POMS LOVE PETER SIDDLE. In their mind’s eye, he’s the “typical” Aussie: a nugget from the bush, a blood-nut we might call “Bluey”. They see him ripping the top off a tinnie and cracking a gag about sheilas. They love him for the same reason they loved Thommo and Merv and Warney: rough-hewn, rough edges, just rough. Rough in that honest, rough-Aussie way. You think Liz likes Warney for his teeth?

But Siddle is much more than ocker in creams. He’s a country boy who’ll help rescue maltreated farm animals. He’s ultra-competitive, but doesn’t froth or sledge, at least not cruelly. He was “deeply affected” by the ABC’s Four Corners program which showed cattle being mistreated in Indonesian slaughterhouses. He’s a 28-year-old one-time wood-chopper who doesn’t drink. He only eats plants. He’d confuse left-wing intellectuals and right-wing bushies.

Watch this compilation of Peter in action (By Gregz0rr) which we found on YouTube, then read the rest of our story on Siddle in the November edition of Inside Sport.