Watch Gorden Tallis in League Legends with Jake Duke in Fox League and Kayo.
Gorden Tallis admits that the nickname ‘Raging Bull’ that followed him throughout his career was a fabrication that arose from a desire to prepare for the physical battles of his position.
Speaking League Legends with Jake Duke, Tallis admitted that he wanted to play as Wally Lewis, but the limitations of his skill set forced him to find other ways to reach the rugby league.
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Tallis revealed that his father’s skills were passed on to his brothers and not to himself and that he had to take a physical and aggressive approach to get the most out of his talent.
“I didn’t get any, my sister had all the skills of her father and my brother got some,” Tallis said.
“I’m probably on my mother’s side. I had the aggressive kind of bad temper and dad was such a quiet, shy guy who played on the sidelines and didn’t like doing too much or hurting anyone and I’m just the opposite.”
Tallis revealed that he was a thin tall boy and needed a lot of work to get to the top as a rugby league striker.
“I didn’t, I don’t think I saw it until I got older,” Tallis said when asked where the furious bull character came from when he was younger.
“When you’re a kid, everyone can pass by and kick and everyone wants to play. I wanted to be Wally Lewis.
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Gorden Tallis faces Brett Hodgson at Origin.Font: News Corp Australia
“Everyone wanted to play five-eighths, so I was playing five-eighths, center or block.
“Until St George offered me a test and I went down there and did the Dragons and I didn’t play lock. I went straight to the back row and they tried to get me a first oar.
“That’s more or less his ability, so he knew he couldn’t play like Allan Langer or Andrew Johns or Noel Goldthorpe or Anthony Mundine.
“The way I played was to run a lot and be very aggressive, so I actually had to teach it to myself later in life because I didn’t have to play that small.
“No one had to run hard when you were little. They let you get caught being that guy in the newspaper. I don’t know who said I was the ‘Furious Bull’, but sometimes they catch you trying to be that guy. So it was made.”
Tallis dreamed of playing in the rugby league like his idols Wally Lewis and Gene Miles, but humbly admitted that his skill set did not allow it.
“I was a little kid,” Tallis said.
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Gorden Tallis playing the Dragons in 1995. Source: News Corp Australia
“When I signed with the Dragons at two feet and two, I weighed 86 pounds, so I never had the frame to play that way.
“I would have eaten and spit, so I gained a few kilos and I still am today.
“I’ve always wanted to be like Gene Miles or Wally Lewis, so I didn’t want to play as a first or a back.”
Tallis’ physical focus put him at the center of some all-time rugby league fights, with two celebrities involving Terry O’Connor and Ben Ross for very different reasons.
“Let’s talk about some of your stinks and big fights,” Duke said.
“There was Terry O’Connor in the World Club Challenge. What did that cause because it didn’t look like anything? ”
“Nothing,” Tallis replied.
Gorden Tallis fights Ben Ross in 2003. Source: News Corp Australia
“It was nothing. No, Terry is a really good guy, he recently turned 50.
“But Terry kept calling me a convict and I always laughed because he didn’t defend me because I’m black, so he defended my white comrades.
“But that’s all it was. He just said damn me and I just understood shit. I said, don’t do it. Don’t say that. And he said it again and I punched him. “.
Tallis revealed that his famous blue with striker Penrith Ross in 2003 was a response to a constant sleigh when a neck injury affected his ability to play and train the way he had always been accustomed.
“Ben Ross was different because I had neck surgery and he wanted me to retire,” Tallis said.
“Wayne said, I need you to stay a little longer, so as soon as I hurt my neck I was going to retire at 27 because I couldn’t train and couldn’t do the things I needed to do. fit to play.
“Then people started tweeting a lot more and I didn’t play well either because I couldn’t train and the sled was coming at me a bit.
Gorden Tallis respected Wayne Bennett’s ability to get the most out of his players. Source: News Corp Australia
“I told Wayne a preseason that everyone was tweeting and getting a little under my grid.
“He said, what are you going to do? And I said I can fight? And he said yes. Just make sure he’s in the first rounds and make sure he’s a big guy.
“You just need to learn to control your temper and it’s very difficult. I hate when people try to talk about Jared Waerea-Hargreaves now.
“If I could play like Andrew Johns I would do it or Darren Lockyer or Allan Langer. It would have been more fun to play like Johnathan Thurston, believe me.
“But when you can’t do that, they take more and more tools out of you and you have to start running a lot.
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“In order to motivate me to meet a Jared Waerea-Hargreaves or face Paul Harragon or Spudd (Carroll) or Gillespie Cement, you have to be mentally prepared.”
Tallis played his entire career in the Broncos for super coach Coach Wayne Bennett and revealed that the key to his ability to get the most out of his players came from the example he set both physically and mentally.
“What Wayne would do is make you train to the limit,” Tallis said.
“It would break you apart and make you go beyond what you thought could happen.
“A couple of times we were doing these long throws and it’s eight and a half miles into the Gap Reservoir and it’s very hard and it’s in the middle of Brisbane summer. The hens laid hard-boiled eggs, it was so hot.
“And Wayne would run and finish in the top five or three. He used to win it, but when he was 50, so I don’t know how many 50-year-olds could run it.
“It was with Lockyer and I know Kevvie (Walters) has the record, but there were some very fit guys.
“That’s the respect that Wayne has given you because he could go as deeply mentally as he wants.”