Been reading a bit more of David Campese's autobiography, which has become somewhat of a second Bible to me...
“In that short, abbreviated hour between the fading of the winter's afternoon sun and the onset of that bitter night cold which persuades me that I could never live in the British Isles, I turned over in bed at the Surrey hotel where I was staying to take a phone call which was to offer me the chance to change my life forever.”
David Campese, 'A Call to Change My Life', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 11.
“My former Australian team-mate Mark Ella, ballooned from 80 kilos to 90 after he retired. The guy looked like a fat little roly-poly! It is sad to see a player like him put on all that weight, it just does not look right. Mark, I am happy to say, has since trimmed that little barrel shape into a reasonable figure... I hope he stays in shape because it has to be dangerous to anyone's health to put on that kind of weight. Businessmen do not keel over from heart attacks for no good reason; the lives they lead and the amount of food they consume are invariably major factors in their illness.”
David Campese, 'The Lonelness of the Long-Distance Rugby-Player', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 11.
“It has long seemed to me a very good idea that if ever I needed to take out a contract to kill someone, I should go not to a shady underworld figure in Australia but one of the 15 members of the New Zealand All Black rugby side!”
David Campese, 'New Zealand', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 80.
“For example, New Zealand's industry or commerce would not be able to take on that of countries like the USA or Germany and come out on top, nor would it produce the number of historians associated with a country of centuries-old tradition such as England.”
David Campese, 'New Zealand', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 81-2.
“The New Zealanders are an arrogant people when it comes to rugby at the top level, but I suppose they have plenty of reason to feel pretty smart.”
David Campese, 'New Zealand', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 84.
“Because of this intensity, the New Zealanders often become blinded to reality and objectivity; plain common sense, if you like.”
David Campese, 'New Zealand', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 85.
“ I don't think I am being rude in saying that without rugby, there wouldn't be much going for New Zealand, apart from that exceptional scenery.”
David Campese, 'New Zealand', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 86.
“Also, we didn't kick well that day, particularly Michael Lynagh. I hardly saw the ball, and when I did I was clobbered. Not feeling the ball in my hands destroys me anyway; I cannot take it.”
David Campese, 'New Zealand', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 88.
“A good example of how much easier it is toplay against the first five-eighth who relies basically on kicking was seen in 1986 in the second Test of our tour of New Zealand. At Dunedin that day, all the New Zealand flanker Jock Hobbs did was to run at Lynagh and Noddy just didn't know what to do. He put up bombs but they were not spot-on because he was under such pressure. And that was not good enough.”
David Campese, 'Speeding to Disaster: The Lions Tour of 1989', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 95.
“If any side wants to see the best of me, then they have to give me the ball. Without it, I'm like Fred Astaire without his shoes.”
David Campese, 'Speeding to Disaster: The Lions Tour of 1989', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 100.
“I hope I never get myself into a position where a start publicly slagging off guys I have just finished playing alongside. To me, there is something basically wrong with that.”
David Campese, 'Speeding to Disaster: The Lions Tour of 1989', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 104.
“You could mistake me for the local vicar's son, I'm so quiet.”
David Campese, 'The Loner', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 106.
“Why doesn't the game wake up and start to behave as though it is part of the real world, rather than some throwback to Victorian times?”
David Campese, 'The Loner', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 112.
“ During that match, Michael Lynagh must have kicked away 95 per cent of the possession the Wallabies won. And, perhaps for the first time in my entire life, I felt glad I was not wearing a Wallaby jersey that day.
If you love your country and you love the idea of playing for the Wallabies anything like as much as I do, then you would understand that even to think such a thing, let alone voice it, hurts me deeply. But all I could have done that day was to hang around out on the wing and get cold.”
David Campese, 'The Loner', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 117.
“Or I could have been caught up in the middle of a brawl started by Peter FitzSimons, which was a disgrace to the good name of rugby. It was quite obvious that Peter had played countless matches against some of the French players while playing for Brive and had a grudge to settle. He wanted to prove that he was an important player, big on the Australian rugby scene. But for those watching this shocking fight, like myself, it was not a pretty sight. I'm sure 39,000 people watching it with me would agree.
Bearing all that in mind, it's not wonder I feel that friendship is the greatest thing about the game. When you think about matches like that first Test, which are pretty awful both to watch and to play in, then you know there must be something else. And believe me, at that time I was badly in need of the knowledge that there were other qualities associated with the game, because I was far from in love with the idea that playing Test rugby was the ultimate goal. I didn't feel like representing the Wallabies because of the way they were playing. That is an awful thing to have to admit, but it was true.”
David Campese, 'The Loner', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 117.
“When Mark played his last game for Randwick, against the English club, Bath, he had played for Randwick for ten years, captained Australia, was club captain and a great ambassador for the game. In the after-dinner speeches, the Randwick president stood up and said a few words about Mark and presented him with a wet-weather jacket, which he said was for his achievements over the previous ten years. I doubt whether it would have cost much more than $20 or $30 (£8 or £12). As Mark returned to his seat, he said jokingly: 'I've always wanted one of these!'.
I thought it was absolutely disgusting that a player of the calibre of Mark Ella, who had given so much to the game and especially to the spectators at Randwick, should be given as poor a gift as that. Am I alone in thinking that something of real and lasting value such as an inscribed gold watch would have been more suitable?”
David Campese, 'The Loner', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 120.
“I left that room feeling hurt and humiliated. I did something I virtually never do, as I said much earlier: I went out and got drunk. Outside in the Dunedin night the rain was trickling down the windows and the wind was blowing. It was cold and horrible, which exactly reflected my mood. The drops of rain on the windows could have been tears in my soul.”
David Campese, 'Alan Jones and Me', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 132.
“Those events will continue to be influenced by the changing fortunes of time, just as the oceans of the world are turned into raging torrents or calm, flat surfaces by the wind. That is the way it always has been and always will be.”
David Campese, 'A Dying Sport?', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 162.
“Bob must have known, for example, that if his team failed in the 1990 Test series against the French in Australia, he might not hang on to the job for the World Cup the following year. And for me, nothing illustrated better that pressure than the sight of Bob drinking from a bottle of Moet & Chandon after the first Test against the French last year; surely, quite a ridiculous act.”
David Campese, 'A Dying Sport?', On a Wing and a Prayer, p 167.
