A few years ago, Adam Elliott made a significant sacrifice for his beloved Canterbury Bulldogs.
He offered to take a pay cut to help the club’s salary cap situation. Foxsports.com.au understands it was worth about $30,000 per season over multiple seasons.
That story never made it to a headline, and Elliott hasn’t spoken about it publicly.
But it’s the tangible evidence of the likeable backrower’s love for the blue and white NRL club.
“I grew up a Bulldogs fan and I was probably one of the only ones in Tathra that used to wear my Bulldogs jersey to footy training,” Elliott said on Wednesday.
“Since I was 14 and signed with the club it’s been my No.1 dream to play for them so I’m glad I can be here and do it.”
That love for his job, and for the club, helped Elliott keep a positive mindset during weeks of media scrutiny and a court case following the Bulldogs’ Mad Monday scandal.
Elliott and then-teammate Asipeli Fine plead guilty in court to charges of wilful and obscene exposure. They had been secretly photographed celebrating Mad Monday at a hotel in The Rocks, and were later charged by police.
Elliott admits the whole saga took a mental toll. Luckily he had plenty of support from the club and family.
“I don’t look back on it. I’ve been looking forward ever since,” he said.
“I knew who I am and my family and everyone close to me knows who I am. I had an extreme amount of support during that time.
“It would be unfair for the people that had my back and were there when I needed them, to look back and dwell on things instead of looking forward and trying to be my best self.
“I’ve always had a really strong support network around me. My parents are supportive ... the support of my brother and grandparents, and my partner and her family as well.
“I think the general broader community .. there was Bulldogs fans writing to me, there was people from Tathra, there was people from the St Gregs community reaching out to me. There was general NRL fans who probably hope I break my leg when I run out for the Bulldogs, but they were messaging me on the Tuesday saying they had my back.
“To have the amount of support that I did it was quite easy for me to look forward and make sure I dealt with it best I could.”
Elliott knew he could count on the love and support of his friends and family.
But it was the support offered from complete strangers that took him by surprise, and made him realise how big the rugby league community is.
The backrower went under the knife for wrist surgery on the day after the Mad Monday party.
When he awoke in hospital - having been plastered over front pages and headlines that morning - Elliott was astonished by what he saw on his mobile phone.
He estimates he had received 2500 messages through Instagram, and thousands more through Facebook and text message, all offering their support.
“I remember coming out of surgery and I had about 2500 messages on my Instagram unread, a lot on my Facebook and then texts,” he said.
“I’m not too sure but there was a few thousand there and they were all positive. There was not one negative comment, and that was a big part of how I got through it all.
“It was really humbling.
“I tried my best, it was hard but I tried to write back to all of them. I was in the hospital for a while so it was a good chance to write back to as many as I could.”
Now Elliott is keen to move on from the whole sorry saga.
And Canterbury will need their star backrower focused on the task at hand - reach finals in 2019.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/40a3c8e12b7b7527bcf493b13c8f5fd4
