• How very sensible Helen, the spare bed is a great idea! I would definitely rather they were inside my house than in a car out the front with the neighbours watching on. - Carolyn
  • I am about to embark on my Dip Ed to teach secondary students. I have read a lot of the horrors teachers have to endure & sometimes wonder if this is the right decision. It does beggar belief that politicians don't make education a top priority and pay their teacher's well for a job that has so many repercussions for this country's future workforce and decision makers. - Pixie
  • How ridiculous - The " lodge’s policy was for same-sex couples to be put into a room with two king-single beds " - I'm fairly sure you can have sex in a king single bed! And "We have to protect our other guests.” - so they can have wild noisy sex and that's okay??? I thought NZ recently legislated to allow same sex marriages? Obviously no one will ever spend their honeymoon at the Ruskin's establishment. - Carolyn
  • Great great article. Lets hope the other premiers can sign on! The system is broken everyone knows it but for lots of reasons the LNP has decided they won't support this as they think they can't afford to agree with yet another of Labor's policies. Please don't make education the football! - Vicki
  • We pluck, spray, pierce, wax, laser, electrolyse, tattoo and jewel our bodies. We reduce and enlarge body parts, displace body fat and inject chemicals to numb, fill and plump our skin. Some women even undergo surgery so they can squeeze into designer shoes, bleach their bums and undergo vajazzling. Yeah, we've come such a long way baby! But do we do it for the men, for the perception we want to convey to our peers or for ourselves? That's the real question. What I love about getting older, is the increasing lack of pressure I feel about my appearance. The western world is a messed up, screwy place sometimes! - Pixie
  • I remember as a child in primary school, I used to take Irish dancing lessons. For competitions, we had to wear make-up and have our hair pinned, etc. Not nearly to the same extent as they do today, but nevertheless, I didn't like it. When I grimaced and complained, my mother would say (through a mouth full of bobby pins), "You have to suffer to be beautiful" . I think that I made up my mind back then that when I grew up, I would suffer as little as possible! I wear very little make up (often none), I don't dye my hair and I only shave my underarms if I really "need" to. Funny enough, I now do tap dancing, and I love all the atmosphere that exists back stage as we prepare for our annual concert, putting on make up, doing our hair. Maybe because it's more of a choice and its in a spirit of collegiality. But as for extreme lengths like tight-lacing of girdles, or foot-binding, that's just cruel and ridiculous! - Bettina
  • I agree with Robyn. 3 of my female friends and I used to attend a conference in Sydney, and to save on hotel costs, we shared a 2 bedroom room. One room had two single beds, the other had a queen-sized bed. A close girlfriend and I shared the queen bed. We actually chose not to engage in sex, and I'm not sure if the two friends sharing the room with the single beds did, or not... I just don't understand how the type of bed has anything to do with one's ability to engage in sex? - Nah
  • In 1987 my (then) fiancee and I stayed overnight at my Uncles house. We were put in separate bedrooms. We complied, their house, their rules. . Any business should clearly state their discrimination to prospective customers, to avoid the situation as above. And while I think those people are wrong in their views. They are entitled to them. - janet
  • just a demonstration of the scant regard the lnp have for voters apart from the fact of wanting their vote. They dont care about your life priorities, just their own. Get to the Lodge, end of story. They dont want what they consider to be "the great unwashed" to have a better education. That's for the priveleged few. - oldfart
  • [...] D is for Drama [...] - I IS FOR INTIMACY
 
Categories:  Entertainment, Must see, Your Stories

I LOVE MEN WHO PLAY RUGBY LEAGUE

I was born a rugby league tragic.

Some of my most cherished childhood memories include Saturday afternoons spent at the Sydney Cricket Ground, watching the match of the day with the extended family. Or going with my sister to Belmore Sports Ground to support the Berries while my brothers headed off to Kogarah to watch St George, and other members of my family went to Lidcombe to cheer on the Magpies.

I took my passion for the game seriously, spent hours trying to explain the rules and intricacies of the game to my female school friends so they could understand why (as they were all developing teenage crushes on pop stars), my head was filled with footy players.

They had album posters covering their bedroom walls and I had my Big League pull-outs. So it was no surprise that I married a footy player.

My marriage may not have lasted, but my love of rugby league did.

Marriages fail all the time. Rugby league was not the cause for mine faltered. Be he butcher, baker or footy player, it just wasn’t meant to be.

 

Bill Tupou (left) is congratulated by Warriors’ team-mates Kevin Locke (centre) and Konrad Hurrell after scoring a try against the Parramatta Eels.

 

What being married to a first grade professional footy player did show me was that the player you see on the field is not always that man in real life. Some of the most likeable, friendly and generous men I met were, in fact, the same ones the media like to portray as the bad boys of league.

Passionate and competitive on the field, for sure. Hated by the opposing fans for the impact they had on their team’s loss, maybe. But once away from the playing arena they were just men, with all the usual human frailties. They made mistakes like the rest of us.

You never read about the 21-year-old butcher being thrown out of a club for getting drunk! Who would care? It would seem butchers don’t make good role models, but if you are a footy player it’s part of the job description and you are held accountable, publicly.

Not that I condone anti-social behaviour. There have been times I’ve been shocked and disappointed about behaviour of a violent nature. But in every walk of life there are those that do the wrong thing. I hate hearing people judge all rugby league players by the actions of a few. So much so that, with all that teenage romanticising in my background, I took my love for rugby league and my respect for the men who play and wrote a series of romance novels with that sport as the backdrop. (To be released soon, stay tuned!)

Romance and rugby league—it’s a perfect match. What better alpha than a fit, masculine male who spends a lot of his time in shorts and skin tight tops, which beautifully showcase bulging biceps and impossibly broad shoulders?

More than that, though, I was able to add some insights into the pressures these modern day gladiators face when they play at the highest level.

 Page 1 of 2 next >>
support us

7 Responses to this article

  1. Maggie Nash September 28, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Hi Donna!

    I can’t say I’m a Rugby League fan, but I do love my AFL players for pretty much the same reason you do…with less thick necks of course :-)

    I can’t wait to read your Rugby themed books!

     
  2. H K Carlton September 28, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Hi Donna,
    I’m a Rugby fan, but a little lower league than you are a fan of. My son plays college rugby. He proudly wears the number 2. And what mother doesn’t love to say that her son’s a hooker. :) Cheers,
    H K

     
  3. Victoria Purman September 28, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Great article Donna. Can’t wait to read your book!

     
  4. Efthalia September 28, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Hi Donna,
    Great article. Made me reminisce a little. I used to love going to my favourited teams games.

    I didn’t marry a footy player though but I can understand your love for the game.

    Smiles,
    Efthalia

     
  5. William Marshall September 28, 2012 Reply
     
     

    This is the reason I love my footy

     

Have Your Say

Get e-mail notifications for new comments

 

You may also like

Left Right

porno porno sex

Talking About Dementia

Your Score:  

Your Ranking:  

Hoopla Poll

Comments

  • Carolyn: How very sensible Helen, the spare bed is a great idea! I would definitely rather they were inside my house than in a ca...

  • Pixie: I am about to embark on my Dip Ed to teach secondary students. I have read a lot of the horrors teachers have to endure ...

  • Carolyn: How ridiculous - The " lodge’s policy was for same-sex couples to be put into a room with two king-single beds " - I'm...

  • Vicki: Great great article. Lets hope the other premiers can sign on! The system is broken everyone knows it but for lots of r...

Freebies

loading time: 0.75 sec