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The A-List: ADAM BLAIR (Wests Tigers, NRL All Stars & New Zealand)
Posted: January 9, 2012 by therealsteavis in International rugby league, NRL By STEVE MASCORD
DON’T mention the war.
While Australian players were in Berlin during the Four Nations, hopefully observing that old adage, Wests Tigers recruit Adam Blair was trying to forget a more recent skirmish. Blair was sent to the sin bin, then from the field after fighting on the way, on August 26 at Brookvale.
A few hours later, rugby league made its first visit to Wembley for the year, for the Challenge Cup final. Thanks to an eight-week suspension, Blair didn’t play again until it returned, on November 5\. It was a sad end to Blair’s tenure in Melbourne, his move to Wests Tigers being the runaway “worst kept secret of the year”.
When we sat down with the 25-year-old Adam at New Zealand’s London hotel, the now-infamous night at Brookvale was something he seemed inclined not to rake over in any detail.
“Obviously I was really disappointed in the outcome but it was left in their hands and that’s what they decided ,” Blair said when asked about his ‘Donnybrookvale’ battle with Glenn Stewart.
“I would have loved to have kept playing with the boys but it wasn’t to be. I copped it on the chin. What I did was wrong. I apologise for what I did and I wanted to move on quickly.
“The club gave me a few days off and I got back into footy after that.
“I went away. I didn’t hear too much about it when I got back. I was back to normal. I didn’t really have to talk about it anymore.”
And that’s that, I guess. Luckily, there’s plenty more to talk to Whangerei-born Blair about – like exactly how he came to join Wests Tigers, about the controversy and publicity caused by his imminent arrival when other players were moved on, like the affect on his form of all the speculation.
The reasons for the long delay in the announcement, which was finally confirmed on July 13? “It was a bit of everything,” he says. “I was holding off for a while. I wanted to make sure I made the right decision. It obviously took a while but in the end it all worked out.
“There were a few clubs interested but it wasn’t until June when I started talking properly. I had the option with the (Storm) that I could talk to other clubs. The Storm were happy for me to do that.
“I would like to have told (my team-mates) earlier but having the Origin on, I had to wait until the senior players were back. I would have liked to have had them sitting around and tell them then but I didn’t want to drag it out too long … when they got back, I spoke to them myself.
“It was bad because I knew what was going on and I couldn’t tell anyone. I wanted to tell them but nothing was done, nothing was set in stone so I couldn’t go around telling people. But they were good to me, the boys down there and the staff as well.”
Blair is a polite, co-operative interviewee – but one who shies away from controversy. There was no avoiding it in mid-season when players like Andrew Fafita and Bryce Gibbs moved from Wests Tigers to other clubs – ostensibly to make way for him. For a while it looked like Liam Fulton might go as well. Tim Moltzen had also shifted to St George Illawarra – before backing out of the deal – and Gibbs in particular made his displeasure known in forums such as Twitter.
“To be honest, I didn’t take much notice,” Adam said. “Down in Melbourne, you don’t hear too much. When I got up to Sydney, things started coming out there but I had bigger things to worry about than people talking about stuff like that. I tried to just concentrate on footy. I had a job to do and I wanted to do what I could for the club til I left and that’s what I did.”
Blair has never said he feared getting a cold reaction from his team-mates in Sydney – but as it turns out, he has been reassured anyway while in England for the Four Nations.
“When I was up in Liverpool, Robbie Farah came over,” he recounted. “I spoke to him. I briefly spoke to Robbie at one of the launches. I haven’t had the chance to meet Keith Galloway yet. I think he’s been playing every time I’ve been on the sideline.
“They’ve been good to me. They’ve come up and said hello as asked ‘how are things going in Sydney’ and stuff like that. It’s been good those boys can come up and have a chat. I’ve been watching them playing for their countries and what they can do.
“I’ve got to go in (to the club) for a week and then I can come back in January.”
The other noteworthy thing about Blair’s transfer to the Wests Tigers club is the length and value of his contract – four years and (reportedly) $500,000 per year. To many – probably including the likes of Gibbs – this confers upon Blair a pretty large imperative to perform, to be close to the best forward in the world.
If you are to believe what has been written elsewhere, Wayne Bennett would never pay that much for a forward…
“No, not at all,” Blair counters when I ask about pressure to live up to his pricetag.
“The pressure’s from myself. I don’t want to let myself down. I don’t want to go to a club – I’ve set high standards for myself – and let myself down, let alone the club.
