THE INCREDIBLE RISE OF CULT HERO BILLY MCCONNACHIE
Written by JOEL GOULD, November 14, 2015
IT’S been one amazing three-year journey from the back of an Ipswich ambulance to the NRL for Wests Tigers recruit Billy McConnachie.
They call the ferocious prop ‘Madness’ for good reason.
The 25-year-old has knocked out five players during the past two seasons while carrying the football for the Ipswich Jets in the Intrust Super Cup. Defenders’ heads hit his barrel chest and they see stars.
But McConnachie was the one seeing stars when he was discovered at the Murri Carnival in Ipswich over the October long weekend in 2012 while playing for the Southern Dingoes. The raw front-rower had played club football that season in Mount Isa and was an unknown.
McConnachie’s brother-in-law Brendon Marshall, a Jets legend, told Ipswich co-coach Ben Walker he should have a look at the 100kg prop at the Murri Carnival.The first meeting between player and coach was bizarre . . . to say the least. “I literally first met Billy in the back of an ambulance while he was sucking on the ‘green dream’,” Walker grins. “When you get a really bad injury they give you this green whistle to suck on, which they call the green dream. It’s like a happy drug so you don’t feel the injury, and Billy had a broken leg. “If he hadn’t been sucking on the dream, he may not have come to us. But he was on the happy pipe and said ‘yes’, which was good.
“I had sat and watched Billy for three days at the Murri Knockout and he just killed blokes. “I rang Shane (Walker) after the second day and said, ‘I’ve found a front-rower for next year’. “I thought I would leave it to the end of the carnival to introduce myself but he broke his leg and was being rushed away in an ambulance. “The doors were still open so I ran over, introduced myself and told him how impressed I was with how he played and that we’d like to have him at the Jets. “He turned up to training in pre-season and from day one he hasn’t looked back. But if the doors had shut on that ambulance, he may never have got to the NRL.”
One thing Ben also told his brother and co-coach Shane on the phone that day was that McConnachie needed to work on his handling skills. Shane jokes that McConnachie’s hands were so poor the Jets considered sewing a hessian bag to his jersey to put the ball in. McConnachie was sent to renowned sports optometrist Pat Gerry, who discovered he had a depth perception issue with his eyes.
“Pat Gerry gave Billy this set of eye exercises to do over six weeks,” Shane recalls. “You do them and you are fixed for life. Billy did them diligently and now he has an excellent passing game. “He can go to the line and pop balls and throw spiral passes with the best of them.”
McConnachie, who starred in the Jets’ Intrust Super Cup and NRL State Championship triumphs this year, says the visit to Gerry was a turning point in his career. “I had trouble just catching the ball but (the eye exercises) helped me heaps with my game,” he says. “It paid off for me.”
McConnachie, an Ipswich City Council concreter, spoke to RLW while slaving away during one of his last stints in the blazing sun. He has to pinch himself when he recalls how he agreed to come to the Jets in the back of that Ipswich ambulance. “I was high after sucking on that green whistle, but I remember telling Ben that I would be coming down to Ipswich,” he grins. “I was nervous about coming down from Mount Isa to Ipswich, but now that I have settled in I’m nervous about going to Sydney, which is even bigger.
“But change is always good. “I’ve learned at the Jets to never give up no matter what, to keep on going and to have faith in myself. “I’m just looking forward to training full-time and the opportunity to play first grade in the NRL. “I’ve had a chat to Jason Taylor and he seems like a level-headed bloke and very honest.”
McConnachie was a feared figure in Mount Isa growing up. Even as a 17-year-old the old hard-heads on the local footy scene were wary of him. That intimidation factor continued in the Intrust Super Cup. “In his two years in first grade for the Jets he has knocked out five players who have tried to tackle him when he is in possession of the ball,” Shane grins. “It’s their heads hitting his chest. Tackle him at your own peril.”
Much hoopla was made of a punch McConnachie threw at Newcastle Knights fullback Jake Mamo in the State Championship final. Evidence couldn’t be found that McConnachie had landed a punch so he was charged with contrary conduct instead of striking and suspended for two weeks.
McConnachie, who is indigenous and has Scottish ancestry, was devastated by the ban because it cost him two Tests for Scotland after he was selected in the Bravehearts’ squad for the European Championship. “That would have been my first opportunity to play for Scotland, but hopefully I’ll get the chance down the track,” he says.
But McConnachie’s immediate goal is making his mark at the Tigers and vindicating the faith the Walker brothers have in him. “Billy will be great for the Tigers,” Ben Walker says. “They will get a bloke who will give the forward pack a lot of confidence, because there is no-one tougher than Billy . . . and it’s an old-school Mount Isa toughness. “He came through the tough way and he’s got a lot of steel about him as a result. “If I was a 20-year-old half and had big forwards running at me and trying to put it over me, just knowing Billy was in my corner I wouldn’t be concerned.
“I played with Gorden Tallis and he had that real intimidation factor about him, and while I’m not comparing him, Billy is just as tough a nut. “He’s a very quiet, humble fella. But you know when he flicks the switch you have the right man in your corner.”
http://rugbyleagueweek.com.au/incredible-rise-cult-hero-billy-mcconnachie/
Written by JOEL GOULD, November 14, 2015
IT’S been one amazing three-year journey from the back of an Ipswich ambulance to the NRL for Wests Tigers recruit Billy McConnachie.
They call the ferocious prop ‘Madness’ for good reason.
The 25-year-old has knocked out five players during the past two seasons while carrying the football for the Ipswich Jets in the Intrust Super Cup. Defenders’ heads hit his barrel chest and they see stars.
But McConnachie was the one seeing stars when he was discovered at the Murri Carnival in Ipswich over the October long weekend in 2012 while playing for the Southern Dingoes. The raw front-rower had played club football that season in Mount Isa and was an unknown.
McConnachie’s brother-in-law Brendon Marshall, a Jets legend, told Ipswich co-coach Ben Walker he should have a look at the 100kg prop at the Murri Carnival.The first meeting between player and coach was bizarre . . . to say the least. “I literally first met Billy in the back of an ambulance while he was sucking on the ‘green dream’,” Walker grins. “When you get a really bad injury they give you this green whistle to suck on, which they call the green dream. It’s like a happy drug so you don’t feel the injury, and Billy had a broken leg. “If he hadn’t been sucking on the dream, he may not have come to us. But he was on the happy pipe and said ‘yes’, which was good.
“I had sat and watched Billy for three days at the Murri Knockout and he just killed blokes. “I rang Shane (Walker) after the second day and said, ‘I’ve found a front-rower for next year’. “I thought I would leave it to the end of the carnival to introduce myself but he broke his leg and was being rushed away in an ambulance. “The doors were still open so I ran over, introduced myself and told him how impressed I was with how he played and that we’d like to have him at the Jets. “He turned up to training in pre-season and from day one he hasn’t looked back. But if the doors had shut on that ambulance, he may never have got to the NRL.”
One thing Ben also told his brother and co-coach Shane on the phone that day was that McConnachie needed to work on his handling skills. Shane jokes that McConnachie’s hands were so poor the Jets considered sewing a hessian bag to his jersey to put the ball in. McConnachie was sent to renowned sports optometrist Pat Gerry, who discovered he had a depth perception issue with his eyes.
“Pat Gerry gave Billy this set of eye exercises to do over six weeks,” Shane recalls. “You do them and you are fixed for life. Billy did them diligently and now he has an excellent passing game. “He can go to the line and pop balls and throw spiral passes with the best of them.”
McConnachie, who starred in the Jets’ Intrust Super Cup and NRL State Championship triumphs this year, says the visit to Gerry was a turning point in his career. “I had trouble just catching the ball but (the eye exercises) helped me heaps with my game,” he says. “It paid off for me.”
McConnachie, an Ipswich City Council concreter, spoke to RLW while slaving away during one of his last stints in the blazing sun. He has to pinch himself when he recalls how he agreed to come to the Jets in the back of that Ipswich ambulance. “I was high after sucking on that green whistle, but I remember telling Ben that I would be coming down to Ipswich,” he grins. “I was nervous about coming down from Mount Isa to Ipswich, but now that I have settled in I’m nervous about going to Sydney, which is even bigger.
“But change is always good. “I’ve learned at the Jets to never give up no matter what, to keep on going and to have faith in myself. “I’m just looking forward to training full-time and the opportunity to play first grade in the NRL. “I’ve had a chat to Jason Taylor and he seems like a level-headed bloke and very honest.”
McConnachie was a feared figure in Mount Isa growing up. Even as a 17-year-old the old hard-heads on the local footy scene were wary of him. That intimidation factor continued in the Intrust Super Cup. “In his two years in first grade for the Jets he has knocked out five players who have tried to tackle him when he is in possession of the ball,” Shane grins. “It’s their heads hitting his chest. Tackle him at your own peril.”
Much hoopla was made of a punch McConnachie threw at Newcastle Knights fullback Jake Mamo in the State Championship final. Evidence couldn’t be found that McConnachie had landed a punch so he was charged with contrary conduct instead of striking and suspended for two weeks.
McConnachie, who is indigenous and has Scottish ancestry, was devastated by the ban because it cost him two Tests for Scotland after he was selected in the Bravehearts’ squad for the European Championship. “That would have been my first opportunity to play for Scotland, but hopefully I’ll get the chance down the track,” he says.
But McConnachie’s immediate goal is making his mark at the Tigers and vindicating the faith the Walker brothers have in him. “Billy will be great for the Tigers,” Ben Walker says. “They will get a bloke who will give the forward pack a lot of confidence, because there is no-one tougher than Billy . . . and it’s an old-school Mount Isa toughness. “He came through the tough way and he’s got a lot of steel about him as a result. “If I was a 20-year-old half and had big forwards running at me and trying to put it over me, just knowing Billy was in my corner I wouldn’t be concerned.
“I played with Gorden Tallis and he had that real intimidation factor about him, and while I’m not comparing him, Billy is just as tough a nut. “He’s a very quiet, humble fella. But you know when he flicks the switch you have the right man in your corner.”
http://rugbyleagueweek.com.au/incredible-rise-cult-hero-billy-mcconnachie/
