A unique life of intertwining sport and policing

Having been a police officer for 34 years and involved in competitive sport for over 45 years I have come learn the acute similarities that draw the profession of policing and the vocation of sport together and acutely intertwine them. Both share many common personal traits such patients, tenacity, dedication, integrity, planing and execution that require both the police officer and sportsman to acquire.

My policing career with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has provided me a unique professional opportunity to experience many different aspects of policing. Spanning across most of the AFP’s areas of responsibility I experienced investigating serious fraud against the Commonwealth; significant transnational crime investigations, organised crime; developing the AFP’s initial investigational arm to combat human trafficking for sexual exploitation and travelling child sex offenders, responsibility for elements of the AFP’s Intelligence such as the undercover and human source programs, protection of Prime Minister and selected officials and counter and security intelligence capacity.

My experience was enhanced through international postings as the Liaison Officer in Los Angeles, Timor Leste as the security advisor to the Secretary of State for Security the senior AFP representative responsible for the enhanced Timor Leste Police Development Program (TLPDP). Twelve months in Afghanistan at the AFP Mission Commander and Deputy Head of the International Police Coordination Board and before I retired as the Commander Americas, responsible for all law enforcement interaction throughout North, South and Central America.

Throughout my sporting career, I have often used the euphemism “jack of all sports master of none”. As a young boys I was drawn to the normal sports that you do at that age; mainly Rugby League, but also dabbled for a few years with soccer. Although lucky enough to play representative rugby league at the junior level, I felt more comfortable on the rugby union field where I would play at NSW Country representative level.

At school I had tried almost every sport in high school that was offered from hockey, basketball, softball and both rugby codes and was fortunate enough to represent at many of the sports. My school, East Hills Boys High as was known then had produced a couple of notable sportsmen over time, but it was a set of twins a couple of years my junior that were exceptionally athletic, mainly Steve and Mark Waugh and later a bloke named Ian Thorpe.

It was whilst in my last years at high school that I stumbled across athletics. My physical education teachers were two of the best and fittest athletes I have come across. Steve Folks, the current NRL Bulldogs coach and Peter Hadfield, Australian Decathlon champion and Olympian, now ABC Radio commentator who it was that got me involved in Athletics. I was also Peter who introduced me to weight training which see an ‘iron’ love affair develop that has continued with me to this day.

I would go on to represent NSW and Australian Schools in hammer, discuss and shot put and 1982 was selected in the Australian Junior Team where I would win my first international medal in the shot put.

In that same year I would also take up a scholarship with the University of Hawaii to play American Football (Gridiron). At what I thought were fairly imposing statistics of 194cm and 110kg’s quickly meant nothing given the size and ability of my team mates with some reaching 205cm and 140kg, which made me realise that I needed to do some serious weight training to become something more than a Mr mere average. realised that I was ‘Joe average’ in this team. Whilst in Hawaii I would further develop my love of weight training spending many hours in the gym with our strength and condition coach, a left over from the ‘flower power’ years, a long haired, floral shirt wearing, eclectic man named Terry Albritton. Terry himself was an accomplished athlete as the former world junior record holder in the Shot Put in 1977, with a record of 21 + metres, a throw that would have medalled at the Athens Olympics. Terry was a wealth of information on strength and conditioning and taught much of what I know today. Whilst in Hawaii I was privileged to meet up with a couple of then NRL 1st grade coaches who would drift through the Island on fact finding missions in the Australian off season. Rugby League in the early eighties was ramping up in its professionalism and Australian coaches were keen to absorb all aspects of physical and mental training of the American Game. It was here I was to meet a true gentleman named John Peard who was at the time coaching the Penrith team. John maintained correspondence with me the whole time I was in Hawaii and was not only a font of advice but also a source of encouragement.

Upon my I return to Australia I would join the AFP, in 1985 and would continue to train. I recall receiving a telephone call from Athletics Australia in 1990 inquiring whether I would like to try out Bobsleigh. “Bobsleigh I thought…..that’s a sport for sprinters”. Not so as I was would learn. I decided to give it a go and would go on to compete with the Australian Team in World Cup events throughout Europe and North America during the 1990’s whilst attempting to manage my policing career with the AFP. Of course, this meant that I would have to significantly reduce my body weight to fall within the weight limits imposed on the event by the international body.

