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Something to bring a tear to your eye on Origin Day - the sad yet inspiring story of former Blues prop CRAIG SALVATORI
By TONY ADAMS
You have dropped off the radar the last few years...
After Bali, it was a rough time for me and the girls (daughters Eliza and Olivia) and living in Sydney was doing my head in. People knew me from the footy and knew what happened and they meant well, but I just couldn't escape the whole thing. So we moved up here to the far north coast and the quiet life and it's worked well for us.
Are you okay to talk about Bali?
Yeah, it's okay mate. It was 2002 and we took the kids there with some other families. The mums had a girls' night out and I stayed home to babysit. Well, this was the night of the Bali bombings. It could easily have been me who died that night, but fate decided it would be Kathy. It was horrible. I went to the local morgue and thought I had found her - there were so many bodies there, burned beyond recognition. It turns out the remains I found were not hers, but three weeks later, they identified her remains, so at least we got her back and got some closure. The girls were just nine and six at the time and to lose their mum like that was awful. We struggled for a long time but have moved on as much as we can. I have re-married and Susie is my rock.
How do you feel about the people who planted the bombs?
They were lunatics, mis-informed about the world and people. There is no point being bitter because it eats away at you so I have tried not to dwell on it. It is negative energy. At the time, you think you will never get over it. But time has passed and we have learned to cope. I have learned to laugh again and I try to enjoy life... you've got to make the most of it while you are here. The girls and I have been back to Bali twice for memorial services and we will never forget Kathy - we talk about her every day.
Ok... let's get back to football... you were a Souths junior?
I was... and Souths didn't want me (laughs). I was a Souths junior but (former Roosters coach) Russell Fairfax spotted me playing for the Dunbar Hotel in the local comp. He gave me a trial. It was 1985 and I remember I did a chip and chase and put the winger over for a try - they gave me a $2000 contract just about on the spot.
Two years later, you made your top grade debut?
It was the old Saturday arvo footy and we played Cronulla at Shark Park - and I was man of the match. We had a good win and had players like 'Horrie' Hastings, Tony Melrose and Steve Morris. But it was tough... they had guys like Les Davidson and they tested me as the new kid on the block. I remember at one stage, one of their forwards picked me up, lifted me above the horizontal and did a perfect spear tackle on me. My head crashed into the ground and as I lay dazed there, the ref yelled 'good tackle'. These days it would get 12 weeks. Players nowadays I reckon would cry if they had to play in the '80s... it was tough.
When Jack Gibson came to the Roosters, he was a major influence on you?
He was - in fact you could say he turned my life around. I was a bit of a wild man in my younger days and tried to prove my toughness by belting blokes. Refs didn't like me - for good reason. Jack pulled me aside and told me pretty much to pull my head in. 'Stop being a tough guy... let your football do your talking, not your fists. When you run out there, leave your head in the locker' he told me. So I changed my game and it was the best thing that happened to me, footy wise. I went from an average first grader to a Test and Origin player and captained the Roosters for five years. I won a Dally M prop of the year award and led the Roosters to a win in the World Sevens. Had it not been for Jack's influence, I don't think I would have done any of that.
But you still lapsed occasionally?
We had a big game at Penrith in 1993. Five of their guys gang tackled me and did everything you could imagine to me in the tackle. So I got up and head butted (hooker) Brett Boyd. He deserved it (laughs). The judiciary didn't agree and gave me five weeks. I thought we could have won the comp that year but that killed off our chances - it was a tough lesson for me and I felt bad about it.
How did you find Origin?
It was a great experience and we had a series win... but I didn't get on with 'Gus' (Phil Gould). He had the runs on the board and I respect him for what he has done, but we didn't see eye to eye - put it that way. I felt that even though I was in the side, I wasn't part of his plans. He made me change my game. I always fancied my ball skills but he turned me into a meathead and just had me hitting the ball up - it's not how I liked to play the game and I struggled with the role.
After a decade at the Roosters, you finished your career at Souths in 1996?
Yeah - I was 30 by then and my body had pretty much shut down (laughs). I signed for two years at Souths and played 20-odd games the first season. But the writing was on the wall and I quit before I had the second season. I'm 48 now and need a couple of new knees. Life's had its ups and downs but I can't complain - like I said, I am making the most of it.
Craig Salvatori was a self-confessed battler - so when he got to the pinnacle of rugby league, more than a few tears were shed.
"I was home listening to the radio (in 1991) and they announced the Australian team to play the Kiwis," recalls Salvatori, now a technical officer for the Department of Housing in Byron Bay.
"They went right through the team and then they said 'at prop Craig Salvatori'.
"Well, you can't imagine how emotional I became. It was one of the high points of my life, as good as when my kids were born."
And fate ensured Salvatori would always remember a dream debut in the green and gold.
"The game was at the Sydney Football Stadium, which was the Roosters' home ground, so I had a huge contingent of Roosters fans there to cheer me on.
"The game was like a dream - we won by a record 44-0 margin and I couldn't have wished for a better debut.
"I still have the green and gold blazer - but tried to put it on a while back and it is about five sizes too small (laughs).
