INSIDE SPORT: How did the book come about, Corey? Had you possessed the idea of telling your career story during the backend of your playing days?
“The honest answer to that is, no, I didn’t. I was approached by Pan Macmillan, the publishers of the book about my story and my journey. Initially, it sort’ve caught me off-guard and a bit by surprise that, A: somebody wanted to delve into that side of me and B: that they wanted to publish it! When I had a little think about it, I thought, ‘Well, I do have a bit of a story to tell, and I have been involved with this game for a long period of time. The whole process was very good and something I really enjoyed.”

Did you find you were able to really throw yourself into the writing process?
“Stuart Honeysett, who co-wrote the book, did an exceptional job of, I guess, just peeling all the layers back on me as an individual first and then secondly my career. I tried to be as honest as I could through that and hopefully it’s come across in the book that way. Stuey did a fantastic job there. I worked really closely with him. Obviously at the end of the day it’s my words and it’s how I’ve wanted it to come across. There was plenty of cross-referencing and checking and changing of all of the above. I’m really happy with the final product and I hope everyone else is, too. I think the last thing I wrote before this might have been in a birthday card.”

Did you have a filter person, someone you bounced revelations/ideas off before deciding to go ahead with certain anecdotes?
“I had close friends whose opinion I respect. I passed on a couple of rough drafts to them to see where they were. I took all feedback on board - good, bad or indifferent. I’m really interested in seeing the feedback from more people after they’re read the book. I’ve tried to deliver it as best as I can, in my words and through my eyes. It’s always interesting to know what other people think.”

 

Did the whole book-writing process leave you with wanting to do more of it?
“I tell you what it did do, it made me actually stop and reflect. You know, often you don’t take the time and stop and reflect and appreciate what has actually happened; you’re just right in the here and now. It made me go right back to the start and re-live some of those moments and capture those with a few photos. Some of those moments will stay with me forever. It was really refreshing to go back and be able to write about it all.”

What did you find was the most difficult or daunting thing about writing an autobiography?
“I wanted to get as much honesty that I could out; there have been things in my career that I didn’t want to bring up, but I did, and things that have happened, some of the trials and tribulations that I’d been through that I’d gotten over and moved on from that you just don’t rehash … It was just a really good process and I’m really fortunate that I was given the opportunity to produce a book.”

There’s a strong flavour of politics through the book: at player and club officialdom level. Was that a message you were trying to convey, that footy clubs can be just like any other walk of life: they involve people and hierarchies, etc?
“That’s in real terms how it is. What you see on the weekend is a game of football, but in essence it’s a business. Brisbane Broncos, for example, it’s a business and very successful one. So there are going to be times throughout our working week where you don’t see eye to eye with the boss or the CEO, whoever it might be. That doesn’t mean you don’t respect them, doesn’t mean you don’t like them, that’s just how business works at times. It’s not until you get older that you start to understand that, yes, it is a game, but in the same breath it’s a business. It’s a cut-throat industry. We’ve seen time and time again, coaches being moved on before their contracted time had ended, players moved on … It is what it is.”

Iron Man is published by Pan Macmillan Australia (RRP $34.99).