http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/from-bad-ass-to-role-model/2009/05/29/1243456735448.html
Ready to go ... Michael Jennings.
Photo:
Craig Abraham
From 'bad ass' to role model
May 30, 2009
This NSW State of Origin rookie nearly took a darker path in life, writes Jessica Halloran.
Michael Jennings has brawled on the streets of Mount Druitt. He has languished in a jail cell. He has seen things he never wanted to see. He has done things he should never have done. Jennings was, as he describes it, once a "bad ass".
At just 15, Jennings spent a night behind bars after becoming involved in a fight. During the hours in that cell, he felt pained by his actions. Then came the epiphany.
"I don't want to be in this situation," Jennings thought that night. "This isn't what I need. It's not the person I am."
Six years on, Jennings is a State of Origin player, having been named in the centres for the Blues. Life is very different to what it once was.
Jennings is sitting in the shiny foyer at Werribee Mansion, his NSW beanie pulled down just above his bushy eyebrows. He's smiling now, living out a teenage dream.
"That night opened my eyes to the choices I had," Jennings says. "I would never have pictured myself here at this moment. I was just wanting to play football. I didn't think all of this stuff would happen … making Origin. It's full-on. It's crazy."
For Jennings, it would have been easier to choose the other, darker path. The one many of his childhood friends are still on. Right now, most of the mates Jennings grew up with are in jail. Then there are the ones who started families in their teens, and the others who are lost to drugs.
The ones he used to fight alongside, those who used to run with him when they were being chased by the police, are now living difficult lives while he is on the verge of rugby league stardom. When Jennings runs out as an NSW rookie on Wednesday night, he will be all too aware that it was his "right" choices that carried him to this point.
"It's pretty tough out there in the west," he says. "You can just fall into the wrong crowd and they can take you away, make you see things and do things that you wouldn't usually do. But, I guess, living that way is part of growing up around there.
"My mates, they played local football. I still know some of them now, but most of them are either in jail or off the rails. You know, you see a lot of it as you grow up. You see your mates having babies, good football players having babies, you see them doing the wrong thing, going off the rails. You see a lot of your mates do that, and it makes you realise that you don't want to end up like that. It motivates you more. It made me strive to do my best. I want to be a role model, inspire kids to keep out of all that trouble."
When Jennings arrived at the Penrith Panthers a few years ago, coach Matthew Elliott knew he had already made some life-altering decisions. It's the way it is for many of the kids who arrive at his football club after experiencing tough lives in Sydney's west, Elliott says.
"Most of the kids from that area have to make that decision, and when you get to coach them, you know they've done the hardest bit already," Elliott says. "When I started coaching him, he was just 17-18 but he has already made the tough decision: this is what he is going to do and he's going to make the most of it.
When Jennings is asked why he didn't stray, he utters one word: "Discipline." He adds that there are three people in his life who kept him centred, including his parents, Antonio and Vialata. That night he spent in jail, he wasn't so worried about the conditions inside. He was more concerned about his father's reaction.
"My parents, they influenced me a lot. They kept me on track. Football really disciplined me, and my parents had a major influence on me."
With the money he has made at Penrith, Jennings has bought Antonio and Vialata a house at Quakers Hill. They, his two older brothers, two younger brothers and little sister will all be at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
The other person who had a major influence on Jennings was Penrith's under-16s Harold Matthews Cup coach Bill Dowers. Jennings thanks Dowers for his discipline and for giving him confidence.
"When I was 16-17, football kept me in line," Jennings says. "Billy Dowers kept me on track. He disciplined me through football. He taught me the right stuff. On and off the field. He made a major impact on me, and it still affects me now."
When he was selected for the Blues' team, Jennings heard from some of those old mates he used to kick around with on the streets of Mount Druitt.
"Yeah, I still hear from them," he says. "They knew I was always going to be here. They knew that I had kept my feet on the track. I just didn't do the stuff that they were doing. They're happy for me, and that is pretty good.
"At the end of the day, I was disciplined enough to say no. I made my choices right, and I'm glad for that."
