Australia captain Rocky Elsom rejects the gung-ho approach as he builds on the legacy of Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales. The Daily Telegraph's Ian Chadband reports.
"We claw with our fingernails for that inch 'cause we know when we add up all those inches, that's going to make the ------- difference between winning and losing, between living and dying
This is Al Pacino in full ham-tastic cry in Any Given Sunday, playing Tony D'Amato, the pumped-up American football coach in the locker room, roaring his pre-game team talk to its macho crescendo.
"You know that speech?" asks Rocky Elsom, bringing up Hollywood out of the blue. "People love that speech. They say 'Jeez, I'd run through a brick wall if I heard that'. Well, they might feel that way until they got to the brick wall.
"I watch that speech and think 'if someone was saying that to me, I'd tune out right at the start'. Younger players could lose their way listening to that. You want clearness in the head, a bit of direction."
Right, so if the Australia rugby captain is unimpressed by the shouty, gung-ho approach to leadership, then could we instead categorise him in that Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee mould of strong, silent Aussie types who inspire by deed not oratory? Nope. Try again."
RSS feed
