Ross is a Humble Human Being

[Shaggy]

The whole humble thing is a bit of a joke in this country.

If you're in a position of public notoriety you need to be seen as humble just to be accepted. Smart people know this and act humble because as soon as one stands out too much they get knocked down. Tall Poppy Syndrome.

So what if Ross is humble, does that make him a good guy?

The truth is that he's a sh*t hot coach and he has a great bunch of players but really can he say 'I am a great coach and i have a great bunch of players'. NO. If he said that everyone would be calling him arrogant and suddenly he would suck.

I'd love to see a player in an interview after a game that he's kicked ten goals in say 'Yeah I was awesome out there tonight, I was on my game'. Instead of ' Yeah it was a team effort I couldn't have done it without the other 21 blokes in the team.

In Australia you have to be humble to survive otherwise the masses will just try and pull you down. Its kinda sad really......

And i'll probably get crap put on me on this forum for saying this...In fact whenever I say this I get crap put on me.

Look at ALI he was a quiet man but knew he was the greatest. And he was not afraid to say so....only difference is he lives in a country called USA where - for all its downsides - you can be great.

There are great people at the top of their professions who are similar. For whatever reason they feel privileged to be where they are and humble as a result whilst not tolerating fools. They don’t sell themselves because results speak.

It’s a type.

RL seems one within AFL but still needs to deliver a premiership to prove himself.

In Australian business Crawford who did the Saints scheme is another.

Li Ka Shing is a great illustration internationally.

Follow these type of guys and you will generally win but they will be selling logic not themselves. It has nothing to do with public perception.

Most of us have to push our own barrow but there are the really good ones who don’t bend the same way

[saint66au]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

[plugger66]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

Depends how you look at it. Lleyton untl very recently always lived in Australia and paid his taxes where as Rafter has lived in Bermuda for about 15 years and hasnt paid taxes for those years.

[stinger]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

Depends how you look at it. Lleyton untl very recently always lived in Australia and paid his taxes where as Rafter has lived in Bermuda for about 15 years and hasnt paid taxes for those years.

good point....valid too.....

[stinger]

'I love you man' - second most common thing said by drunk people.

OK, I'll bite. And the first?

'I'm not that drunk'.

that right...i thought it was.....sh!t i'm drunk.....

[saint66au]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

Depends how you look at it. Lleyton untl very recently always lived in Australia and paid his taxes where as Rafter has lived in Bermuda for about 15 years and hasnt paid taxes for those years.

good point....valid too.....

Wasnt it Kerry Packer who said that anyone who pays 1c more tax than they absolutely have to is a fool???lol

Didnt know that...interesting. I was more referring to their demeanour on and off-court..chalk and cheese really

[Shaggy]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

Depends how you look at it. Lleyton untl very recently always lived in Australia and paid his taxes where as Rafter has lived in Bermuda for about 15 years and hasnt paid taxes for those years.

Being humble doesn't mean you have to be blind financially.

[plugger66]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

Depends how you look at it. Lleyton untl very recently always lived in Australia and paid his taxes where as Rafter has lived in Bermuda for about 15 years and hasnt paid taxes for those years.

Being humble doesn't mean you have to be blind financially.

Or a good Australian who chooses to live in this country instead of living in a tax haven and doing the wrong thing by the rest of us.

[Shaggy]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

Depends how you look at it. Lleyton untl very recently always lived in Australia and paid his taxes where as Rafter has lived in Bermuda for about 15 years and hasnt paid taxes for those years.

Being humble doesn't mean you have to be blind financially.

Or a good Australian who chooses to live in this country instead of living in a tax haven and doing the wrong thing by the rest of us.

Is that what you really think?

He has paid more Australian Taxes than you ... so do you have the right to judge him?

[rexy]

This seems a little off topic but I am interested, apart from spurring himself on and firing himself up, apart from being honest in interviews and just answering questions as they are asked, what has Lleyton Hewitt ever done to act like the world owes him a celebrity life?

He has always represented his country when selected and has pulled out some remarkable performances, he always give his opposition credit for their victories and has battled hard through his injuries where he could have packed up shop and retired a rich man with a public profile.

Just because you dont like him doesnt mean he has done anything wrong?

Pat Rafter is also a great player and seems like a down to earth bloke, it is a very good point about his off shore tax dodging though.

[reincarnated]

This seems a little off topic but I am interested, apart from spurring himself on and firing himself up, apart from being honest in interviews and just answering questions as they are asked, what has Lleyton Hewitt ever done to act like the world owes him a celebrity life?

He has always represented his country when selected and has pulled out some remarkable performances, he always give his opposition credit for their victories and has battled hard through his injuries where he could have packed up shop and retired a rich man with a public profile.

Just because you dont like him doesnt mean he has done anything wrong?

Pat Rafter is also a great player and seems like a down to earth bloke, it is a very good point about his off shore tax dodging though.

But its the Australian way to shoot down someone who is a little different, has a bit of an ego, off the cuff, attitude....and is successful

franklin, warne, hewitt, wendell sailor

all people with attitude and mountains off it, are successful yet are lambasted for the people they are

[rexy]

This seems a little off topic but I am interested, apart from spurring himself on and firing himself up, apart from being honest in interviews and just answering questions as they are asked, what has Lleyton Hewitt ever done to act like the world owes him a celebrity life?

