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Some wisdom here from one of Australia's great mythical 'sporting' characters; 'The truth is deafening, no matter how softly it is spoken.'
'Rugby is a nonsense, but a very serious nonsense.'
His simple philosophy for sporting success; 'Winning Starts on Monday.'
On the eve of Pontypool v New Zealand in 1989, i jotted down the simple philosophy of how Pontypool coach John Perkins wanted his team to mentally approach their big upcoming game; 'Boys, you've to live it, eat it, sleep it and shit it if you want to win!'
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.' (from the film 'Bull Durham')
'...to win by one is enough.'
'Always avoid prophesying on things beforehand; it's a much better policy to prophesy after the event has taken place.'
'If winning isn't everything why bother to keep the score?'
'As your reputation gets bigger, the gaps and chances to go through them get smaller.'
'A rugby tour is like sex. When its good it's great, and when it's bad - hey! It's still pretty good!'
'I'd rather spend half an hour in the company of a top carpenter, than three hours in the company of an average brain surgeon'
...when thinking about retirement; 'When your eyes go, and your legs go, and your fans go; then it's time for you to go too.'
'Often when a team is at the bottom, there's something wrong at the top.'
'In Ireland the inevitable never happens but the unexpected constantly does.'
Talking about the 1988 World Cup rugby league final on Eden Park in Auckland; 'When the Kiwis ran onto the field we could see the poor bastards were shitting themselves.' Sydney Morning Herald 24 November 1992.
The four 'Home' Unions were beaten on consecutive Saturdays by the rampant ABs! On this day NZ beat Scotland by 29-10
LAWTON, TOMMY
Queensland, New South Wales and Australia
14 internationals for Australia 1920–32
Tommy Lawton was a stand-off half, or five-eighths, noted for the smoothness of his play, his ability to pass well and his excellent goal-kicking. A Queenslander, he moved to Sydney when rugby went into near recession in Brisbane during and after the First World War.
Lawton was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, winning three blues. He later toured Britain and France with the famous ‘Waratahs’ team – New South Wales – in 1927–28. He was a vital man in that team and scored 127 points, a record for an Australian on such a tour. Decades later the games against international teams on that tour were accorded official Wallaby test status.
In 1929 he returned to Queensland and led the re-formed Australian team against the All Blacks. Lawton was a brilliant tactician and guided Australia to a clean sweep of the three-test series. He was also captain of Australia in one test in 1930 (against Britain) and in 1932 for two tests against the All Blacks. He captained a losing test team only once.
His tally of 60 points – including points scored in the subsequently recognised ‘tests’ of the Waratahs tour – was not beaten as an Australian record until the 1960s.
Tommy Lawton died in 1978 and did not see his name carried on in Australian rugby by his grandsons, Tommy jnr and Robbie, who came into international rugby in 1988.
What did the famous Welsh and British Lions hooker Bobby Windsor achieve on his 42nd birthday?
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