I recall my first time down in the sled. It was late 1990 in Calgary, Canada, the site of the Winter Olympics two years earlier in 1988. All the physical and mental preparation I undertook did not help me at all overcome the absolute nervousness and fear I experienced at that initial run. There was nothing as exhilarating as being inside a bobsleigh, no more than a few feet off the ice racing at speeds up to 130klm’s and experiencing forces of up to 3G in the cryzals. A real experience during these times was being able to watch the athleticism of the US team. Their team of brakeman were all Olympic sprinters and included the legend Edwin Moses and former hurdler and NFL player Renaldo Nehemiah. Another character on the tour was the driver of the team from Monaco, a bloke we used to call “Bert”, but better known to the rest of the world as Prince Albert II of Monaco. He was gracious enough to invite the team and fly us to Monaco in 1993 to compete in his international “push competition” down by the waterfront on the esplanade adjacent to the millionaire’s Monaco Marina. I would go on to make the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympic Squads in this event.

By 1994 I had transferred from the AFP’s Sydney office to Canberra to a posting in the then Internal Affairs Unit where I began training at the Australian National University Gym. It had been tough keeping my weight down for bobsleigh, so I was happy to be eating and training like a normal person again. I had began to dabble in Powerlifting and although probably too tall at 194cm to be really successful was able to win a NSW title and place 2nd at the Australian titles in the under 125kg weight class. But it was a through a chance meeting that I became involved in strongman, and event that I would, as a young man I would religiously watch the strongman on the old “Wide World of Sports” Saturday afternoon. Characters like Commonwealth Shot Put champion and record holder Geoff Capes, Bill Kazmier, the iconic John Paul Sigmarsson, and Lou Ferrigno (aka the hulk) all household strength athletes in their own rights and wondered “if I could do that?”. Ironically, when posted to Los Angeles I would meet Ferrigno on a regular basis as his son and my daughter attended the same school.

I would be invited to compete in a number of strongman events and in 1995 was asked to compete at the Bundanoon Highland Gathering in 1995 in the “stones event. I drove to Bundanoon that icy cold April day in 1995. To my amazement I arrived and was greeted by two of the largest men I have ever seen: Jamie Reeves from England winner of the 1989 Worlds Strongest Man and Garry Taylor of Wales the 1991 Worlds Strongest Man winner. The stones would grow to be my most favoured event, 5 round sandstone balls commencing at a weight of 110kg incrementally up to a top weight of 150kg. The stones were lifted from the ground up onto evenly placed old whiskey barrels, a height of about 1.5 metres and timed. Having never attempted this event, and in the company of four of the worlds finest strongman, I had the pleasure of going first. I would lift all but the last, but the result was that I could not walk for a week after.

This began for me a wonderful career in strength sports. During 1996 and 1997, most weekends were filled with travelling to various venues to undertake. It was in 1996 that I was invited to compete at the initial World Series Strongman competition at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. I would be competing against the likes of 4 time World Strongest Man, Magnus Ver. Magnusson and a former University Hawaii football colleague Joe Onasai who at 190kg – 195cm possessed fantastic mobility for a large man.

However, in the days preceding the British Television crew from the TV show called BBC Record Breakers were in Australia as part of their 25th anniversary record breaker show. A number of events were undertaken and filmed for the show and as a part of the strongman competition I was going to be a part. I can remember the trepidation I felt upon being asked to nominate which of the two events I would like to undertake – pulling the “Bounty” tall ship, the made for the 1980’s Mel Gibson version, or a 201 tonne steam locomotive!!! What the heck I thought…. I will do both, strongman naivety I guess.

