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The confidence is there....and it shows !
Day Todd Carney got on right track
Exclusive by Josh Massoud
From: The Daily Telegraph August 07, 2010 12:00AM
TODD Carney didn't change because he stopped drinking. Or because he now lives in a two-storey beachside apartment instead of a bush pub. Or because he eats organic vegetables rather than nightly crumbed steaks that saw him start the pre-season nine kilograms overweight.
On Carney's road to redemption, these were simple twists and turns that had to be negotiated if he were to ever reach the end. But he didn't truly arrive until a short time ago, on another road just around the corner from his new Coogee pad.
Like most days, Carney was walking past the rows of cafes and restaurants that have given his lifestyle a decidedly cosmopolitan touch. It was then, through the punters' light-hearted lunchtime chatter, he heard a handful of familiar words.
As always, they oozed from the mouth of a stranger. As always, they were muttered intentionally loud enough for him to overhear.
"I heard the bloke say something ordinary about me," Carney recalled. "I decided to pull him up and ask him to repeat it to my face. He just went red. He didn't know what to say.
"Last year, I wasn't confident enough to do something like that. And nor did I have the right to because I'd done the wrong thing. But now I'm comfortable that I'm not doing anything wrong, so what happens in the past should stay in the past.
"I've tried hard to turn everything around and I think I've earned the right for people to start judging me on what I'm doing now. I guess I just had enough of everyone thinking about me the way I was before. Each day that passes, I'm more confident that I've got it right."
Bingo. That's the moment Carney truly came of age. Because all the tee-totalling, Dally M points, fawning headlines, 4WD, girlfriend, puppy dog and designer threads are merely trappings of change. Because despite also earning back his driver's licence, Carney would never have arrived without building the inner confidence to not only exorcise his personal demons, but confront them whenever they haunt him.
Roll the tape back a year - when Carney was living and working at Atherton's Barron Valley hotel - and you'll see a very different person. One who withdrew from public scrutiny. Who, when a fresh personal controversy broke last May, had to be carefully coaxed out of his tiny room just to face his mates at the bar downstairs.
Although honest and contrite in his self-assessments, Carney often spoke with his eyes lowered. Sentences would trail off into places he was too ashamed to discuss. And yet now the shame has washed away.
Underneath is a young man who's gained assertiveness without losing his humility. He now sees things for what they are, not what he thinks they ought to be. He's gained the vision to read people and life situations like opposition defences.
Take his much-publicised decision to give up the grog this season. Upset that Carney had jeopardised the club's perilous rebuild through a minor yet silly New Year's Eve prank at Airlie Beach, Roosters coach Brian Smith ordered his star recruit to go dry. But what began as a directive is now a personal choice without limits or restrictions.
Asked when he intends to have another drink, Carney casually replied: "I don't know whether I'll even have another drink again. I've watched the senior players here like Braith [Anasta] have a drink and do it responsibly and go home. Hopefully one day I can do that, but if I'm not confident I can, then I'll stay off it. It's not the end of the world."
The reality of being a non-drinker didn't until hit Carney until the night after he submitted another best-on-ground effort in the Roosters' tough victory over Souths last month. The derby triumph delivered the Roosters back-to-back wins for the first time since round two and they haven't been beaten since.
"We all went to the Golden Sheaf [in Double Bay] and the boys had a few beers," Carney said. "It was a great environment and atmosphere. Everyone was buzzing, but I suppose it's hard to get to that level when you're stone cold sober and they are on a bit of a high after a few drinks.
"I just ended up going home."
Carney also can't help but thank Smith and Anasta enough for helping him back. The coach and star playmaker have now become mates to the extent where, according to Carney: "If I have an issue I can go to Smithy's office and I'd know it would stay between me and Smithy's office."
And yet still many outside the club can't fathom why Smith played such an outrageously talented half at fullback this season. The criticism gains infinite weight when the Roosters' form explosion since Carney's move upfield is considered.
But again, Carney spots a forest through the trees. While he would have much preferred to return at the scrumbase, team dynamics were more important. And while Carney might well have played Origin had he started in the No. 6, the man himself blames a "form slump" for his omission.
"I had a form slump around that period. That was disappointing because if I was playing as well [as at the start of the year], I might have been a chance."
Carney, however, can't apply his own faith to the sudden groundswell of positive headlines that have documented his revival. "A lot of the people who are now writing positive things, they were the same ones who wrote a lot of the negatives so you just shouldn't take too much notice," he said. "I never want to be a cocky person. I don't like cockiness but I'm confident in my own way. You have to be to keep bettering yourself."
But Carney would like people - literally the man on the street - to treat him with the basic respect any responsible adult deserves. To treat him with the respect he's found within.
"I still hear people say things about the past," Carney said. "If I hear something, I'll try and talk to them. It bugs me. I want to know why they still think that way, because if they've not done anything wrong themselves they must be perfect.
