St Joseph's Nudgee College

July 26, 2010

St Joseph's Nudgee College Old Boy and Wallabies back James O'Connor returned to the College last week to speak with students about sporting values.

O'Connor was joined by fellow Wallaby Saia Faingaa and Wallaroo and Australian Women's Sevens player Iliseva Batibasaga with the three players participating in a panel session run by the Australian Rugby Union.

O'Connor, Faingaa and Batibasaga told the Years 6 and 7 Nudgee College students and students from Padua College and Yeronga State High School how they became involved in rugby union and who their role models were growing up before giving the audience an insight into some of the traditions they go through when representing Australia.

These included the pre-game jersey presentations and speeches by former players, what it's like to face the New Zealand Haka and, in O'Connor's case, what it's like to be in charge of team mascot Wally.

"Wally is a stuffed animal that is given to the youngest player on tour to look after," he said.

"Wally has been around for 82 years and I have to keep watching him as he has a tendency to disappear. He can be very hard to keep track of at times."

O'Connor was understandably the most popular of the three players when it came to question time with Nudgee College students keen to find out which day and boarding houses he was in (Ross and Hodda), what team he enjoyed playing against the most (Terrace) and who his role models were at the College (Martin Kerby and former 1st XV coach Todd Dammers).

The Promoting Values in Sport Forum is an EdRugby program that aims to encourage students to think about the importance of values in sport and life.

It provides a rare opportunity for students and teachers to hear from high profile rugby players about the values underpinning their lives and the team including pride, heritage, sportsmanship, respect, honour, and standards.

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