In a former life, perhaps 15 years ago, I remember being holed up in the Australian Cricket Centre of Excellence building at Albion, standing outside Greg Chappell’s office, waiting for the great man to get off the phone.

Right across the hallway from the COE head coach’s office was the players’ video room, where the aspiring superstars of tomorrow spent hours, trawling through vision, critiquing others and themselves, looking for tiny technical flaws to fix.

Being late in the afternoon, there was only a handful of players around, among them, a young David Warner, back for perhaps his third COE “winter camp”, as Chappell and Co continued to chip away, knocking the rough edges off his precocious talent.

I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation.

“If you go up to the IPL, you’ve gotta clear $300K US or it’s just not worth going,” Warner told his small audience, which I remember included amiable NSW finger spinner Steve O’Keefe.

Six weeks work, 300K. US. Or it’s not worth it …. now there’s an interesting collection of words, bundled up into the one bombastic sentence.

I couldn’t help but wonder what Dave’s father, Howard, would have thought if he’d heard his son’s crude dismissal of Indian Premier League “loose change”. Given Howard’s job, working in a heavy machinery shop in western Sydney, he may not have yet earned $300K (US) in his career, never mind in six weeks.

I suppose as the old saying goes, “one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure”.

The purpose of the story is not to rag on Warner – with the little I had to do with him through his formative years as a professional cricketer, I enjoyed his street fighter rawness, his simple see-ball-hit-ball mentality. But the harsh truth – if not for cricket – his extraordinary hand eye coordination and athleticism – Dave would be working alongside his Dad, behind the counter of the heavy machinery shop. Or starting out stacking shelves at Woolies.

For more than 15 years, he’s been a fascinating study in human behaviour, a rollicking rags to riches story that’s had all the elements, without a clear conclusion. Do we love him? Do we hate him? Or is it still too early to make up our mind? It’s only been a decade and a half – shall we wait until he matures? See what he’s like then?

Another truth – David Warner perhaps more than any other Australian athlete, typifies the challenges modern day professional sportsmen (and increasingly, women) face, walking the tightrope between what’s desirable and what’s acceptable.

We want them to win, but clearly not at all costs. We want them to be friendly with their opponents, but not too friendly. They can’t be bland or robotic, they should be colourful and interesting, just not too colourful and too interesting, then they’re “mug lairs. Show ponies, like Kyrgios.”

Also, rather than utter platitudes, they need to speak their minds, tell us what they really think, just as long as what they think doesn’t offend our sensibilities.

Finally, while it’s important they entertain us, they also have to be predictable and reliable. Their greatest crime of all is falling short in the heat of battle and costing us the fourth leg of our multi – and 600 bucks!

And before we finish, do we need reminding, most of the people we’re talking about are still in their 20s, stumbling their way through life away from professional sport, trying to work out which way’s up…

Don’t get it wrong, fellas, Don’t over step the mark. Most of all, don’t bugger up our multi bets. We’ll come down on you like a ton of bricks, shit-can you every way available on social media.

In more recent years, there’s been the added pressure of “CSR” – corporate social responsibility. The major sporting bodies themselves have become “society standard bearers”, the gatekeepers of everything prim, proper and pure, through fear if they don’t, they’ll fall foul of government, or more accurately, access to government funding.

As a result, high profile athletes are being trotted out to front trite “goody-two-shoe” public campaigns that they may not even believe in – all part of their contractual obligation.

Then there’s authentic endorsement – Australian Cricket captain Pat Cummins’ championing of the environment, for instance. Ask Pat about the crap he’s copped for being “Captain Planet”!

STFU Pat, stop telling us how to live out lives. Just bowl – do what you’re paid to do – take wickets and win Test matches.

There are few more well-rounded, high profile individuals in the country than Cummins, but in the eyes of many, he’s now a villain.

The broader question, where’s it all going to finish up? The only saving grace, as a sporting public, we haven’t yet fallen to the depths of England – they’re next level over there. Any one who’s watched the recent “Beckham” doco would be familiar with how they’re capable of treating their superstar athletes. Outwardly criminal. And that was before multi bets.

Drawing a long bow, there might even be a few small similarities between Posh and Becks, and Candice and Davey.

Strong woman, with a profile for her own, standing up for her man, all while the bar flies continue to mock her for one poor decision she made when she was what – 17, 18? What a wonderfully forgiving, non-judgemental world we live in. Not.

You can say what you like about David Warner – we have been for 16-plus years.
But one thing is certain – Test cricket is going to be just that little bit less interesting, now that he’s gone.

And do I need to remind you, for all but the diehards, it’s not that interesting now.