“There’s no pressure on me. You’re worth what a club wants to pay you, I guess. If they’re willing to pay you whatever they want, then that’s what you should be getting paid.”
That’s a pretty forthright comment from a quiet fellow. Here’s another one, about the direction his own game might take under Sheens at Concord.
“Hopefully that sort of footy suits me and it will work to how I want it to work. Watching the Tigers play during the year and the things that they do is really exciting and they have a bright future there.
“Being in Melbourne, it’s a bit hard I guess. Obviously I’ve been at the club for a while and it’s pretty structured. The difference between the Tigers and Melbourne is pretty massive in the way they play. Hopefully I get to express myself a little more down at the Tigers.
“I’m not saying I couldn’t do down in Melbourne but I felt like I had to hold back a few things there. Hopefully being at the Tigers will help that.’
“Hopefully after the four years there’s something left in me there. It’s definitely important, four years in Sydney with the Wests Tigers. I need to make sure I make the most of my opportunities and having Tim there for a few more years and having a good calibre of players at the Tigers, that will boost my footy and hopefully I can keep playing good footy.”
Living in the Sydney fishbowl might going to be harder than fitting into the Wests Tigers culture, Blair seems to feel.
“It’s going to be interesting I guess, a bit of an eye-opener,” he nods. “I don’t do much. I’ve got a family so I just chill with the family. I don’t say too much and I try and stay away from … trouble and stuff like that. It’ll be interesting but I’m really excited and looking forward to it.”
On his day, there’s little doubt Blair can be the best forward in the world. He has the air of someone who has no reason to doubt his day is coming around again – soon. The protracted talks with Wests Tigers may have got the better of him in 2011, he concedes.
“I think when it starts getting dragged out, there is a distraction. You’d rather get it done straight away than let it drag out but you want to make the right decisions in the end and obviously it’s going to affect your football no matter what happens. Once it was done, there was massive relief there and I thought I got back into a bit of form – and then let myself down so I’ll be doing everything I can.
“At the start of the year, I thought I was playing well. Then I went off on a patch there. And obviously after everyone knew what I was doing, I was coming back to playing a bit of footy. Then that happened.”
What is “that”? You know what it is. Don’t mention the war.
Filed for: RUGBY LEAGUE WEEK
http://stevemascord.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-a-list-adam-blair-wests-tigers-nrl-all-stars-new-zealand/
Posted: January 9, 2012 by therealsteavis in International rugby league, NRL By STEVE MASCORD
DON’T mention the war.
While Australian players were in Berlin during the Four Nations, hopefully observing that old adage, Wests Tigers recruit Adam Blair was trying to forget a more recent skirmish. Blair was sent to the sin bin, then from the field after fighting on the way, on August 26 at Brookvale.
A few hours later, rugby league made its first visit to Wembley for the year, for the Challenge Cup final. Thanks to an eight-week suspension, Blair didn’t play again until it returned, on November 5\. It was a sad end to Blair’s tenure in Melbourne, his move to Wests Tigers being the runaway “worst kept secret of the year”.
When we sat down with the 25-year-old Adam at New Zealand’s London hotel, the now-infamous night at Brookvale was something he seemed inclined not to rake over in any detail.
“Obviously I was really disappointed in the outcome but it was left in their hands and that’s what they decided ,” Blair said when asked about his ‘Donnybrookvale’ battle with Glenn Stewart.
“I would have loved to have kept playing with the boys but it wasn’t to be. I copped it on the chin. What I did was wrong. I apologise for what I did and I wanted to move on quickly.
“The club gave me a few days off and I got back into footy after that.
“I went away. I didn’t hear too much about it when I got back. I was back to normal. I didn’t really have to talk about it anymore.”
And that’s that, I guess. Luckily, there’s plenty more to talk to Whangerei-born Blair about – like exactly how he came to join Wests Tigers, about the controversy and publicity caused by his imminent arrival when other players were moved on, like the affect on his form of all the speculation.
The reasons for the long delay in the announcement, which was finally confirmed on July 13? “It was a bit of everything,” he says. “I was holding off for a while. I wanted to make sure I made the right decision. It obviously took a while but in the end it all worked out.
“There were a few clubs interested but it wasn’t until June when I started talking properly. I had the option with the (Storm) that I could talk to other clubs. The Storm were happy for me to do that.
“I would like to have told (my team-mates) earlier but having the Origin on, I had to wait until the senior players were back. I would have liked to have had them sitting around and tell them then but I didn’t want to drag it out too long … when they got back, I spoke to them myself.
