A livewire youngster with a stack of potential caught Phil Gould’s eye, as James Phelps reports
BAILEY Biondi-Odo started running as soon as his father picked up the rake. “You get back here boy,” his father screamed. The backyard game suddenly stopped, brothers, cousins and uncles pausing to place bets.
“Five bucks he doesn’t catch him,” said Bailey’s brother. The boy with the dirty and halfflat Steeden took the bet. “Yeah,” the boy said as Dad took off. “The old boy’s still got it.” Bailey’s brother smiled. He knew his money was safe.
“The little bugger was fast,” recalled Bailey’s father, David Odo. “Not sure what he had done, probably just being cheeky like always, but he ran and I chased. He was only six so I had him covered.”
Or he thought he did.
But turns out young Bailey was as tough as he was fast. “He saw that I didn’t have shoes on,” Odo said. “We never did. He didn’t have shoes on either but he was prepared to take the pain. I stopped when he started running on the gravel. Rock and s... everywhere, I wasn’t going to stuff my feet.”
But Bailey did not care. Feet all cut and bloody, he gave Dad a wave before he disappeared.
It was the same combination of speed and toughness that attracted the attention of new Bulldogs football boss Phil Gould.
Watching his first game as the new Bulldogs head of football, Gould saw the speed, which was obvious.
Running for 51m in his 26-minute stint off the bench, Bailey left the Rabbitohs forwards clutching at air when he scored a blitzing 65th-minute try.
Gould also saw the toughness, the 85kg halfback not missing a tackle despite defending in the middle for the first time.
Gould is reported to have said; “Who is this guy and why haven’t we signed him”.
Gould then picked up the phone to make the call that would make Biondi-Odo his first signing at the Dogs.
“Gus called me after that game,” said Bailey’s agent, Sam Ayoub.
“And we had the deal done within 48 hours. Gus is a natural when it comes to identifying talent. His knowledge of the game is unsurpassed and I think he is able to see thing that sometimes others don’t.”
Gould said: “I watched him (Biondi-Odo) play a couple of times and you didn’t need to be an expert to see he has real potential.
“To be honest, I just handled the negotiation. Trent Barrett and Peter Sharp insisted we re-sign him, so I got the deal done. He can obviously play at six, seven and nine, so he is an asset to our roster. I am looking forward to meeting him and watching him develop under Trent Barrett.”
Determined to follow in the footsteps of his famous cousins, Ben Barba, Justin Hodges and Wendell Sailor, Biondi-Odo moved to Sydney after being rejected by the Broncos and the Cowboys. He made the 2500km trip from Innisfail, Queensland to Parramatta when he was 14.
“He has always wanted to be a football player,” Odo said.
“We started getting calls from NRL clubs when he was 11. But as he got older they went off him because he was too small.
“He was really dedicated. Always worked hard. He used to sit home and watch movies us on the weekends so he could keep out of trouble.
“All the other boys were drinking and getting up to s... . He got an opportunity to go to Parramatta and he grabbed it with both hands. He moved down and went through the junior system before being picked up by the Bulldogs.”
The youngest of six siblings, Biondi-Odo has a diverse cultural background.
“I’m an Odo and his mother is a Biondi,” David said.
“We weren’t married when he was born so we decided to give him both of our names. My father was half PNG and Torres Strait Islander while my mother was Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and also Malay. Bailey’s mum is half English-Aboriginal and half Italian, which is why Bailey has an Italian name (Biondi).”
He also has a big future in the NRL. With the Bulldogs still searching for a long-term halfback, Biondi-Odo is hoping to win a spot alongside Matt Burton next year.
“He has always been a half,” Odo said. “Never played hooker until this year. I know he will give it his best shot and we all reckon he will make the most of it.”
As for the rake?
“Nah, I was never going to hit him with it,” Odo said. “But I was tempted to throw it at him after he took off.”