He has always represented his country when selected and has pulled out some remarkable performances, he always give his opposition credit for their victories and has battled hard through his injuries where he could have packed up shop and retired a rich man with a public profile.

Just because you dont like him doesnt mean he has done anything wrong?

Pat Rafter is also a great player and seems like a down to earth bloke, it is a very good point about his off shore tax dodging though.

But its the Australian way to shoot down someone who is a little different, has a bit of an ego, off the cuff, attitude....and is successful

franklin, warne, hewitt, wendell sailor

all people with attitude and mountains off it, are successful yet are lambasted for the people they are

Probably goes further than that, it is the Australian way to first build that person up and then shoot them down.

[Finna]

The Australian way is all about Jo Average. We love to be average and we love people who are average. No one should stand out too much and if they do then they dont last too long. As someone said - build 'em then shoot them down.

We especially a good story about someone who has had to 'work hard' to get to the top of the mountain. Like if its from hard work then its ok to achieve a little- its whats socially acceptable. But only a little though.

Bugger that, why walk to the top of the mountain when you can take a chairlift??

[Batnoe]

Mundine- If he wasnt so arrogant he could almost be popular

John Stephenson- What an arrogant bastard


Cathy Freeman, everyone loved her, was it cause she was different or because she wasnt cocky?

I like Usain Bolt, he knows he is good and can walk the walk, there is a difference about being sensational and knowing it and/or being average and thinking you are better than that

[Finna]

There is a difference. Absolutely. But where not talking about average people talking themselves up, its about extraordinary people being allowed to be extraordinary in this country of 'humbleness is great'.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Interesting thread.

As far as the OP goes, I tend to buy in to Lyon being humble. I remember him after game 1 against Melbourne saying something along the lines of the players doing the work and he'll be assessed on their work so they deserve the credit - and that he'd be a better coach once Reiwoldt was back in the lineup.

From a coach, that's also an aspect of reality. The truth of gameday coaching is that you'll be as good as your players let you, and if they let you be very good, you'll be almost a 19th man (Clarkson 2008) as they fulfill your vision, and if they don't, they'll reduce you to chief cheerleader (Wallace 2009). Robert Walls may want to make the coach superhuman, and the coach has a huge influence on the middle (season strategy, gameplan) and long term (list management), but in the short term, selection and gameday tactics are only as good as the players let you make them.

For the rest, I'm a believer that if you can walk the walk, I have no problem with you talking the talk. Hewitt, Akermanis, Buckley, Eddie Maguire, these guys get their respect from runs on the board, not a single good interview... but we certainly do seem at times to hate the tall poppy.

Hewitt's a good example, we all loved him when he was an up & coming battler, but once he stopped being #1 in the world, broke up with the partner we'd all decided was good for him, and we noticed he wasn't courting our good opinion, he went downhill fast. He's earned what he's gotten and he's isentitled to his lifestyle (he's not owed it - he earns the money he spends, nobody gives it to him), but people get upset he doesn't pretend he hasn't and isn't. For a guy who behaves as if entitled without having done anything, check out Phillipoussis

Some people are naturally inclined to be the way the public wishes they all were (Rafter's a good example - and whatever the tax man thinks, he lives in Noosa - the guy actually introduces himself when he meets people. The number of people up there with a story where Rafter's introduced themselves and their response has been either confusion or "no $hit" is amusing. While that in itself isn't necessarily a sign of humility, he never expects freebies)... but really, it's not the ones who aren't that have an issue, it's we who watch and expect them to be.

Unless of course they want - or are in position where they need - to be liked, in which case it's not rocket science how to keep us on side.

[Winmar7Fan]

Its the same in any sport...

Pat Rafter..World champion who never forgot his roots and epitomised the spirit of sportsmanship wherever he played. Humble

Lleyton Hewitt...World champion who behaves like a spoiled brat and thinks the world owes him a rich celebrity lifestyle. Very un-humble

Depends how you look at it. Lleyton untl very recently always lived in Australia and paid his taxes where as Rafter has lived in Bermuda for about 15 years and hasnt paid taxes for those years.

Being humble doesn't mean you have to be blind financially.

Or a good Australian who chooses to live in this country instead of living in a tax haven and doing the wrong thing by the rest of us.

Are you for real? Judging these two from how much tax they pay? I'll argue that all the tax AND much more that Rafter avoided paying went to donating to many charities.

He's actually been criticised for giving away too much of his money from people close to him that were getting concerned.

This bloke has been one of the best sporting ambassadors this country has seen. Loved by everyone with a heart that over gives this guys the Trevor Barker of tennis.

Do you think that miserable bad sport that so many on the tennis circuit can't stand only stayed in Australia to keep his tax money here?

[Sobraz]

I choose to pay extra tax, double the rate infact, cos this proves that im a humble, good and honest person... I pay more tax than I earn, I must be the best person in Australia...

If the comment about Pat paying less tax is true, that makes me like him even more over Womans Day...

[Banger2Plugger]

I thought Joe Average was a camera man