main thing I took out of the year. Enjoyment.

I’m familiar with your rugby journey, but for the readers that don’t know... how did you end up playing rugby? And what’s your experience of the Queensland pathway?

That’s an awesome question. It’s a funny one, growing up with my brothers, we played every sport that was available, swimming, volleyball, waterpolo, athletics, rugby, basketball… every sport that was on offer at school, we did. I never had a sport that I was focused on. But then a friend that I had at Iona [College], Chris Ekins, he said they were low on some numbers down at Redlands rugby union for his U-15s side. We played Sunnybank and won and I just enjoyed it... the coach asked me to play the rest of the season. So that kickstarted my journey.

From there, I did what you could almost call the "traditional Queensland" rugby pathway to the Reds from then on, I played at Redlands growing up, then went to Brisbane State High, I met your good looking brother there... I played the first XV and then made the GPS “one” team and was lucky enough to represent Queensland schools and played in that championship… funnily enough, you wouldn’t believe it, I got red-carded in that tournament. I was legitimately given a lifeline to play for “Australia A” and captain that team against Fiji and they took three extra guys from that team to play Schoolboys and I was one of the three and was lucky enough to beat New Zealand in that final game in New Zealand - the only Aussie schools team to win overseas and I got man of the match in that game. So it was a very cool pathway - I was picked up by the Reds academy, I ended up playing for Australia for Sevens and doing tournaments overseas and after a year and a half of doing that, I made my debut with the Reds and then signed a full-contract.

So call it the “stock standard” pathway with all of those things in there, all the way up. I’ve been pretty lucky that that was the pathway. It’s changed a bit now, with kids coming out of school, but it was actually a really cool pathway and I’ve met a lot of cool people along the way, before my debut with Super Rugby. I think I’ve played 88 games in Super Rugby now, so it was a pretty cool way to go.

I haven’t thought about that for a while! That’s an awesome question.

I know it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen next, with rugby overall, but what are your personal goals from here on?

Yeah! There’s a lot happening in world rugby, a lot of competitions have been damaged, in the UK, in France, Ireland, Japan.. obviously Super Rugby’s taken a massive hit as well… from a personal point of view, I’ve got another year playing with Canon, so I definitely want to get back playing from this injury and back playing some really good rugby. I’ve had a dream of playing a hundred games of Super Rugby, so you know, that might be a goal in the future to go for, but probably for me, just to get back to playing consistent rugby, injury free. Also, I’m currently in the process of getting a Japanese passport, I’ve done my 5 years over there and I’ve been studying my Japanese pretty thoroughly, so for me, if there’s an opportunity to represent Japan, I’d love to.

They’ve given me a lot of time and put a lot of effort into me, so if I can give that back in a rugby sense, that would be massive for me to represent the country. They’ve really opened there arms to me - and hence why I’ve stayed there for 5 years. There’s been opportunities to come back to Australia over the last few years, but I just felt like I owed it to Japan to just stay on and pretty much build rugby there. You would have seen, during the World Cup, just how far it’s come. So yeah - get healthy for Canon - and hopefully take the pathway of representing Japan for any internationals and/or the World Cup and keep a job for the next few years. It’s tough times for everyone - I’d just be happy to get another job.

I’ve known you a long time Eddie and if you ever played for Japan, I’d definitely become a Japanese supporter! (When they’re not playing the Wallabies of course.)

Yeah I know every time I’ve brought you Sunwolves gear, you haven’t been too happy about it… but if I ever represent Japan, I’ll bring a jersey home to you. As long as you put it on and take it off, that’s all I care about.

I have to say, I had an awesome time in Japan, following the Reds over there in 2017. I still have a bunch of highlight pictures, posted online.

I remember seeing your posts online… I think you met one of our coaches, Tony Brown! I still regard Browny as one of the best coaches I’ve ever had, throughout my time. He just has such a smart rugby brain. When I saw the photo of you with Browny, I though “of course Tom’s gonna weasel his way in there with the greats”. But yeah. Was good to see you over there in Japan…

Thanks heaps Eddie for taking time to chat for my blog! Once a Red, always a Red.

(Laughs) yeah mate, for sure! 100%. I’ve been looking forward to this interview for a while. I was a bit nervous about the questions… but yes, there’s always a soft spot for the Reds, whenever they’re playing, I do watch and support them, for sure. It’s really cool seeing all these young guys coming through, like Zaccy Lucas and a couple of good Easts boys... Liam Wright and also Chrissy Sautia, who I was lucky enough to play with. I’ll always give my time back to the club and community rugby here, that’s one thing that I’ll do when I’m done and dusted.