The Sun Weekly, Footy 2005 by Steve Carter. Thursday 25th August.
Skin-tight jerseys suit the Catwalkers.
To see all the teams at the weekend wearing jerseys from yesteryear was a treat, even if the current breed of players looked a little out of place in the stripes of past warriors. These days the jersey sizes vary dramatically from those worn in the 1970s and 1980s, and the material used in their manufacture is vastly different. Today, a synthetic and skin-tight material allows players to avoid jumper grabbers and remains light after being soaked.
I remember when we first adopted the jumpers in the new material, and how much the centres and back-rowers loved them. It gave them the chance to show off their rippled bodies gained from spending hours in the gym.
It was a different story for some other blokes who enjoyed the odd beer and weren't too fussed about the ab work. These guys used to leave the old jerseys hanging out to hide the bulges and the love handles.
It was when the new jerseys, which left no where to hide, came in that these once tough warriors became a lot more aware of their bodies. Suddenly they never missed an abs workout. Their conversation at the gym turned from where they were going to have lunch and a couple of beers after the session to how much of an abdominal session they could endure and what type of salad sandwich they would buy.
Pretty soon the big units were emulating the stringent abdominal programs favoured by the Team Adonis boys, as I called them - with mixed results.
In footy you have three types of personalities when it comes to body image.
The Catwalkers are on an endless journey to improve their bodies. They loved to strut their stuff, especially on a hot day during a running session, when the Channel 9 chopper was overhead ready to land for an interview.
The wannabes put themselves through the same gut-wrenching program as the Catwalkers but can't attain the same muscle definition, even though they try every supplement on the market. They also love to get their gear off in front of the cameras, but they too, open themselves up to ridicule from the lads.
The Au Naturals are the 'take-me-as-you-see-me' fellas, such as Peter Kelly, who just dont care too much about what you think of their looks.
They know that it isnt necessary to have great abs to play footy.
When I was playing I floated between the Wannabes and the Au Naturals, until I realised my abs were very shy, so I reverted to the 'take-me-as-you-see-me' camp.
When journalists visited Penrith Park I knew my love handles would be blocked from being displayed on the 6 o'clock news thanks to the Catwalkers jockeying for position in front of the cameras.
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I know he's talking about my man Girds here. :lol: And possibly having a dig at a certain back rower - Mr Adonis himself. ;-) Good on ya Scarts, he's definately good for a laugh and these are the type of articles I love reading from him.
I wonder where Fibroman fits. The Catwalker or the Wannabe?
And on his last article this weekend the Roos beat the Tigers 40 - 0. So they definately have fixed up their defensive problems with Tony Pezet being the outstanding player putting on some trys and setting them up. Scarts knows his boys and the local footy.