I clearly remember the day we all headed down to Circular Quay to where the ship was moored. It was 3rd April 1996 and a lovely sunny day. After a quick briefing and seeking the film crew were all right to go, my name was read out. “1St…. I thought…386 tonne….” I looked out towards the Sydney Opera house, with the Bounty directly positioned between the great house and my starting position. I positioned myself on the 4” x4” block that would be my platform to push against to get the big ship moving, chalked my hands, grabbed the 2” thick rope and pulled with my heart out. After what felt like and eternity, but was probably 30 odd seconds, the ship arms and tried to use my body weight as added ballast by leaning back until I got into a seated position. Once I got down into the seated position the ship began to move, but only ever so slowly. In an arm over arm motion I gradually picked up speed. By one minute I had lost the grip and my forearms ached, but I kept the ship moving by coiling the rope around my forearm to keep ship moving. After 2 minutes 18 seconds I had pulled the ship the full 25 metres and thus set a world record, only problem was their were another 5 strongman to follow. As I sat pondering what I had just achieved and watched the others go by, including 1989 World Strongest Man Jamie Reeves it left only one more competitor, the reigning Worlds Strongest Man Magnus Ver. Magnusson. Although not the largest man in the field, he was unbelievably strong, but more so used an intelligent and scientific approach to every event he competed in. I thought “well there is no embarrassment in coming second to the WSM..” I jumped and got closer to listen to the time intervals being called by the referee. I could see that Magnus was not travelling as good as I thought he would and when the ref called 2 minutes I knew it was impossible for Magnus to make my time and as it turned out his time was in excess of 3 minutes….. “well I’ll be… I thought..” Nonetheless I was eventually to lose the record by less than 1 second.

The very next day we all got up early and caught a bus down to Thirlmere, near the town of Picton on the sthn western outskirts of Sydney. There awaiting me was a majestic historic steam train, with coal and water truck attached to the rear. I remember standing against the wheel and piston which towered over me and thinking “.. no one will be able to move this giant…” We all warmed up and gathered for the briefing whilst the film crew made final adjustments prior to commencement. There it was again…. My name read out first. After the proceeding days effort I was comfortable that I could at least move the beast. I was harnessed up in a five point harness, similar to a parachute harness had the wire from the locomotive attached to the harness and positioned myself down on the five rung ladder allowed by Guinness to start the process. The current world record was 14 meters and I thought if I can get half way, I will be happy. The whistle went, the clock started and away I went. I used the strength in my buttocks and legs and at the same time was tall enough to be able to reach each track using my arms to pull also. The locomotive moved, I had got it off the ladder and using small steps had some momentum. The 14 meter world record had been clearly marked across the line and although concentrating by keeping my head down, briefly looked up and saw the line closing. There it went passing under me and I knew that I only had to get the front of the engine over the line to break the record. I heard the crowd, there was about 100 locals and media present, all cheer, then the locomotive abruptly stopped. I thought “ maybe a small rock was on the track..” The crowd were egging me on yelling at me to pull, so I did, but it did not move. Then TV producer ran up the line saying “stop.. stop”. The driver apparently had pulled the brake. He later told me that he could not see past the long nose of the engine and was worried that he might run over me. He told me that when he saw the crowd raise their arms once I had crossed the line, he thought something had happened as two raised arms in train speak means stop.

I watched on as the other competitors came and went, and asked the organisers if might be able to have another attempt as I felt I had a little more in me. They agreed. The last competitor, 150kg Sth African Wayne Price had pulled the locomotive a whopping 28 metres. Of I went again, but this time was more comfortable with the process and was able to get the train up to 36.8 metres in a time of 1 minute 16 seconds, a record that Guinness would ratify as a world record that would remain for 5 years.

This would lead me into a 4 year career as an amateur strongman, seeing me compete in competitions all around the world and culminate in appearances at the European and World Highland Games Championships in Scotland in 1998 and culminate with an invitation to compete at the World Strongest Man events in Morocco in 1997 and Malta in 1998.

Also during my strength career I would top the scales at 163kg which allowed me to successfully pull a C130 Hercules, 78 tonne mining truck, a 220 tonne steam locomotive a New Zealand Tram, semi trailers, trucks, busses and in 2017 single handledly pulled a 178 tonne US Airforce C-17 Globe Master.

I retired from strongman in 2000 an up until my posting to Timor Leste was still active in Masters Athletics.

Those personal traits that I mentioned at the beginning of the article now serve me well in my current role. Patients, tenacity, dedication, integrity are all requisite requirements in working in a post conflict nation working to build security reform and capacity develop an infant policing agency in a very complex environment such as Timor Leste. I call upon daily my sporting traits and infuse them into my day to day activities, often relying on metaphors as a management tool to communicate with the team.

Finally, sport, health and fitness are a remarkable tool to manage stress and balance your individual and family work life. It helps overcome the stressors of the job and keeps me balanced, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

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