Andrew Symonds tackles rugby league dream
Robert Craddock
June 22, 2009 06:08am
FORMER Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds has made a surprise club rugby league debut.
Symonds has swapped the green and gold of Australia for the green and red of Queensland's Wynnum-Manly rugby league club to fulfil a dream, The Courier-Mail reports.
Symonds has had his Cricket Australia contract ripped up for breaking team rules but that means he is now free to play sports deemed too risky for his physical wellbeing when he was a CA contracted player.
Andrew Symonds in action
Top of the list was rugby league, the sport he loves so passionately he once considered giving away cricket to try out for the Brisbane Broncos.
Symonds made a surprise appearance at Kougari Oval in Brisbane yesterday for a Wynnum-Manly old boys side against a Men of League All Stars team which included former Test centre Steve Renouf and Manly star Ben Kennedy.
Although it was only a gently-paced semi-social game, Symonds felt some pressure to perform but never looked out of place.
"I couldn't sleep last night," said Symonds, who was playfully jeered by the crowd in the grandstand bar when he dropped the first pass to come his way but proceeded to play well.
Former St George hooker Trevor Bailey said he liked Symonds' style.
"He has got a bit of pace and strength - if he had played league he would have played wing or centre and being the athlete he is might have done well," Bailey said.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005401,00.html
