Best/Worst Footballer you've met ?

[Broncos1995]

The best would be Petro Civenceva and Dane Carlaw

The Worst the North Qld Cowboys team of 09, they wouldn't acknowledge there fans.

BTW sorry if a thread like this has done before

 

[mrslong]

Steve Renouf is probably the nicest i've met. We had a really good chat about diabetes (hubby is type 1 diabetic) and he really took time out to chat about how he found the transition to the insulin pump and tips he had for how to deal with sugar while playing sport etc. He was really nice.

I also have a lot of time for Josh McGuire, he lives with a mate of my brothers and was playing touch footy with us last year. Is really quiet, but exceptionally polite (so much so that I was really confused about the story he nicknamed himself the Big Show, lol, it didn't fit....however now we know that was a joke). He was always getting harrassed by people down at touch footy wanting to chat and stuff and he was always happy to talk to them. Especially a couple of the "special" guys that are particularly annoying and everyone else hates. Also, he's really fast and good at scoring tries. Not so good at setting them up cos he throws the ball a million miles an hour and us mere mortals can't catch them. (OK so maybe by us I mean me, and that if I could catch then he'd be good at setting up tries)

Haven't really met any NRL players that were rude.....but Justin Hodges brother was the biggest tool in the shed when I used to play against him at touch footy. OMG. a complete wanker. always picking fights. running on the field to abuse the ref. "don't you know who my brother is?" kind of stuff. This was back 2005/06 ish.

 

[Coxy]

Ha, Hodges' family...I had some good times with them... hey Nashy, Tee, Jeba?

Best: Shane Webcke and Petero Civoniceva. I only bumped into them a few times away from official things, and when they saw me in a Broncos shirt they went out of their way to say hello and have a chat.

I've had a few bad run ins with players, but I don't want to elaborate. Can never be sure if they're just having a bad day or whatever.

 

[Big Pete]

Cool thread.

I personally haven't met any players since I was a kid. I think the last player I met was Gordie who my dad introduced me too, shook my hand and signed some random shirt with a gorilla on it which he commented on. It was brief but it really meant a lot to me that my favourite player acknowledged me.

My family & friends have had a lot more to do with Broncos players than myself, here's a couple of stories.

Lockyer - Dad was at a corporate golf dinner & found Lockyer sitting by himself at a table so he took the opportunity to snag me an autograph. Locky was more than happy to do so & even invited my dad to have a seat & have a beer with him, a really classy move.

Webcke - A mate of mine who absolutely hates sport was working on an internship at Ch. 7 and apparantly Shane was the nicest & easiest guy to work with & completely dispelled his idea of sports stars.

Dell - Dad was at another golf day when Wendell randomly came up to him like he was an old friend, gave him a big hug & then awkwardly left when he realised it was the wrong person.

Only heard a negative thing about two players...

Corey Parker who just didn't seem to want to be at this particular autograph signing and was rude to a friend of mine.

And also JT. So my high school is directly across Langlands Park which meant a select few classes got to observe the Maroons training session - for some reason I was never lucky enough. Anyways, session was coming to an end & one of my mates asked JT for an autograph and he told him to get f**ked. I'm sceptical about it being the full story (or ever really happening) because said friend is a cheeky Blues fan but he had people who vouched for it...

 

[Playboy Bunny]

I can't really pinpoint the nicest footyplayer that I have met as majority of them are really decent however the most polite would have to be Jason Clark. For such a young kid his parents have brought him up the right way. He was at Souths womens night last year and gave everyone a kiss and a hug at the end lol We also had some weirdo outside who wanted to speak to Sam Burgess so Jason went out to speak to him, got him to go away and then offered to walk anyone to their car if they needed it.

Worst for me would have to be Beau Champion or Ashley Harrison. Seemed like an effort for them to even open their mouths let alone have a photo taken.

 

[ningnangnong]

I've only met a handful of footy players and they've pretty much exclusively been Knights!

Anthony Quinn's mum was the PE teacher at my high school, so we always had Knights coming to visit and run clinics for sport and stuff. Maybe being in a school environment influences the way they act, but all the players I've met have been fantastic.

Mark Hughes - Genuine nice guy. Happy to sign autographs for everyone and have a chat in general. Top bloke.

Clint Newton - Came to visit our school not longer after that elbowing incident in 2004! :haha: As with Hughes, he was very polite and just a really nice fella.

Brad Tighe - Came to help out with some sport clinics back in 2003 long before anyone would've known who he was. I've always remember him though, because he was brilliant. Gave all the kids a huge amount of encouragement and really looked like he wanted to be there. He was holding a hit shield (is that what they're called?) alongside another fella, and we had to burst through the gap in the centre. Kept giving me a big wrap everytime I barged through. :rockon: Left me feeling pretty chuffed with myself, and like I said, he's stuck in my memory because of that.

There's been a few others too, Kurt Gidley, Robbie O'Davis, Anthony Quinn and so on. Can't fault any of them really.