They must be a ghost."
Exclusive by Josh Massoud
From: The Daily Telegraph August 07, 2010 12:00AM
TODD Carney didn't change because he stopped drinking. Or because he now lives in a two-storey beachside apartment instead of a bush pub. Or because he eats organic vegetables rather than nightly crumbed steaks that saw him start the pre-season nine kilograms overweight.
On Carney's road to redemption, these were simple twists and turns that had to be negotiated if he were to ever reach the end. But he didn't truly arrive until a short time ago, on another road just around the corner from his new Coogee pad.
Like most days, Carney was walking past the rows of cafes and restaurants that have given his lifestyle a decidedly cosmopolitan touch. It was then, through the punters' light-hearted lunchtime chatter, he heard a handful of familiar words.
As always, they oozed from the mouth of a stranger. As always, they were muttered intentionally loud enough for him to overhear.
"I heard the bloke say something ordinary about me," Carney recalled. "I decided to pull him up and ask him to repeat it to my face. He just went red. He didn't know what to say.
"Last year, I wasn't confident enough to do something like that. And nor did I have the right to because I'd done the wrong thing. But now I'm comfortable that I'm not doing anything wrong, so what happens in the past should stay in the past.
"I've tried hard to turn everything around and I think I've earned the right for people to start judging me on what I'm doing now. I guess I just had enough of everyone thinking about me the way I was before. Each day that passes, I'm more confident that I've got it right."
Bingo. That's the moment Carney truly came of age. Because all the tee-totalling, Dally M points, fawning headlines, 4WD, girlfriend, puppy dog and designer threads are merely trappings of change. Because despite also earning back his driver's licence, Carney would never have arrived without building the inner confidence to not only exorcise his personal demons, but confront them whenever they haunt him.
Roll the tape back a year - when Carney was living and working at Atherton's Barron Valley hotel - and you'll see a very different person. One who withdrew from public scrutiny. Who, when a fresh personal controversy broke last May, had to be carefully coaxed out of his tiny room just to face his mates at the bar downstairs.
Although honest and contrite in his self-assessments, Carney often spoke with his eyes lowered. Sentences would trail off into places he was too ashamed to discuss. And yet now the shame has washed away.
Underneath is a young man who's gained assertiveness without losing his humility. He now sees things for what they are, not what he thinks they ought to be. He's gained the vision to read people and life situations like opposition defences.
Take his much-publicised decision to give up the grog this season. Upset that Carney had jeopardised the club's perilous rebuild through a minor yet silly New Year's Eve prank at Airlie Beach, Roosters coach Brian Smith ordered his star recruit to go dry. But what began as a directive is now a personal choice without limits or restrictions.
Asked when he intends to have another drink, Carney casually replied: "I don't know whether I'll even have another drink again. I've watched the senior players here like Braith [Anasta] have a drink and do it responsibly and go home. Hopefully one day I can do that, but if I'm not confident I can, then I'll stay off it. It's not the end of the world."
The reality of being a non-drinker didn't until hit Carney until the night after he submitted another best-on-ground effort in the Roosters' tough victory over Souths last month. The derby triumph delivered the Roosters back-to-back wins for the first time since round two and they haven't been beaten since.
"We all went to the Golden Sheaf [in Double Bay] and the boys had a few beers," Carney said. "It was a great environment and atmosphere. Everyone was buzzing, but I suppose it's hard to get to that level when you're stone cold sober and they are on a bit of a high after a few drinks.
"I just ended up going home."
Carney also can't help but thank Smith and Anasta enough for helping him back. The coach and star playmaker have now become mates to the extent where, according to Carney: "If I have an issue I can go to Smithy's office and I'd know it would stay between me and Smithy's office."
And yet still many outside the club can't fathom why Smith played such an outrageously talented half at fullback this season. The criticism gains infinite weight when the Roosters' form explosion since Carney's move upfield is considered.
But again, Carney spots a forest through the trees. While he would have much preferred to return at the scrumbase, team dynamics were more important. And while Carney might well have played Origin had he started in the No. 6, the man himself blames a "form slump" for his omission.
"I had a form slump around that period. That was disappointing because if I was playing as well [as at the start of the year], I might have been a chance."
Carney, however, can't apply his own faith to the sudden groundswell of positive headlines that have documented his revival. "A lot of the people who are now writing positive things, they were the same ones who wrote a lot of the negatives so you just shouldn't take too much notice," he said. "I never want to be a cocky person. I don't like cockiness but I'm confident in my own way. You have to be to keep bettering yourself."
But Carney would like people - literally the man on the street - to treat him with the basic respect any responsible adult deserves. To treat him with the respect he's found within.
"I still hear people say things about the past," Carney said. "If I hear something, I'll try and talk to them. It bugs me. I want to know why they still think that way, because if they've not done anything wrong themselves they must be perfect.
They must be a ghost."
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