FORGET about the poisoned chalice of hosting the Oscars. Surely, the toughest public gig on the planet is being The Face of Rugby League.
We don't mean to make light of the predicament Ben Barba finds himself in as he grapples with a break-up from the mother of his two daughters and associated gambling and alcohol issues.
A month ago, this journalist was granted an all-access pass to the Indigenous team for the All Stars match, in which the Bulldogs fullback scored three first-half tries.
Unsurprisingly, Barba was named the players' player, and his succinct but emotional speech afterwards suggested he desperately didn't want to leave his Indigenous teammates nor return to Sydney.
"I love you," he told them. "You don't know how much it means to myself to be with you."
Many of those teammates have texted Barba with messages of support, but have not heard back from him.
Barba's "multiple issues" have not been completely revealed publicly, but we aren't naive enough to think it starts and ends with what's been divulged - especially when he is wrapped up with a group of blokes who have branded themselves the "Epic Bender Club".
(That doesn't sound like a group that knocks over 15 schooners at the pub on a Saturday arvo, does it?)
Regular readers of this space might remember we brought you the news and pictures of Barba and his new girlfriend Lauren Tweddle.
We chose not to run the Instagram image from his ex-partner Ainslie Currie, who branded Tweddle a "home wrecker".
But Ainslie showed she was a girl of substance when she went public in The Daily Telegraph to quash rampant speculation that Barba had physically harmed her.
We've all been burnt before, but Benny Barba appears to be one of the good guys.
He was a father of two children when he was 19, came to the big smoke and didn't know if he would make it because of his size, washed cars to make ends meet, and then had one of the most mesmerising NRL seasons since Jarryd Hayne and rightfully collected the Dally M.
The footnote is that he's only 23.
So many of them - Hayne, Pearce, Marshall, Carney and dozens more - shoulder pressure and expectation none of us will ever know from the time they are teenagers.
Despite the drama, Barba remains on the cover of a set of brilliant player cards - NRL Trading Cards, not Scanlens - that will be released on Monday.
We don't mean to make light of the predicament Ben Barba finds himself in as he grapples with a break-up from the mother of his two daughters and associated gambling and alcohol issues.
A month ago, this journalist was granted an all-access pass to the Indigenous team for the All Stars match, in which the Bulldogs fullback scored three first-half tries.
Unsurprisingly, Barba was named the players' player, and his succinct but emotional speech afterwards suggested he desperately didn't want to leave his Indigenous teammates nor return to Sydney.
"I love you," he told them. "You don't know how much it means to myself to be with you."
Many of those teammates have texted Barba with messages of support, but have not heard back from him.
Barba's "multiple issues" have not been completely revealed publicly, but we aren't naive enough to think it starts and ends with what's been divulged - especially when he is wrapped up with a group of blokes who have branded themselves the "Epic Bender Club".
(That doesn't sound like a group that knocks over 15 schooners at the pub on a Saturday arvo, does it?)
Regular readers of this space might remember we brought you the news and pictures of Barba and his new girlfriend Lauren Tweddle.
We chose not to run the Instagram image from his ex-partner Ainslie Currie, who branded Tweddle a "home wrecker".
But Ainslie showed she was a girl of substance when she went public in The Daily Telegraph to quash rampant speculation that Barba had physically harmed her.
We've all been burnt before, but Benny Barba appears to be one of the good guys.
He was a father of two children when he was 19, came to the big smoke and didn't know if he would make it because of his size, washed cars to make ends meet, and then had one of the most mesmerising NRL seasons since Jarryd Hayne and rightfully collected the Dally M.
The footnote is that he's only 23.
So many of them - Hayne, Pearce, Marshall, Carney and dozens more - shoulder pressure and expectation none of us will ever know from the time they are teenagers.
Despite the drama, Barba remains on the cover of a set of brilliant player cards - NRL Trading Cards, not Scanlens - that will be released on Monday.
Last edited by a moderator:
