Luke Bailey's the benchmark for Titans' new boys
LUKE Bailey has never played a good game of football.
It might sound like a harsh assessment, but Gold Coast Titans coach John Cartwright believes it is that type of self-assessment which has made the veteran prop one of the most committed and determined front-rowers in the game today.
When you set standards like Bailey expects of himself, you are never going to be satisfied.
"He is very hard on himself,'' Cartwright said. "He is never happy with his own game. For some guys that can be a negative, but for him it's a positive because he is always looking to improve.
"At his age that is a rare quality. Sometimes you get to a stage of your career where you think you've been there done that, but not Bails. He is always looking to improve his game.
"He is a bit of a marvel. His strength and his fitness just keeps improving.''
How is it that at 32 after 229 NRL games where his body has been broken and battered, Bailey is still doing the hard yards of a prop, and the one per centers that don't create headlines. Why is he always the man leading the kick-chase to trap the fullback in goal, or being the only man rushing up to pressure a kicker?
"It's pride in performance,'' Cartwright said. "There's still things in the game he hasn't achieved, I know for a fact he is desperate to win a grand final.
"He is the best at any club in those little one per centers.''
Those efforts are why Bailey is the man Cartwright points young players towards when they first arrive
"I often put him with younger guys to train because he is such a good leader,'' Titans strength and conditioning coach Chris McLellan said.
"Because he is fit, fitter than most of them, he is the benchmark.
"If you look at his testing results physically, he is not the fittest bloke in the club, not the strongest bloke, not even the fastest bloke. But his commitment to what he requires of himself on the field just goes beyond all of that.
"You can look at three different guys and they might have fairly similar physical results in terms of their fitness. But he will beat them every time because of his commitment.''
Young forward Ben Ridge is one of several Titans to have learnt from Bailey.
"You just look up to him and know where you have to be to perform at that sort of level,'' Ridge said.
"Some of things he does is unhuman (sic) like.
"You could be in the 75th minute of the game and you have to kick-chase and he will be the only one down there chasing and tackle the fullback in goal.
"He pulls things like that out of his hat. NRL is a lot more mental than physical and Luke Bailey is one of the mentally strongest.''
Ashley Harrison knows better than most the value of little efforts.
His own small contributions have helped Queensland to seven consecutive Origin wins.
For Harrison, Bailey's ability to perform at the elite level for over a decade sets him apart.
"That is the difference between just an average player and a good or great player,'' Harrison said. "Bails has been able to do this over a long period of time.
"You see some guys come in and they might have a good season or two in them, but he seems to be doing it every year.
"He is a guy I've never seen cut a corner at training.''
Modesty is another widely used term for Bailey.
When The Sunday Mail first broached the subject of an article about "Bull'', the club suggested he would be the last person wanting to participate.
"Bails is more an actions type guy,'' Harrison said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au