Something to bring a tear to your eye on Origin Day - the sad yet inspiring story of former Blues prop CRAIG SALVATORI
By TONY ADAMS
You have dropped off the radar the last few years...
After Bali, it was a rough time for me and the girls (daughters Eliza and Olivia) and living in Sydney was doing my head in. People knew me from the footy and knew what happened and they meant well, but I just couldn't escape the whole thing. So we moved up here to the far north coast and the quiet life and it's worked well for us.
Are you okay to talk about Bali?
Yeah, it's okay mate. It was 2002 and we took the kids there with some other families. The mums had a girls' night out and I stayed home to babysit. Well, this was the night of the Bali bombings. It could easily have been me who died that night, but fate decided it would be Kathy. It was horrible. I went to the local morgue and thought I had found her - there were so many bodies there, burned beyond recognition. It turns out the remains I found were not hers, but three weeks later, they identified her remains, so at least we got her back and got some closure. The girls were just nine and six at the time and to lose their mum like that was awful. We struggled for a long time but have moved on as much as we can. I have re-married and Susie is my rock.
How do you feel about the people who planted the bombs?
They were lunatics, mis-informed about the world and people. There is no point being bitter because it eats away at you so I have tried not to dwell on it. It is negative energy. At the time, you think you will never get over it. But time has passed and we have learned to cope. I have learned to laugh again and I try to enjoy life... you've got to make the most of it while you are here. The girls and I have been back to Bali twice for memorial services and we will never forget Kathy - we talk about her every day.
Ok... let's get back to football... you were a Souths junior?
I was... and Souths didn't want me (laughs). I was a Souths junior but (former Roosters coach) Russell Fairfax spotted me playing for the Dunbar Hotel in the local comp. He gave me a trial. It was 1985 and I remember I did a chip and chase and put the winger over for a try - they gave me a $2000 contract just about on the spot.
Two years later, you made your top grade debut?
It was the old Saturday arvo footy and we played Cronulla at Shark Park - and I was man of the match. We had a good win and had players like 'Horrie' Hastings, Tony Melrose and Steve Morris. But it was tough... they had guys like Les Davidson and they tested me as the new kid on the block. I remember at one stage, one of their forwards picked me up, lifted me above the horizontal and did a perfect spear tackle on me. My head crashed into the ground and as I lay dazed there, the ref yelled 'good tackle'. These days it would get 12 weeks. Players nowadays I reckon would cry if they had to play in the '80s... it was tough.
When Jack Gibson came to the Roosters, he was a major influence on you?
He was - in fact you could say he turned my life around. I was a bit of a wild man in my younger days and tried to prove my toughness by belting blokes. Refs didn't like me - for good reason. Jack pulled me aside and told me pretty much to pull my head in. 'Stop being a tough guy... let your football do your talking, not your fists. When you run out there, leave your head in the locker' he told me. So I changed my game and it was the best thing that happened to me, footy wise. I went from an average first grader to a Test and Origin player and captained the Roosters for five years. I won a Dally M prop of the year award and led the Roosters to a win in the World Sevens. Had it not been for Jack's influence, I don't think I would have done any of that.
But you still lapsed occasionally?
We had a big game at Penrith in 1993. Five of their guys gang tackled me and did everything you could imagine to me in the tackle. So I got up and head butted (hooker) Brett Boyd. He deserved it (laughs). The judiciary didn't agree and gave me five weeks. I thought we could have won the comp that year but that killed off our chances - it was a tough lesson for me and I felt bad about it.
How did you find Origin?
It was a great experience and we had a series win... but I didn't get on with 'Gus' (Phil Gould). He had the runs on the board and I respect him for what he has done, but we didn't see eye to eye - put it that way. I felt that even though I was in the side, I wasn't part of his plans. He made me change my game. I always fancied my ball skills but he turned me into a meathead and just had me hitting the ball up - it's not how I liked to play the game and I struggled with the role.
After a decade at the Roosters, you finished your career at Souths in 1996?
Yeah - I was 30 by then and my body had pretty much shut down (laughs). I signed for two years at Souths and played 20-odd games the first season. But the writing was on the wall and I quit before I had the second season. I'm 48 now and need a couple of new knees. Life's had its ups and downs but I can't complain - like I said, I am making the most of it.
Craig Salvatori was a self-confessed battler - so when he got to the pinnacle of rugby league, more than a few tears were shed.
"I was home listening to the radio (in 1991) and they announced the Australian team to play the Kiwis," recalls Salvatori, now a technical officer for the Department of Housing in Byron Bay.
"They went right through the team and then they said 'at prop Craig Salvatori'.
"Well, you can't imagine how emotional I became. It was one of the high points of my life, as good as when my kids were born."
And fate ensured Salvatori would always remember a dream debut in the green and gold.
"The game was at the Sydney Football Stadium, which was the Roosters' home ground, so I had a huge contingent of Roosters fans there to cheer me on.
"The game was like a dream - we won by a record 44-0 margin and I couldn't have wished for a better debut.
"I still have the green and gold blazer - but tried to put it on a while back and it is about five sizes too small (laughs).
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