On the attack for the Kiwis On the attack for the Kiwis. Image: Getty Images

Are today’s NRL players appreciative of fans’ dedication to them and the game?

I think they’re very appreciative. Players do a lot that’s positive and don’t get recognised for it … a lot of players don’t even want recognition for it. To me, if you’re in a situation where fans want to see you and talk to you about the game, that’s how it should be. Being in the gaming industry, we do a lot of days out for charity. My good mate Darryl Brohman and I will turn up to these events as much as possible. There’s a golf day run by Penrith RSL which we’ve been supporting for 12 years. We’ll also get behind people like Banardos; kids with disabilities, mental and physical …

Is league still as “fun” as players make it out to be?

It’s a business now, but I think the players are still having fun out there. There were two rounds in particular this year – 13 and 14, the way the players adapted and the way the referees adapted – which were the best two rounds I’ve seen for a long time. Players were in each other’s faces, some magnificent tries were scored. As for the intensity and physicality, I think the referees are letting sides move in closer to each other, just like they do in State Of Origin matches.

We look at someone like Nathan Hindmarsh, who finishes banged up and bloody around the head, and think, “Look at the state he’s in.” After a game he’ll sit down and have ice packs all over him. They all get bruised. It’s just the nature of the beast. At some stage of the game you’re going to get bruised. The players do it because they love it.

What, in your opinion, were your greatest strengths as a player in your heyday?

I’m not quite sure … I don’t want to sound big-headed or anything, but you’ve got to be a competitor – when the whips are cracking, you’re there. Sometimes I was there, sometimes I wasn’t. We’ve all had poor games, we’ve all had great games. From a New Zealander’s point of view, I was always trying to prove I could handle myself in the competition over here. As a little kid watching Amco Cup games which were fed across to New Zealand, I’d think to myself, “Geez, that would be the place to play, where you’re up against the best week in, week out.”

You were a cheeky halfback in your day. Which vocab worked best in unsettling your opposition?

You could say I was yappy. People who know me might laugh at this, but I used to try and wait for players from the other side to say something first. People might not see it that way, but there were plenty of things which used to go on that went unnoticed. In the end, the major focus for me was to outplay my opposite, or limit his ability in the game. I don’t think many people used to like playing against me, though!