“It was bad because I knew what was going on and I couldn’t tell anyone. I wanted to tell them but nothing was done, nothing was set in stone so I couldn’t go around telling people. But they were good to me, the boys down there and the staff as well.”
Blair is a polite, co-operative interviewee – but one who shies away from controversy. There was no avoiding it in mid-season when players like Andrew Fafita and Bryce Gibbs moved from Wests Tigers to other clubs – ostensibly to make way for him. For a while it looked like Liam Fulton might go as well. Tim Moltzen had also shifted to St George Illawarra – before backing out of the deal – and Gibbs in particular made his displeasure known in forums such as Twitter.
“To be honest, I didn’t take much notice,” Adam said. “Down in Melbourne, you don’t hear too much. When I got up to Sydney, things started coming out there but I had bigger things to worry about than people talking about stuff like that. I tried to just concentrate on footy. I had a job to do and I wanted to do what I could for the club til I left and that’s what I did.”
Blair has never said he feared getting a cold reaction from his team-mates in Sydney – but as it turns out, he has been reassured anyway while in England for the Four Nations.
“When I was up in Liverpool, Robbie Farah came over,” he recounted. “I spoke to him. I briefly spoke to Robbie at one of the launches. I haven’t had the chance to meet Keith Galloway yet. I think he’s been playing every time I’ve been on the sideline.
“They’ve been good to me. They’ve come up and said hello as asked ‘how are things going in Sydney’ and stuff like that. It’s been good those boys can come up and have a chat. I’ve been watching them playing for their countries and what they can do.
“I’ve got to go in (to the club) for a week and then I can come back in January.”
The other noteworthy thing about Blair’s transfer to the Wests Tigers club is the length and value of his contract – four years and (reportedly) $500,000 per year. To many – probably including the likes of Gibbs – this confers upon Blair a pretty large imperative to perform, to be close to the best forward in the world.
If you are to believe what has been written elsewhere, Wayne Bennett would never pay that much for a forward…
“No, not at all,” Blair counters when I ask about pressure to live up to his pricetag.
“The pressure’s from myself. I don’t want to let myself down. I don’t want to go to a club – I’ve set high standards for myself – and let myself down, let alone the club.
“There’s no pressure on me. You’re worth what a club wants to pay you, I guess. If they’re willing to pay you whatever they want, then that’s what you should be getting paid.”
That’s a pretty forthright comment from a quiet fellow. Here’s another one, about the direction his own game might take under Sheens at Concord.
“Hopefully that sort of footy suits me and it will work to how I want it to work. Watching the Tigers play during the year and the things that they do is really exciting and they have a bright future there.
“Being in Melbourne, it’s a bit hard I guess. Obviously I’ve been at the club for a while and it’s pretty structured. The difference between the Tigers and Melbourne is pretty massive in the way they play. Hopefully I get to express myself a little more down at the Tigers.
“I’m not saying I couldn’t do down in Melbourne but I felt like I had to hold back a few things there. Hopefully being at the Tigers will help that.’
“Hopefully after the four years there’s something left in me there. It’s definitely important, four years in Sydney with the Wests Tigers. I need to make sure I make the most of my opportunities and having Tim there for a few more years and having a good calibre of players at the Tigers, that will boost my footy and hopefully I can keep playing good footy.”
Living in the Sydney fishbowl might going to be harder than fitting into the Wests Tigers culture, Blair seems to feel.
“It’s going to be interesting I guess, a bit of an eye-opener,” he nods. “I don’t do much. I’ve got a family so I just chill with the family. I don’t say too much and I try and stay away from … trouble and stuff like that. It’ll be interesting but I’m really excited and looking forward to it.”
On his day, there’s little doubt Blair can be the best forward in the world. He has the air of someone who has no reason to doubt his day is coming around again – soon. The protracted talks with Wests Tigers may have got the better of him in 2011, he concedes.
“I think when it starts getting dragged out, there is a distraction. You’d rather get it done straight away than let it drag out but you want to make the right decisions in the end and obviously it’s going to affect your football no matter what happens. Once it was done, there was massive relief there and I thought I got back into a bit of form – and then let myself down so I’ll be doing everything I can.
“At the start of the year, I thought I was playing well. Then I went off on a patch there. And obviously after everyone knew what I was doing, I was coming back to playing a bit of footy. Then that happened.”
What is “that”? You know what it is. Don’t mention the war.
Filed for: RUGBY LEAGUE WEEK
http://stevemascord.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-a-list-adam-blair-wests-tigers-nrl-all-stars-new-zealand/
