Granty
05-04-2009, 10:38 PM
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/lhqnews/new-wave-earning-honest-buck/2009/04/04/1238832408786.html
New wave earning honest buck
Adrian Proszenko
April 5, 2009
KARIN FORD isn't overly concerned about the safety of her son on the football field. Maybe it's because they breed them tough out in the tiny Queensland mining town of Capella. Or perhaps it's because young Guy Ford has tamed a beast bigger than any NRL prop on earth - a one-tonne bucking bull called "Milk Money".
The National Youth Competition is barely a year old and already there are inspiring tales of those who have given up their day jobs to graduate to the NRL. There's been Parramatta prop Tim Mannah's rise from milkman to man mountain. Ben Barba's progression from carwasher to playmaker. But no one is likely to rival the tale of Guy Ford if he eventually makes the grade.
Although the Brisbane teen is one of the smallest forwards in the game at just 174cm and 87kg, he won't be found wanting in the ticker department. Ford became the Australian Bullriding Champion while still in year 11, a feat which prompted two American colleges to offer scholarships. Should he decide to take up the offer, he'll have a chance to join the lucrative US rodeo circuit, which turns champions into millionaires.
However, for now, he has made the relatively sedate sport of football his priority. While smashing into front-rowers is considered a safety risk, it's nothing compared to what happened after his title-winning ride.
"I rode the bull and was getting off it when I got hung up and the bull was spinning," Ford said. "The bull had these little nobbly horns and one of them got me between my chest and my rib cage. I broke two ribs and puncutered my lung. I had to get flown to Townsville hospital and I stayed for a week. They're so powerful, it's unbelievable."
There have also been times when he's been trampled, butted or ended up with a hyper-extended elbow.
But this is the life of a Toyota Cup footballer. Unlike their NRL cousins, NYC hopefuls need to hold down a job or at least be studying with a view to a post-football career. Some of them have weird and wonderful careers. Ford's Brisbane teammate, Josh Coyle, is attending aviation school with a view to becoming a pilot. Wests Tigers back Robert Lui is a pool lifeguard. Penrith's Gavin Taylor is studying criminology. The Manly half Cameron Dyer achieved a UAI mark of 97.7 and is studying a course in Sydney University's faculty of medicine, with a view to becoming a physiotherapist.
"You see some players on big money just sit at home all day," said Dyer, who also works as a personal trainer. "By the time training rolls around, they've been sitting around all day and are over it.
"If you keep busy during the day, you've got something to look forward to and training gives you a bit of a break from everything else."
And while every up-and-comer hopes to deliver on the field, many are doing so off it - 12 players from six different clubs are working for Australia Post, while a further seven are awaiting a placement.
All of them put in long hours to juggle their training and working commitments. For instance, Ford, also an apprentice electrician, often starts his day at 5am and doesn't return home from training until after 8pm. He's not the only one who made sacrifices. His parents - who own the Great Western Hotel at Rockhampton - used to drive Guy 80 kilometres just to get to training in his junior days. They also hold rodeos in a ring out the back.
Despite her son's sporting choices, Karin said she wasn't overly concerned about Guy's welfare.
"Not with football," she said. "I know that he's been looked after extremely well. I know they wouldn't put him into a position he couldn't handle."
What about hopping aboard a tonne's worth of bucking bull for eight seconds?
"He's lived on the land all his life," she said. "He's been [riding] since he was four or five years old."
New wave earning honest buck
Adrian Proszenko
April 5, 2009
KARIN FORD isn't overly concerned about the safety of her son on the football field. Maybe it's because they breed them tough out in the tiny Queensland mining town of Capella. Or perhaps it's because young Guy Ford has tamed a beast bigger than any NRL prop on earth - a one-tonne bucking bull called "Milk Money".
The National Youth Competition is barely a year old and already there are inspiring tales of those who have given up their day jobs to graduate to the NRL. There's been Parramatta prop Tim Mannah's rise from milkman to man mountain. Ben Barba's progression from carwasher to playmaker. But no one is likely to rival the tale of Guy Ford if he eventually makes the grade.
Although the Brisbane teen is one of the smallest forwards in the game at just 174cm and 87kg, he won't be found wanting in the ticker department. Ford became the Australian Bullriding Champion while still in year 11, a feat which prompted two American colleges to offer scholarships. Should he decide to take up the offer, he'll have a chance to join the lucrative US rodeo circuit, which turns champions into millionaires.
However, for now, he has made the relatively sedate sport of football his priority. While smashing into front-rowers is considered a safety risk, it's nothing compared to what happened after his title-winning ride.
"I rode the bull and was getting off it when I got hung up and the bull was spinning," Ford said. "The bull had these little nobbly horns and one of them got me between my chest and my rib cage. I broke two ribs and puncutered my lung. I had to get flown to Townsville hospital and I stayed for a week. They're so powerful, it's unbelievable."
There have also been times when he's been trampled, butted or ended up with a hyper-extended elbow.
But this is the life of a Toyota Cup footballer. Unlike their NRL cousins, NYC hopefuls need to hold down a job or at least be studying with a view to a post-football career. Some of them have weird and wonderful careers. Ford's Brisbane teammate, Josh Coyle, is attending aviation school with a view to becoming a pilot. Wests Tigers back Robert Lui is a pool lifeguard. Penrith's Gavin Taylor is studying criminology. The Manly half Cameron Dyer achieved a UAI mark of 97.7 and is studying a course in Sydney University's faculty of medicine, with a view to becoming a physiotherapist.
"You see some players on big money just sit at home all day," said Dyer, who also works as a personal trainer. "By the time training rolls around, they've been sitting around all day and are over it.
"If you keep busy during the day, you've got something to look forward to and training gives you a bit of a break from everything else."
And while every up-and-comer hopes to deliver on the field, many are doing so off it - 12 players from six different clubs are working for Australia Post, while a further seven are awaiting a placement.
All of them put in long hours to juggle their training and working commitments. For instance, Ford, also an apprentice electrician, often starts his day at 5am and doesn't return home from training until after 8pm. He's not the only one who made sacrifices. His parents - who own the Great Western Hotel at Rockhampton - used to drive Guy 80 kilometres just to get to training in his junior days. They also hold rodeos in a ring out the back.
Despite her son's sporting choices, Karin said she wasn't overly concerned about Guy's welfare.
"Not with football," she said. "I know that he's been looked after extremely well. I know they wouldn't put him into a position he couldn't handle."
What about hopping aboard a tonne's worth of bucking bull for eight seconds?
"He's lived on the land all his life," she said. "He's been [riding] since he was four or five years old."