Bowside
Peter Johnson (47)
Class has absolutely nothing to do with it. Its all attitude. I've played against really hard boys from the supposedly soft cock upper classes who had real mongrel in terms of their attitude toward the game. On the flipside I have also played 140kg Islanders who were as soft as mashmellow but should have slaughtered all before them. I will say this though. Growing up in Sydney's South West the general attitude to sports is different. For many young people in the Inner West, Eastern Suburbs and Upper North Shore sport is just another element to life as there are other opportunities through education, while many who tend to excel in the West view it as the only real option. If you look at the NRL were a great deal of the talent comes from Western Sydney, I can tell you most of those boys would not have had contingency plans. Unlike many Rugby players who have qualifications (.i.e. Baxter - architect) outside of the game. So a far more aggressive and I guess resilent attitude is a requirement.
Nail on the head mate. Take for example Digby Ioane, who most would consider one of the harder men in Australian rugby. Diggers comes from a large working class family and so the desperation and drive to succeed in order provide them with a better life would be great motivation for him. He's a heart and soul player because first and foremost, rugby is his bread and butter, and he therefore needs to exploit his talent as much as he can whilst he still has it. Its all about attitude.