40-20 Vision: Scott Prince lauds influence of Trevor Gillmeister in his Bulletin column
SCOTT PRINCE GOLD COAST BULLETIN

EVERYONE should have a ‘Gilly’ in their lives.

Because everyone at some time in their lives needs a laugh, needs some encouragement and needs a kick up the backside. And it needs to come from someone you have an unquestionable respect for.

For me, that person was Gilly — rugby league legend TrevorGillmeister.

This week Gilly got the ‘Don’t come Monday’ line from new Titans head coach Neil Henry. I know that would have hurt Gilly. He is a man who takes enormous pride in what he does and he has done a great job at the Titans as assistant coach.

He was part of the ‘Originals’ at the Titans when we started in 2007. Along with Billy Johnstone he created a hard, no shortcuts culture at the club. If any player ever wanted a lesson in “tough’’ they only had to look at “old mate’’ who was doing every bit of training that we were, or was barking at us from behind the line as a runner during games.

It may be different for the young blokes in the squad now, but back in ’07 Gilly needed no introduction. We all grew up idolising the toughest bloke in rugby league and now he was on the same training paddock.

His deeds as a player are legendary. But then I got to know him and found out he was an ever better bloke.

I guess I liked him straight away because he was like my dad, old school. You turned up to get the job done. No frills. No applause expected. Just get in and get your hands dirty.

Gilly called it how he saw it. If he thought you were playing well, he would tell you. If he thought you weren’t having a go, believe me, he would tell you.

He was all about having a go, having a crack, ripping in. You could see when he would come on as a runner just how much he would have loved to have thrown down the water bottle and pulled off one of the trademark hits that earned him the nickname, ‘The Axe’.

He is such a passionate man.

I recall one game. He was out the back yelling at me to ‘do this or that’. Suddenly he went silent. The opposition had the ball and were charging towards us. As I moved back into position I almost fell over Gilly.

“What are you doing,” I snapped.

“You just worry about tackling,” Gilly replied. “I’ve accidentally spat out my false teeth.”

So as we went about trying to win the game, Gilly was searching through the turf for his lost teeth.

All clubs at any level need the Gillies in their ranks. Blokes who have been there done that and are never fazed by the always-cocky next generation. Time and deeds prove your worth, not what you say you are worth.

And Gilly has proven his worth.

So while I was disappointed for him this week, I wasn’t totally surprised at what ‘King’ Henry did. I’m not privy to Neil’s thinking, but I can understand the new coach, who has a big job, wants to start with a clean slate. Maybe he has people he has worked with in the past who he knows will get the results he wants.

Maybe it was just time.

I am sure there would have been no disrespect shown to Gilly. It’s not personal. That’s footy.

But wherever Gilly goes, it will be a better place for him being there.

The Tariq Sims hit on Justin Hodges, which has resulted in a five-week ban for the Cowboy was always going to divide fans.

If it was me, my teammate or my son who was smashed by Sims, I would have been happy with the result. It was late and it was high

However when you put it in the context of how the Cowboys have received the rough end of the stick in finals football in recent years, you can understand where they are coming from.

Anything that involves them and officials will be magnified 100 times.

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