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By Josh Massoud
September 28, 2007 12:00am
WHEN it comes to numbers, more has changed for Greg Inglis in 2007 than the one his back.
Forget the fact he now wears six instead of four. A far larger number gives a better account of the real difference between this season and last. It stands at 1496 - precisely how many less times Inglis' name has appeared in the newspaper over the past 12 months. Having farewelled the centres, the Melbourne Storm wonder boy left the centre of attention behind as well.
The onset of teenage dynamo Israel Folau has greased Inglis' slide from public consciousness. Yet there's no doubt a challenging first-up season at five eighth also checked the dizzying rise of the 20-year-old's profile. "I'm glad Israel came a long because I didn't like the spotlight as much as everyone thought,'' Inglis says. "I've probably had a lot more free time than last year, 2006 was too much of a rush. I'm a laid-back guy who doesn't like to talk footy all the time. "I don't miss anything about it at all. Issy is the new kid on the block - he can have it all.''
With Folau gagged by a media ban this week, there was still healthy demand for Inglis at the Storm's open media session on Monday. But, unlike last year, no more so than for teammates Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Matt King. Inglis, however, still wasn't content with settling among the mortals. After accepting one interview, he sought refuge in the weights room beneath Princes Park. "I was trying to dodge the cameras, but they got me a beauty,'' he lamented upon being summoned back.
The foiled escape act summed up the Greg Inglis enigma that led senior Storm players to front him for a heart-to-heart in May. Skipper Cameron Smith puts it this way: "He was just doing what he needed to do to get by.''
Just as he fled after completing the bare minimum on Monday, Inglis was not going above and beyond on the field earlier this season. "Having the No.6 on your back, you have to be pretty dominant,'' Smith says. "He would only run if the ball came to him. He didn't go looking for it. I think he needed a kick up the bum, old Greggy. His attitude to footy was not right at the time. He needed to hear from us that he was an important factor in the team. If he was not aware that he was a leader, he was going to be made aware.''
The chat had the desired effect. It stirred Inglis - who one player described as "so relaxed it looks like he is falling a sleep'' - from his slumber. Not that he didn't need some shut eye. A significant part of the leadership group's concern centred around Inglis arriving at training and boasting about how little sleep he had previous night. But don't get the wrong idea. Inglis was simply burning the candle at both ends, not torching it.
"Going off the rails can mean anything,'' he explains. "It wasn't drinking. I don't drink during the week. It just late nights and not eating the right foods. I was going out to dinner too much, eating the wrong things. I was sitting at home playing Play Station all night.''
With the benefit of hindsight, Inglis now concedes he invited his teammates to tell him some home truths. "I knew what was going on, but I just wasn't pulling my finger out and doing the tough stuff,'' he says. "The senior players hauled me in. They didn't think I was giving myself every chance. If my teammates think that's happening to me, they know best.''
Coach Criag Bellamy also knew, but kept his peace. He reckoned that Inglis - having just stepped out of his teens - was better placed to swallow the advice from his peers. "We've got to remember he is only 20,'' Bellamy stresses. "It's quite easy to for kids that age to get carried away after playing that many big games in a season. He played for Queensland and Australia, as well as a Grand Final for us, in 2006. Coming back the next year and playing 25 rounds can be a bit ho-hum. We made that point to him early in the season.''
There was no better proof that Inglis had indeed wisened up than the opening minutes of last Sunday's preliminary final against Parramatta. Running off dummy half Smith, Inglis charged the ball straight into Parramatta's forwards like a seasoned front rower on no less than three separate occasions. "Being where I am at five-eighth in a grand final, it's a big role for me,'' he says. "I've got more of a hunger to get my hands on the ball instead of passing it. It's got nothing to do with proving people wrong. It's just the way I want to play.''
By Josh Massoud
September 28, 2007 12:00am
WHEN it comes to numbers, more has changed for Greg Inglis in 2007 than the one his back.
Forget the fact he now wears six instead of four. A far larger number gives a better account of the real difference between this season and last. It stands at 1496 - precisely how many less times Inglis' name has appeared in the newspaper over the past 12 months. Having farewelled the centres, the Melbourne Storm wonder boy left the centre of attention behind as well.
The onset of teenage dynamo Israel Folau has greased Inglis' slide from public consciousness. Yet there's no doubt a challenging first-up season at five eighth also checked the dizzying rise of the 20-year-old's profile. "I'm glad Israel came a long because I didn't like the spotlight as much as everyone thought,'' Inglis says. "I've probably had a lot more free time than last year, 2006 was too much of a rush. I'm a laid-back guy who doesn't like to talk footy all the time. "I don't miss anything about it at all. Issy is the new kid on the block - he can have it all.''
With Folau gagged by a media ban this week, there was still healthy demand for Inglis at the Storm's open media session on Monday. But, unlike last year, no more so than for teammates Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Matt King. Inglis, however, still wasn't content with settling among the mortals. After accepting one interview, he sought refuge in the weights room beneath Princes Park. "I was trying to dodge the cameras, but they got me a beauty,'' he lamented upon being summoned back.
The foiled escape act summed up the Greg Inglis enigma that led senior Storm players to front him for a heart-to-heart in May. Skipper Cameron Smith puts it this way: "He was just doing what he needed to do to get by.''
Just as he fled after completing the bare minimum on Monday, Inglis was not going above and beyond on the field earlier this season. "Having the No.6 on your back, you have to be pretty dominant,'' Smith says. "He would only run if the ball came to him. He didn't go looking for it. I think he needed a kick up the bum, old Greggy. His attitude to footy was not right at the time. He needed to hear from us that he was an important factor in the team. If he was not aware that he was a leader, he was going to be made aware.''
The chat had the desired effect. It stirred Inglis - who one player described as "so relaxed it looks like he is falling a sleep'' - from his slumber. Not that he didn't need some shut eye. A significant part of the leadership group's concern centred around Inglis arriving at training and boasting about how little sleep he had previous night. But don't get the wrong idea. Inglis was simply burning the candle at both ends, not torching it.
"Going off the rails can mean anything,'' he explains. "It wasn't drinking. I don't drink during the week. It just late nights and not eating the right foods. I was going out to dinner too much, eating the wrong things. I was sitting at home playing Play Station all night.''
With the benefit of hindsight, Inglis now concedes he invited his teammates to tell him some home truths. "I knew what was going on, but I just wasn't pulling my finger out and doing the tough stuff,'' he says. "The senior players hauled me in. They didn't think I was giving myself every chance. If my teammates think that's happening to me, they know best.''
Coach Criag Bellamy also knew, but kept his peace. He reckoned that Inglis - having just stepped out of his teens - was better placed to swallow the advice from his peers. "We've got to remember he is only 20,'' Bellamy stresses. "It's quite easy to for kids that age to get carried away after playing that many big games in a season. He played for Queensland and Australia, as well as a Grand Final for us, in 2006. Coming back the next year and playing 25 rounds can be a bit ho-hum. We made that point to him early in the season.''
There was no better proof that Inglis had indeed wisened up than the opening minutes of last Sunday's preliminary final against Parramatta. Running off dummy half Smith, Inglis charged the ball straight into Parramatta's forwards like a seasoned front rower on no less than three separate occasions. "Being where I am at five-eighth in a grand final, it's a big role for me,'' he says. "I've got more of a hunger to get my hands on the ball instead of passing it. It's got nothing to do with proving people wrong. It's just the way I want to play.''
