Drinks With Wendell Sailor

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

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.

Wendell Sailor, Dragons. Image: Getty Images

Have you been hammering that message into the Saints boys?

I don’t have to because that’s not the way we think about it. These guys have been there before. We don’t delve into it. I know the week-by-week thing’s a cliche, but we’ve really bought into that this year. Wayne’s big thing this year was: “I don’t care what you do, guys, but I want you to play for 80 minutes. You might not be known for it, but that’s what I want from you.”

What does Wayne Bennett do better than any other coach?

Look, he’s more than a football coach. What he does is he taps into your mentality as a person, what makes you tick, then he brings that into a team ethos. So you’ve got someone like me who’s hard to control because I love the cameras, very egotistical – but at the same time I love winning, there’s nothing I won’t do to win a game within the rules. And then there’s someone like Darren Lockyer or Ben Hornby who are very introverted, very good at what they do, but very quiet. And Wayne gets you all on the same page, singing from the same sheet.

What about his football knowledge?

He’s the best coach I’ve worked with because you know what he’s doing is going to work. All the premierships he’s won, all the Origin series he’s won – you know he’s on the money. You can’t help but be enthralled when he talks; you buy into what he says because you know it’s going to work long term. Look at New Zealand last year: everyone said, ‘So what if they’ve got Wayne Bennett.’ But he had those guys pumped, he had them ready to beat Australia and they did the job.

League or union, Kangaroos or Wallabies , they all love him. Image: Getty Images

I heard a rumour you were texting Mal Meninga in the hours before Origin II, telling him you were ready to play. Disappointed you didn’t get a call-up to the Origin squad this year?

Mate, I don’t even have Mal Meninga’s number. It’s funny how people believe that crap. At the end of the day I would rather have seen someone like Antonio Winterstein get an opportunity. As far as I’m concerned, at that level, I’ve got nothing more to prove. So no, not at all, I was happy in the commentary box … Look, I’ve done a lot of things in my career, but that’s certainly not one

of the things I’d do – I’ve got a lot of respect for Mal and the selectors.

Hypothetically, if you were on the field in the last minute of Origin III, would you have been in that pack gunning for Kurt Gidley’s head?

Mate, I love sledging, but I like to play the game pretty clean. I didn’t condone that tactic and I didn’t think it was in the spirit of the game. Anyway, if I’d been out there, I would’ve been on the wing and I don’t think the big, dark Hummer out wide would’ve come that far in …

Got a favourite sledge?

I think one of my better ones, one people actually enjoyed, was when I was coming back to Queensland Cup last year. I was up against this Ipswich winger who’d been going alright, getting a lot of publicity through the week, so it fired me up. And on the field I said, “Mate, who are you? You know what your name is? Kate Hudson.” He said, “What?” And I said, “Mate, you’re Kate Hudson because you’re almost famous … ”

I’ve had a few tit-for-tats, but I try not to get too personal. In my first game back last year against the Broncos I was up against Denan Kemp and I knew how quick he was, so I was just trying to put him off his game. I kept telling him, “You’re not scoring on me tonight, not scoring on me.” Then he looked up at me and smiled and I said, “You smile at me again and I’m going to throw you into that grandstand!” He quickly looked away. I don’t like to be a bully out there on the wing – sometimes you’ve got little blokes, but other times you’re marking someone like Manu Vatuvei or Taniela Tuiaki …

League or union, Kangaroos or Wallabies, they all love him. Image: Getty Images

Do you dare sledge them?

They say don’t wake the sleeping giant … It’s like what they used to do with Mal Meninga: whenever he ran the ball everyone would say, "Oh, great run Mal, top hit Mal.” You just don’t want to wake some of those blokes up because they can rip through you. I’m good mates with Beau Ryan at the Tigers and he asked Taniela one day what he was going to do if Dell sledged him. And Taniela goes, “I don’t know … I think I might just smile at him with my gold teeth … ” Yeah, I pick my mark, but, really, no one’s safe around me. I’m always happy to cop it back – Willie (Mason) and I have had a few good ones.

What’s your most recent spat with Willie?

Well, last time we played the Roosters I was wearing a GPS. Willie sees it and stands up in this scrum and says, “Dell, what are you doing with a GPS on?” And I wasn’t real happy with the start of my game, so I said nothing. But in the second half I made a few good runs and scored that try where I did the moonwalk. After that I looked across at Willie – he’s standing there with his head down – and I said, “Hey, Willie! Can you come over here and check my GPS? Just want to know how many metres I’ve made today.” He just told me to eff off.

Is there a bloke you’ve hated playing against?

I wouldn’t say “hated”, but Adam MacDougall and I have had a good rivalry. “Doogs” might have a couple of ordinary weeks, but he’d always save his best games for me. Whether that’s respect or he wants my mantle, I don’t know, but we had a lot of heated exchanges. I love the way he comes at me and vice versa.

State Of Origin – his favourite stage. Image: Getty Images

Is there a bloke you dread getting tackled by?

Nah, but the biggest hit I’ve had put on me was by Mark O’Meley. I’ve never really been hurt on a football field, but that day at ANZ Stadium, with Mark playing for the Northern Eagles, I came out from underneath our posts and all I could see was a straight 100m. I thought, ‘I’m away here!’ And he hit me on my goal line, buckled me, and sent me five metres backwards. I was just hunched on the ground. The trainer ran on and I said, “Can’t … speak … ” Then I spewed.At the other end of the spectrum, I played against Preston Campbell one day, he was playing for the Gold Coast Chargers, and he kept hitting me at the ankles and chopping me down. I was shattered. He was about 5-foot-3 and I thought, “How good’s this? I’m going to have a field day here.” But he kept chopping me down and I kept trying to bump him, trying to palm him, but I just couldn’t reach him. Then later in the game they put a kick across and he jumped up and took the ball off me. I couldn’t live that one down with the boys for a while.

How does the league culture compare to union?

I think union is a very corporate game. In league it’s just “train hard, play hard, go home”. But in union it’s the whole “wear-the-suit-and-work-the-room” thing. I noticed that straight away.

Which is the better game to play?

Well, I’m biased because league’s always been my first love – I used to idolise Dale Shearer and Gene Miles and I used to follow Manly. It was unbelievable playing the All Blacks, and playing in South Africa at Ellis Park and Newlands was definitely an experience. But for me, Origin’s the best football I’ve played. Then again, it’s easier for me to play league because I love confrontation. In union you have to have good peripheral vision and that’s probably not my finest skill. Plus, in all my years in union, I still never learnt to kick properly …

Wendell-In action. Image: Getty Images

Why is it that the rugby league backs who came to union never really dominated as they were expected to?

Mate, Lote didn’t do too badly. He played 65 times for Australia – that’s pretty good. So-called experts don’t understand – it’s not as easy as you think to switch codes. In league you’re used to getting the ball in your hands and you’re used to constant defensive work. In union I had games where I touched the ball three times and made two tackles. You know, for league players that’s unheard of, but union players are used to that, so their five touches are all quality touches. Plus, you’ve got to understand guys like Lote were getting heavily marked. He was double-teamed a lot of the time because of his power and strength.

What are your plans when you do finally hang the boots up?

I really enjoy doing the media stuff, love being on TV. I enjoy doing the sideline commentary and stuff in the box, but I also enjoy doing the panels and the shows, so hopefully I can lock something away there.

Chance of a coaching gig?

Mate, Darren Lockyer and I used to joke about it. When he got injured recently, he said to me, in his husky voice, “I’ve really been looking at coaching.” And I said, “Mate, you need a good wingman, there’s no better wingman than me.” So there I am, selling myself again …

– Aaron Scott