Greg Alexander is renowned as one of the smartest halfbacks to have ever laced on a boot.
The off-field footy culture seemed a bit ad-lib too, yes?
Of course. When I started, it was training Tuesdays after work and Thursdays after work ‒ and on Saturday mornings. Blokes would take their disco gear to training on the Thursday night – it would all be hanging up around the change room wall. They’d train, as soon as training finished, it was off across the club to Panthers. You’d train Saturday morning if you were playing Sunday ... and that’s all there was. There were no weights – no one did weights. There was a universal machine where you might do a couple of circuits ... But it changed pretty quickly. By the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the game had gone through that phase where it was becoming professional, but not back when I started in 1984. You’d have a steak and eggs for breakfast before the big game. That’s old-fashioned rugby league.
Have you ever seriously thought about taking charge of an NRL side?
Until this year and midway through last year, I’d been on the coaching staff at Penrith since I retired. I’d done bits and pieces; kicking, generally. It doesn’t interest me to coach full-time. That’s too tough a gig, too time-consuming. I can understand the thrill that coaches who absolutely love it get out of it, but it’s not in me.
If you were a CEO, then, with an open chequebook, who would you chase out of today’s stars to build a new team around?
It would be hard to go past a few Melbourne players, wouldn’t it? I think Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk would be a good start. They’re a great combination, they’re great professionals and they seem like such good club people. They’re the full package. They take their rugby league very seriously ‒ they don’t take it for granted. They’ve done all the work over the years to make them the players they are. They’re the full package. They’re good on and off the field for the game.
Has the Panthers’ footy board found itself in secret midnight bunker meetings discussing the AFL’s Giants’ supposed threat? They’re playing in your club’s backyard after all ...
Not really, because there’s not much we can really do about AFL. We just have to make sure what we’re doing is right. There’s more talk about what we need to do as a club, to make sure the sport thrives in our area. Of course it’s been mentioned – we’re not living under rocks out here. We know they’re there, but we don’t discuss them that much.
Would you have played AFL if you were approached while playing for the Panthers?
You know what, these days, if they were going to throw a million and a half at me, yes. If I was Israel Folau, absolutely. You’d have to. You’d be mad not to give it a crack. But the money would have to be astronomical. It would have to be double what you were getting paid to play league. So, Karmichael and Israel, the timing’s everything, isn’t it, in sport? New franchises were starting up, they needed names to drive their marketing. Hunt and Folau provided that for them. If I was playing league and it was the era where they had another start-up franchise and they said, “We’ll give you a million and a half to jump codes,” absolutely. I’d probably always have in mind that I’d go back to league after three years, but I’d take their money.
Where should investigating “new markets” rank on the new Commission’s to-do list?
There’s no other place in the world with four football codes, especially with such a small population. Other countries don’t have the same battle that our football codes have. I think all four codes realise they need to grow, and if their games are going to grow, they need to make sure they’re in strategically the right positions in the country. Some codes have realised that expansion doesn’t work if you’re not ready ... I think rugby league needs to expand into new markets, but only when we’re ready. You don’t want to spread the talent too thin. You want to make sure where you’re going is worthwhile.
Where should the game head next then?
Perth’s a no-brainer. It would get the support. We should never have left Perth in the first place. The Western Reds should’ve stayed there. This isn’t a new area, either, but there’s room for another Queensland club. I know the Central Coast would love a side, too, but geographically are they too close to Sydney? We might have too many clubs here already anyway. That’s the big problem for them, the fact the Central Coast is jammed in between Sydney and Newcastle.
People enjoy hearing your comments on TV and radio – do you have any gripes or hobby horses about the game you like to ride?
I talk that much footy ... which I don’t mind doing, either. People ask me, “Do you get sick of people talking footy to you,” and I don’t. Not at all. I can talk footy all day ... forever. It’s just what you are. You’re a former footy player who likes talking about footy. With anyone, as long as someone’s not obnoxious or rude, I’m happy to talk footy anytime, anywhere. I liked talking about it when I was playing, too, but playing is different. I think people approach you in a different way when you’re playing. It’s a different “talk” of footy between when you’re playing and when you’re finished. When you’re playing, it’s more about you and your team, whereas when you finish playing, the conversations you have with people about footy are more general – from anything; rules, to what’s in the paper, the latest issue, who has screwed up off the field. I’d talk to a Dragons fan about the Dragons, whereas when I was playing, I couldn’t care less about the Dragons. Didn’t even bother me who was playing for them. Now, because I’m commentating, I’m across all teams ... I like talking footy, with all fans.
Getting back to your question, there’s a lot of pressing issues for the Commission. They must have so much on their plate. There is so much to do. I think the big thing for the Commission is the television deal and making sure that money is spent right. You only get a crack at a television deal once every five or six years; you have to make sure it’s done well, properly. You’re not going to keep everyone happy, but you have to keep most happy and make sure that money goes to the right places.
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