What can you say about Wendell Sailor that hasn’t been said a thousand times?

In action in his new life as a Dragon. In action in his new life as a Dragon. Images: Getty Images

Gallons of ink have been spilt, acres of rainforest cleared to sate our appetite for the Dell. He’s been lauded, reviled, heckled, adored. He’s notched four premierships with the Broncos, worn the Queensland Origin jersey 14 times, the Kangaroos jersey 14 times, the Wallabies jersey 37 times. He spent two years on the sideline for toying with the Bolivian marching powder. He’s in the midst of a redemptive comeback with the Saints

as they march toward a minor premiership. For 16 years he’s been entertaining us; strutting along with waggish grace, telling his stories, cracking his jokes, never taking himself too seriously. Like John McEnroe or Shane Warne, he’s a bloke who grows more loved the older he gets. The loudmouth lair has become the cherished rogue. So join the throng and bend an ear to Big Dell the raconteur

What are your plans for next season? Got another year in you?

Well, I hope so. You can’t write your own fairytales, but my body feels great – touch wood. I’m keen to go again, Wayne (Bennett) knows I’m keen to go again, and the other boys are keen for me to go around again. But I’m not going to push it. It’s up to Wayne. I don’t want to hold some young bloke like Jason Nightingale back. We’ve pretty much got three Test-standard wingers at the moment, so if Wayne says it’s time to go, it’s time to go. I’m just more than grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to come back and have my redemption on and off the field. I’d love to do what Shane Webcke did and finish with a premiership, but you can’t have everything you wish for.

The boys are certainly heading in the right direction at the moment … 

It’s early days, mate. It can easily go wrong. I saw it happen to Parramatta back in ’01 – they lost two games all year, then in the grand final Joey Johns and Ben Kennedy just went bang-bang-bang and the premiership was gone, season over. You get to the semi-finals and it’s a whole new ballgame.