ManlyBacker
Winging it
As the NRL heads into its Close The Gap round, the Manly prop George Rose reveals how his campaigning grandfather inspired his work with the Aboriginal community.
Read the full article
Anfd some more good stuff from the Australian newspaper:
THERE were days when George Rose didn't want to get out of bed. Days when he didn't want to go to school or football training.
Days when his mother, Cherie, would badger him until he got off his butt and did what he was told. Days when his older brother, Matt, would dish out an old-fashioned "flogging" in the front yard of their family home.
They were the days that made big George Rose.
"Mum would badger me every day, my older brother would flog me," Rose said.
"He made me go to school pretty much. It was the same when I started playing footy. There were days when I didn't want to train and mum would be on my back, my older brother would flog me.
"I remember once we had a little dust-up on the front lawn at Bathurst. I was meant to train on Saturday at 12 o'clock in Penrith. I was in Bathurst. I didn't want to leave. I was at home in bed.
"He got me out of bed, dragged me out the front and had a few swings. Then I was in the car and I was driving back to Penrith. I made it back for training."
Rose recalls the tale with a smile. There is no anger or remorse. He knows how important his family was in his football career. It was his family that convinced him to stay in school and get an education _ a message he now spreads throughout country NSW as he speaks to indigenous youths.
"It's good to get out there and just spread the message of where I have come from and where I have ended up," Rose said.
"The younger fellas . . . I am just telling them how important it is to read, to come to school, have your breakfast in the morning so you can work hard all day.
"Just read whatever you can. The older ones are at a dicier area where there are friends who are leaving school. They're losing friends at school and they're wondering what they're going to do, whether to wag school.
"The message is stay in school and work hard, you'll get there. That's what happened to me."
On Sunday at Brookvale Oval, Rose and his teammates will wear indigenous jerseys against the Sydney Roosters. It will be a special occasion for Rose.
Attending the game will be four boys from his home town of Bathurst, who recently lost their father. Cherie alerted the club to their plight because of the parallel with her story. George was nine when his father died suddenly of a heart attack.
"It was weird because he was a fit sort of fella," Rose recalled. "You ask a lot of questions. What could have happened? What could have been different? It was hard. Life changed dramatically from then. We moved to Bathurst to be closer to mum's family. She had four wild kids."
Rose could have gone off the rails, but his mother and brother made sure that didn't happen. "I would probably be like a lot of my mates who are still back there, going through the motions," Rose said.
"I would probably be three times the size I am now _ if that is imaginable. It definitely wouldn't be as good as it is now. I am grateful to them for what they did for me, to keep me on the right path."
Brent Read
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/big-george-rose-spreads-a-positive-message-to-indigenous-youth/story-e6frg7mf-1226106996225
Read the full article
Anfd some more good stuff from the Australian newspaper:
THERE were days when George Rose didn't want to get out of bed. Days when he didn't want to go to school or football training.
Days when his mother, Cherie, would badger him until he got off his butt and did what he was told. Days when his older brother, Matt, would dish out an old-fashioned "flogging" in the front yard of their family home.
They were the days that made big George Rose.
"Mum would badger me every day, my older brother would flog me," Rose said.
"He made me go to school pretty much. It was the same when I started playing footy. There were days when I didn't want to train and mum would be on my back, my older brother would flog me.
"I remember once we had a little dust-up on the front lawn at Bathurst. I was meant to train on Saturday at 12 o'clock in Penrith. I was in Bathurst. I didn't want to leave. I was at home in bed.
"He got me out of bed, dragged me out the front and had a few swings. Then I was in the car and I was driving back to Penrith. I made it back for training."
Rose recalls the tale with a smile. There is no anger or remorse. He knows how important his family was in his football career. It was his family that convinced him to stay in school and get an education _ a message he now spreads throughout country NSW as he speaks to indigenous youths.
"It's good to get out there and just spread the message of where I have come from and where I have ended up," Rose said.
"The younger fellas . . . I am just telling them how important it is to read, to come to school, have your breakfast in the morning so you can work hard all day.
"Just read whatever you can. The older ones are at a dicier area where there are friends who are leaving school. They're losing friends at school and they're wondering what they're going to do, whether to wag school.
"The message is stay in school and work hard, you'll get there. That's what happened to me."
On Sunday at Brookvale Oval, Rose and his teammates will wear indigenous jerseys against the Sydney Roosters. It will be a special occasion for Rose.
Attending the game will be four boys from his home town of Bathurst, who recently lost their father. Cherie alerted the club to their plight because of the parallel with her story. George was nine when his father died suddenly of a heart attack.
"It was weird because he was a fit sort of fella," Rose recalled. "You ask a lot of questions. What could have happened? What could have been different? It was hard. Life changed dramatically from then. We moved to Bathurst to be closer to mum's family. She had four wild kids."
Rose could have gone off the rails, but his mother and brother made sure that didn't happen. "I would probably be like a lot of my mates who are still back there, going through the motions," Rose said.
"I would probably be three times the size I am now _ if that is imaginable. It definitely wouldn't be as good as it is now. I am grateful to them for what they did for me, to keep me on the right path."
Brent Read
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/big-george-rose-spreads-a-positive-message-to-indigenous-youth/story-e6frg7mf-1226106996225