It gets better. I was “working”.

In front me, an impromptu game of touch footy had broken out – 20 or so crazy fun-sters, running around shirtless in the powder-soft white sand, jinking and weaving, catching and passing, not a care in the world.

The big burly bloke who’d been holding court on the “field” ducked across to the “sideline” and took a swig of his carefully positioned can of XXXX Gold.

“How good is footy?” he grinned, before spinning around and re-injecting himself into the game.

Gorden Tallis would remember that afternoon like it was yesterday. He too was “working” – as a celebrity guest at Hamilton Island Race Week, a prestigious sailing regatta held on the island every August. As an aside, what a drawcard Gordie was – friendly, loud, funny, irreverent. The punters loved The Bull.

Later that afternoon, on the boat back to Hamilton, Tallis reflected on how incredibly lucky he was to be doing what he was doing – yukking it up on a tropical island, on somebody else’s tab, all because he was good at a game he loved playing – AND was well paid for doing so.


“How good is Rugby League? How good is life!?”

The question beckoned – where would Gorden John Tallis be without Rugby League?

“Hate to think – probably in jail,” he conceded.

Make no mistake – that’s where quite few kids with whom Tallis grew up in Townsville are now “living”. In a cell – six by six.

Sun-drenched corporate reflections aside, that’s what makes Tallis’ recent commentary around Broncos forward Matthew Lodge so interesting.

The Bull understands better than most the vagaries of life. He readily admits – a few different decisions and he too might have been jogging along a path to absolutely nowhere.

Instead, on the back of his unwavering self belief, hard work, natural talent, courage and goodness knows what else, he escaped to a very different world. A world of achievement, profile and well-earned comfort.

Some 20 years on, he’s a million miles from the globe’s dark side, peering back with disbelief that somebody like Lodge, with his track record, could be considered as a leader of any NRL club, let alone one as prestigious as the Broncos.

What about the damage to the brand?

Gordie, going like a bull at a gate, as he does, on this occasion with minimal reflection on his own life journey.

“Hang on a sec – I never trashed a house in New York and threatened the life of a nine year old kid,” I hear him rebutting, with trademark Raging Bull authority.

That of course is true. And not irrelevant.

But what’s still on display is our willingness to cherry pick our views – put on a filter that’s fit for purpose. We all do it to some degree. What’s the position that best serves my instinct for survival? That fulfils my needs and enhances my sense of self?

We bypass the truths that don’t fit within a framework of what we want to believe.

Only Gorden himself would know the specific motivation of his commentary around Lodge, what particular personal need he was meeting. Of course as a former great of the game, Tallis is well entitled to express his opinion, In fact it’s his job and he performs his duties very well.

But it’s interesting in middle age, what we choose to cast aside, like it never happened.

To the broader issue – should Matthew Lodge. 2015 Rugby League Villain of the Year, perhaps the decade, ever be eligible for a senior leadership position in the game? In a blue chip club like the Broncos?

A bit old school I know, but I’d suggest that’s a matter for the club itself. What does Wayne Bennett say? – Listen to the people in the grandstand and soon you’ll be sitting with them.

What I do know is that in the four and a half years that have passed since that infamous episode in New York, Lodge has worked relentlessly to make himself a better person, long after the compulsory community service and counselling sessions that formed part of his rehabilitation.

No alcohol for 1000 consecutive days. That’s when he stopped counting. Three subjects short of a business degree at Swinburne University. Fatherhood. Endless visits to junior clubs, talking to the kids, encouraging them to pursue their footy dreams, but warning them of the perils of poor decisions. One big mistake – as Lodge knows all too well, can last a life time.
Do these redemptive measures make him eligible or worthy of the Broncos captaincy, now or in the future? Again – we’ll all have a view based on our own paradigm, but as all past players would attest, the only ones who know what’s going on in the dressing shed are those in the dressing room. Everybody else is guessing.

What’s true is that Rugby League is wall to wall with redemption stories – second, even third chances, some which have been gratefully grasped and fairy tales forged, others clumsily grassed, the culprits banished forever.

I expect lots of rusted on footy fans will strongly agree with The Bull – Lodge even being allowed back into the game is redemption enough. Don’t push your luck fella by ever aspiring to be captain. Just cart the ball up and be grateful.

Some others will be more compassionate. Perhaps they too have made seriously poor decisions, even spent time in the big house, with endless days to reflect. Reflect and then reform.

Whatever your view point, the debate seems destined to rage for a good while yet. Until the next moral conundrum takes its place.

Fortunately the footy is finally about the start. We can all use the scoreboard as a distraction.

How good’s footy!?