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Bails predicts good things from Sharks
By Greg Prichard
February 8, 2004
Phil Bailey was sitting outside a Barcelona cafe in October thinking how great it was to have made it there as one of the Kangaroos after he'd begun the season without a representative jumper to his name and with no one tipping him to get one.
No one except his friend Matthew Johns, that is, although when it comes to making predictions about players breaking into the rep scene Johns openly adopts a variation on the old theory that if you ask enough women out, one of them will eventually say yes. It's his idea of fun.
"I sent Matty a text message saying, 'We're at a table on the sidewalk in Barcelona watching the beautiful people go by'," Bailey recalled. "He sent me one back saying, 'I'm sitting in a pub in Cessnock having a beer'."
Bailey and Johns are great mates because they are similar types. They are both from the country and they love a joke and a laugh, but they know when to get serious about football, and it's the stuff we don't see that proves the strength of their link.
"Matty taught me a hell of a lot in the one season he had at the Sharks," Bailey said.
"During games I'd be ready to take a run and he'd say, 'No, Bails, don't take this one' and one or two tackles later he'd say, 'Run now, take this one' and he would always be right.
"He still rings me up before most games and says, 'Bails, you're coming up against so-and-so' and tells me how I should go about it, or he'll say, 'It's going to be a tough game, not an open game, so you've got to knuckle down, put the ball under your wing and just make yards'.
"Sometimes we meet at a park to train. He'll be the five-eighth and I'll run off him and we'll work on a few things to do with angles and speed. People see him play the clown as Reg [Reagan, the character created by Johns], but when he talks footy no one talks it smarter.
"We get on well, probably because we're both a bit loopy, a bit weird, and we like the same things.
"I went to see Cold Chisel with him and met Barnesy afterwards. It was great. Matty has put me on to Oasis as well and even Roy Orbison. I'm into the Big O!"
Bailey, 23, can't believe the past 12 months of his life. He went from being just one of many promising young players to representing NSW in all three State of Origin matches and making his Test debut against Great Britain on tour.
"I'd never been to England," he said. "I knew it would be cold, but I didn't know what else to expect.
"The Pommy people were great. I loved them. They were happy just to go to the pub, drink pints and watch soccer."
Last year wasn't a good one for the Sharks. They failed to make the finals and increasing acrimony between coach Chris Anderson and the club's management eventually led to the coach's sacking. Will they become a force again under new coach Stuart Raper?
"We had shocking luck with injuries last season," Bailey said. "Even Brett Kimmorley got hurt. Noddy hadn't missed a game for years, but then he busted a nut and broke his jaw!
"The guys were filthy about losing so much last year. They hated it. They can't wait to get out there and start winning again.
"I reckon we'll be top eight and very competitive in the finals."
But what about Bailey as an individual? Opponents will be gunning for him after his big breakthrough year. He'll be going back to second row from centre, for a start, after filling in out wide last season.
"I don't want to be a flash in the pan," he said. "I don't want to finish my career as a one-Test wonder.
"I know the pressure is going to be on, but I want that. It'll keep me on my toes."
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/07/1075854114735.html
By Greg Prichard
February 8, 2004
Phil Bailey was sitting outside a Barcelona cafe in October thinking how great it was to have made it there as one of the Kangaroos after he'd begun the season without a representative jumper to his name and with no one tipping him to get one.
No one except his friend Matthew Johns, that is, although when it comes to making predictions about players breaking into the rep scene Johns openly adopts a variation on the old theory that if you ask enough women out, one of them will eventually say yes. It's his idea of fun.
"I sent Matty a text message saying, 'We're at a table on the sidewalk in Barcelona watching the beautiful people go by'," Bailey recalled. "He sent me one back saying, 'I'm sitting in a pub in Cessnock having a beer'."
Bailey and Johns are great mates because they are similar types. They are both from the country and they love a joke and a laugh, but they know when to get serious about football, and it's the stuff we don't see that proves the strength of their link.
"Matty taught me a hell of a lot in the one season he had at the Sharks," Bailey said.
"During games I'd be ready to take a run and he'd say, 'No, Bails, don't take this one' and one or two tackles later he'd say, 'Run now, take this one' and he would always be right.
"He still rings me up before most games and says, 'Bails, you're coming up against so-and-so' and tells me how I should go about it, or he'll say, 'It's going to be a tough game, not an open game, so you've got to knuckle down, put the ball under your wing and just make yards'.
"Sometimes we meet at a park to train. He'll be the five-eighth and I'll run off him and we'll work on a few things to do with angles and speed. People see him play the clown as Reg [Reagan, the character created by Johns], but when he talks footy no one talks it smarter.
"We get on well, probably because we're both a bit loopy, a bit weird, and we like the same things.
"I went to see Cold Chisel with him and met Barnesy afterwards. It was great. Matty has put me on to Oasis as well and even Roy Orbison. I'm into the Big O!"
Bailey, 23, can't believe the past 12 months of his life. He went from being just one of many promising young players to representing NSW in all three State of Origin matches and making his Test debut against Great Britain on tour.
"I'd never been to England," he said. "I knew it would be cold, but I didn't know what else to expect.
"The Pommy people were great. I loved them. They were happy just to go to the pub, drink pints and watch soccer."
Last year wasn't a good one for the Sharks. They failed to make the finals and increasing acrimony between coach Chris Anderson and the club's management eventually led to the coach's sacking. Will they become a force again under new coach Stuart Raper?
"We had shocking luck with injuries last season," Bailey said. "Even Brett Kimmorley got hurt. Noddy hadn't missed a game for years, but then he busted a nut and broke his jaw!
"The guys were filthy about losing so much last year. They hated it. They can't wait to get out there and start winning again.
"I reckon we'll be top eight and very competitive in the finals."
But what about Bailey as an individual? Opponents will be gunning for him after his big breakthrough year. He'll be going back to second row from centre, for a start, after filling in out wide last season.
"I don't want to be a flash in the pan," he said. "I don't want to finish my career as a one-Test wonder.
"I know the pressure is going to be on, but I want that. It'll keep me on my toes."
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/07/1075854114735.html