 

[ethos]

Can't really say I've experienced 'the worst' - most are just pretty knock-about sorta blokes. Heck, even Craig Bellamy was approachable enough and generous with his time.

But from memory I reckon Matt Gillett is the pick. Come across as a really respectful, polite, down to earth guy. Definitely no ego attached to him at all.

 

[Kaz]

Worst player I have met is Wally Lewis, he is an arogant pr!ck.

Joey & Tahu are rude, they used escape the fans by escaping the sheds by walking on the field to get away. (I wonder if they can still hear me to come back & meet their fans)

Clint Newton & Kurt Gidley where really nice & easy to talk to. (Though Clint told me I was wearing a horrible jersey) I had my Broncos jersey on, I told him he was just jealous that the Broncos never wanted him. He did laugh & said, I wish they called me.

 

[Renegade]

Haven't met too many, but Steve Renouf I met the other week when working at Suncorp.

Was the Brisbane - St George match and they had all the old dudes in the crowd, served Hancock, Hohn, etc but when Renouf came in I had a wry smile on my face - he was my idol when growing up and I had to tell him as much, basically just a, look i just wanna quickly tell you i was a big fan of yours growing up.

He stopped what he was doing with his entourage, extended his hand and had a few moments chat with me. I thought that was really awesome of him considering he could've just said yeah thanks and walked off, but the fact he took the time to acknowledge some 20 something goon behind the bar I thought was legendary, and made him rise even higher in my opinion.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Only met a few but have had only good experiences. Tonie Carrol, being a beenleigh boy, came to our high school sports awards night. One of my teachers at the time knew i was a huge fan and got him to come over and say hi. He asked who my favourite player was, and I honestly said "You". he didnt believe me tho lol.

My best mate at high school is Darren Smith's cousin, so I used that connection to send off a big QLD poster to Darren smith care of the broncos. He returned it with all the players signatures and a hand written letter. pretty good of him i thought!

Also met the storm team at hotel LA years and years ago after they beat us in a semi i think it was. Had a good chat to most of them for a few hours, shared a few drinks. Didnt mind chatting even tho they had just played a big game and i was wearing a broncos jersey haha.

 

[Clintos]

Petero is the nicest I've ever met. He came into my shop having just bought a 3D TV and we had a chat about it and 3D blu rays for a good 15 mins. Very down to earth and just a great bloke.

Worst is Wally Lewis. Met him down in Sydney before a game. Didn't want to give us the time of day. Tried his best to ignore us and then when he was eventually dragged over he wouldn't even smile for photos or have a chat a chat with anyone.

He might have been having a bad day for all I know - so that may not be a regular occurrence.

 

[Coxy]

He might have been having a bad day for all I know - so that may not be a regular occurrence.

You're not the first to have said so, even in this thread, so I'm not sure bad day can be an excuse for Wal.

 

[Coxy]

I forgot to add Gene Miles, Ben Ikin, Andrew Gee and Gary Belcher to the list of top guys. Worked with them more in a professional sense, but really good hearted blokes.

 

[ningnangnong]

Gotta say, it's great to read of so many positive encounters with players. :handshake:

 

[ningnangnong]

Sort of related... I want to give a wrap to Tony Durkin for his time as the Broncos' media manager.

I remember the official website used to have some 'Email a player' feature, which being a young, enthusiastic Broncos fan I used to take advantage of occasionally. Tony would always reply very politely, letting me know he'd pass my message onto the players (probably didn't, but who cares!).

Whenever I've had to email the Broncos' media manager recently (once or twice over the last few years), I've never received a reply.

 

[Kaz]

Worst is Wally Lewis. Met him down in Sydney before a game. Didn't want to give us the time of day. Tried his best to ignore us and then when he was eventually dragged over he wouldn't even smile for photos or have a chat a chat with anyone.

He might have been having a bad day for all I know - so that may not be a regular occurrence.

He must have a lot of bad days.

 

[dukey]

I met Thurston out on the town in Newcastle in 07. He was waiting at the bar and literally had a line of blokes waiting to shake his hand. Yes, I was one of them. He greeted all of us with a huge smile and a firm handshake despite the fact that we were all drunk and probably annoying as hell. Great bloke, who hasn't let fame go to his head at all.
Similar story with Dell, who I met at the Steelers club in Gong in 2008. The Dragons were all on their Mad Monday, keeping to themselves and not really keen on chatting to anyone, but as soon as Dell walked in he was swamped by fans and got a photo with everybody who asked for one. Not begrudgingly, either; I asked for a shot and he grabbed me round the shoulders and posed for the uncomfortably long time it took my mate to figure out how to operate his phone. Legend.
And back in 2006ish the Raiders came to town for a day and all ended up at the pub that night for a few quiet drinks. Todd Carney on-song is just awesome. He's that hilarious bloke that every group needs. On the flipside of that, some of my mates later saw him in Civic off his face and shouting abuse at everything around him, so he seems to have a small window of awesomeness.

 

[Kimlo]

This thread is awesome. I hope more people keep posting.