Iron Will; the Brent Tate Story.

[1910]

His never-say-die attitude earned Brent Tate a reputation as one of the toughest and most inspiring players to have ever played rugby league. A career las4ng more than a decade including 229 first grade games, an NRL premiership, 26 tests and 23 State of Origin appearances cemented his place as a modern day legend. With the brutal honesty for which he is known Brent tells the story behind one of the most remarkable football careers of all time. Through the pain and anguish of an unprecedented 16 potentially career ending injuries, to the highs of a Broncos premiership and record State of Origin victories, this is a rare insight into the reality of the modern game, by a player of unique toughness and commitment. Brent takes readers on his journey from a young boy growing up in Roma, to the incredible highs of his man of the match Origin performances, along with the controversial moments such as Josh Reynold’s tackle in the 2014 State of Origin. For the first time Brent reveals the real story behind his leaving the Broncos, his honest ratings of the players he played with and against, and how he really felt the moment he knew his career was over. Iron Will is the true story of what it takes to succeed in the toughest game of all.


Out July 1 written with Paul Malone.

 

[Nashy]

Absolute legend. Looking forward to July 1 for this.

 

[Fozz]

Yeah, me too. Tough bugger so should be interesting to reas about how he came back from those injuries.

 

[Super Freak]

Looking forward to reading it.

I was upset when he left the Broncos, and I think we really felt his loss in the next few years..

Moon, Boyd and Michaels tried hard, but it just wasn't the same.

 

[Cult]

His defense in the 2006 Origin Series is another reason Queensland were able to get the win. Tate was one of my favourite players and before he signed his last contract with the Cowboys I wanted him to come back to us. He was a tough guy to come back and play rugby league but to consistently play Origin the way he did and with the amount of pressure NSW constantly applied to his head and neck every game, was just amazing.

When they talk about tough Origin players and bring up those like Gallen who inflict pain with what would normally be considered illegal moves, they're doing it wrong. Brent Tate is the kind of tough people need to talk about more often.

 

[broncos4life]

Can't wait to read this. Champion player, champion bloke.

 

[Allo]

Will forever be underrated I think. But he deserves Hall of Fame status (when we ever get one) for this alone:

 

[theshed]

There's a grub hall of fame?

No doubting he's tough as nails and probably a top guy. Never liked him as a player though.

 

[Huge]

There's a grub hall of fame?

No doubting he's tough as nails and probably a top guy. Never liked him as a player though.

Entitled to your opinion ,as strange as it is.

 

[Cult]

Greg Bird deserved a hell of a lot more than a push to the face with a closed fist. I have absolutely no doubt that was built up aggression coming from Bird and others repeatedly attacking Tate's head and neck.

 

[Morkel]

Greg Bird deserved a hell of a lot more than a push to the face with a closed fist. I have absolutely no doubt that was built up aggression coming from Bird and others repeatedly attacking Tate's head and neck.

Would have taken remarkable self control to not turn Bird's head in to mashed potato. The smoooosh was hilarious.

 

[theshed]

Sure. Punching a man who's lying on his back with his arms pinned is very much deserved. What a legend.

 

[Porthoz]

Sure. Punching a man who's lying on his back with his arms pinned is very much deserved. What a legend.

It would've been a dog act if he did, but he didn't punch him... the whole scene was hilarious.

 

[Allo]

He punched him but he also didn't punch him. There was good half a second between the upswing and the connection where he thought "Do I actually do it?" And then he sort of throws one down and pushes continually. Quite funny. And come on, this is Greg Bird. He should have no defenders, regardless.

 

[theshed]

Yeah I should admit that it's completely irrational dislike on my side. He was a solid player but he's just one those players I don't like for no real apparent reason.

His book would probably be decent read as far as athletes go.

 

[Super Freak]

 

[Black Philip]

Sure. Punching a man who's lying on his back with his arms pinned is very much deserved. What a legend.

Apart from that one incident where he half punched a defenseless Greg Bird, is there anything else you can pin on him as grubby?

What he did to Bird was gutless, albeit halfhearted. But I don't think it's enough to label him a grub.

I was gutted when we let him go. Great former Bronco and always gave his all for Queensland as well.

 

[Big Pete]

I totally get the Brent Tate hate.

He had a lot of Michael Hancock about him. Just that competitive streak where he comes off as a hot-head who hated being tackled. Also had a bit of Nate Myles as well where he'd often save his best footy for the rep arena and would look completely unco at club level.

Never in the history of the game have I seen anyone slip over as much as Tate. No wonder he struggled to get Nike or somebody of that nature to sponsor him.

But that's what made it so fun to support him. Because you could weasel people into thinking he was terrible and then out of no where he'd score a try like he did in that Tri Series game SF posted and look like an absolute world beater.

The defining moment of his career was the 2012 series. Going in, I thought he'd be our biggest liability and really worried how he'd fair under the high ball. As it turns out, he was by far the safest player on the field and his runs from dummy half were invaluable and I'd nearly go as far to say he was the Player of the Series, he was that good.

One thing a lot of fans gloss over with the Bird incident is that Tate endured a king hit in Game I (which Blues fans whinged about, how can you bin a bloke for king hitting a bloke? are you kidding me?) and that he copped a massive swinging arm from Grant and had Gal try to throw hands until King Grub fell on his peptide ridden ass like a big dummy. Tate's compromise redeemed him somewhat because if it had have been full blooded I would have found it difficult to support him but he found a reasonable and hilarious medium.