The voice of rugby league always has two things - it speaks of loyalty and gratitude.
If you wanted to put a face to that tone you could get Dolphins, Crushers, Warrington, Sharks, Castleford and Roosters Origin front rower Danny Nutley to do the voice over.
Danny Nutley Q&A
Why the Dolphins?
I played for Redcliffe from under 13 and I just fell in love with the place, we lived at Kurwongbah and mum and dad are still there. I remember that tunnel at Dolphin Oval and I playing Colts and waiting around for A grade hoping you’d be able to play for the Dolphins A grade one day. Clinton O’Brien is one of my best mates and we played all through the grades together. Russell Lahiff is my brother-in-law too and we played together.
1996 first Hostplus Cup grand final, Toowoomba wins 8-6. When Shipway went down the sideline and scored at 8-0 down did you think you were back?
8-6 with 10 minutes to go I certainly thought we would finish strong. Robinson just short, we dropped two balls over the line in the last 10 minutes and lose by two.
Redcliffe have a different vibe to lots of other places, why?
It’s the men that run it, it started with Des Webb and it’s been passed on. This is how you conduct yourself as a Dolphin and a man. They had a plan to get in the NRL and they did it. Those men did it with hard work and just wanting something.
Steve Bleakley gets you to the Crushers, another Dolphin connection - what did you think of the Crushers?
I loved it there to be honest, it was poor timing from the Crushers. I played 10 games in 1997 and then went to England, but Super League just ripped it apart. It was a hard time, it’s really hard to play good football when you’re hearing whispers of $9 million in debt and worried about getting paid. Colts won the grand final and the reserves made the finals, so it wasn’t all doom but it was a hard time.
You came across Darryl Van De Velde about this time. What made him such a good league man?
He cared, he wanted you to be happy off the field, he cared about your family, he cared about your wife and he wanted what was best for you.
Where is your Origin jumper?
I have them all packed away, my family get them out every Origin game to wear and they like wearing them.
What is the highlight of State of Origin week?
I have two that stand out for me. I roomed with Brad Thorn and that was just great and Mark Coyne rang me to welcome me to being a Queensland Origin player. Two great moments for me.
The Sharks are special to you, aren’t they? I always say the Sharks of that era would be one of the most liked teams in history.
Yeah, I am still great mates with Chris Beattie, we see each other all the time. I took my kids to Shark Park two years ago and we started a chat group and a whole heap of former Sharks came to the game to catch up. We have the sort of relationship where we may not see each other too often but we are great mates.
