'I'm just going to keep doing it': Dane Coles responds to player poll that saw him voted the 'biggest grub' in New Zealand
All Blacks and Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles isn’t planning on changing the way he plays rugby despite being voted the “biggest grub” in a New Zealand player poll.
44 percent of Super Rugby players nationwide voted Coles as the “biggest grub” in the country as part of an anonymous poll conducted by NZME radio producer Sam Casey earlier this year.
The 33-year-old veteran topped the poll by a considerable margin, with All Blacks teammate Brodie Retallick registering in second-place with just 15 percent of the vote, while Jordie Barrett was voted the third-biggest grub at 10 percent.
Speaking on the What a Lad podcast, hosted by fellow Hurricanes teammate James Marshall, Coles conceded the results were a fair reflection of how he plays, but said he isn’t concerned that his peers view him as New Zealand’s biggest grub.
“Yeah, probably true to be fair,” Coles said when asked for his thoughts on the poll.
“As you get older, you just got to embrace it, and that’s what I kind of am [doing].
“I can’t do much about it. It’s what the people want and I guess that’s what they’ve voted, so I’ve got to get on with it.”
The 69-test All Black said he put his on-field antics down to his passion for winning, and outlined he has no intention of changing the way he conducts himself during matches.
“It probably just comes out as passion and just trying to do everything I can to win. Sometimes it comes out a verbal spray, and I’ve copped it. I’ve been sin binned for the way I play, with my heart on my sleeve, and I probably play on the edge,” he said.
“Things don’t always go to plan and I’ve got to live with that, but that’s just who I am and it’s got me this far, so I’m just going to keep doing it.”
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Coles added that the way he goes about playing the game is “just what happens on the field”, and maintained that none of his banter with opposition players have been personal attacks.
“It’s nothing personal. I’ve had things on the field, but as soon as that game’s finished, I’ll shake your hand and walk off and have a beer with you.
“I’ve never carried it on and hold grudges and stuff like that. It’s just what happens on the field.”
Marshall described his Hurricanes teammate as a “misunderstood” figure, pointing to another result from the poll that saw Coles voted as the third-most respected player in New Zealand behind All Blacks captain Sam Cane and Retallick.
Coles said that misconception of how he is off the field compared to what he is like on it has led to many questions from fans about how he behaves outside of rugby.
“I do get that a lot, questions from kids and other people, like, ‘Are you real angry off the field?’, and I’m like, ‘No!’
“I was like, ‘If you keep asking that question I’ll probably get angry’, but no, I’m not.
“It wouldn’t be sustainable being the way I am on the field off the field. I wouldn’t have a wife and three kids, that’s for sure.”
One of Coles’ most notable on-field duels in recent memory came during the opening weekend of Super Rugby Aotearoa when he faced off against the Blues at Eden Park two months ago.
The match was his former Hurricanes teammate Beauden Barrett’s debut for the Auckland franchise after he inked a four-year deal with the club last year.
Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has confirmed he will return to the #Mitre10Cup this year, and could take to the field within the next two weeks.https://t.co/ZpVmvuGZok
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 23, 2020
As a long-serving Hurricanes stalwart, Coles was vocal about his disappointment in seeing Barrett depart Wellington for the Blues, and he made sure the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year knew about it during the encounter.
While the Hurricanes lost the match 30-20, Coles drew plenty of attention in the opening minutes when he celebrated a try by swarming Barrett along with his teammates.
The pair engaged in some pushing and shoving in the dying minutes of the clash, Coles admitted he was wary of not being drawn into a personal war of words as he revealed he has said things to other players in the past that he has since come to regret.
“In the past, I’ve said stuff that I’ve regretted to players. Media or people will talk it up [and] say something, so you’re like ‘If I get this guy, I’m going to say this’,” he said.
“With Baz [Barrett], because we’re obviously good mates, I didn’t want to say anything that was personal, so during the week, I was thinking, ‘Don’t say anything personal, don’t be a d***head and ruin your friendship’.”
Although he made sure not to go overboard with his chat, Coles said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run over Barrett en route to scoring his try, and commended his All Blacks teammate for the way he handled the competitive edge.
“It was like a movie. I just seen him and was like, ‘I’m going to try and run over him’.
“I didn’t even plan anything, I just got up and I seen him and I was like ‘Yeah, Bazza!’ and the boys just jumped on him.
“But, to his credit, he took it like a champ… It was all good fun. Like I said, [we] had a beer after the game and that was it, we left it on the field. He’s a good man, Baz.”
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments