Cat on the Prowl: Benn Robinson falls just short of a rare five pointer. – Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

by Jim Webster –

It was a great pleasure seeing loose-head prop Benn Robinson become the Waratahs’ most capped player, earning his 137th cap against the Queensland Reds & thus elbowing some elderly backrower aside.

What is it with prop-forwards that seems to set them apart from the other 14 players?

All right, I know it’s the extreme damage they can do to weighing machines, but I didn’t mean just that.

They seem to possess other characteristics, abilities and personal details that other players don’t have and over the years I’ve come by some very interesting facts and indeed some fascinating people who have pulled on the Nos 1 or 3 jerseys.

To this day I well remember talking to a seasoned Wallaby prop-forward who confided in me that he had never, ever handled a rugby ball out on the paddock.

What absolute rubbish, I told him.

Then he took me to task and told me to think about it…a prop-forward seldom seems to be involved in open play, unless one of those greedy midfielders gets into trouble and wants his help; the only thing he handles in lineouts is someone’s bandaged thigh muscles and in the scrums and mauls he might occasionally tap the ball with his foot.

That’s all so very true, so you can scarcely call him a ball-handler.

But there’s something else about props. They all seem to be the nicest rugby types and anyone who knows the likes of Benn Robinson would agree.

I must confide that one of my dearest friends was the late Wallaby prop Roy Prosser, with whom I toured for many years.

When Roy did pass away, the crowds flocked to Brisbane for his funeral.

I recall speaking with his family beforehand and being astonished with the mirth they were showing.

What was remotely funny about Roy’s death?

Nothing, they assured me, except that the pallbearers found they were unable to lift his coffin because of the extreme weight inside!

So the funeral directors had to add another lifting handle to the coffin, for the use by the two extra pallbearers who were required, and Roy was eventually lifted and moved.

Former Wallaby forward Stan Pilecki received an Order of Australia medal for his services to rugby.

Again, speaking of prop-forwards, I was delighted to see that Stanislaw Pilecki, of Jindalee, Qld was made a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours list for services to rugby.

That’s Stan Pilecki who, as you might expect, was a prop-forward. But even he was a prop with a difference…

I was fortunate enough to tour Britain and Ireland with the 1984 Grand Slam Wallabies, of whom Stan was a member.

My fondest memory of Stan was that, as soon as we had arrived London and booked into our posh hotel, all the team members desperately wanted to go for a training run around the famous streets and landmarks nearby.

Except Stan….I found him decked out in his running gear, but motionless by the side of the road outside our hotel and enjoying something which demanded far less exertion and to him was that much more enjoyable….a quiet cigarette.

Yes, he loved his fags.

The story goes that on tour with the Wallabies in Argentina in 1979, Pilecki was on the reserve bench when Mark Loane limped from the field and coach Bob Templeton told Pilecki to warm up.

Australia was well ahead at the time and Pilecki said: “Haven’t got time to warm up. I’m only halfway through my smoke.”

Of Polish descent, Stan was born in a refugee camp in Germany, his family migrated here in 1950 and he went on to play 122 matches for Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s and 18 Tests.

Thereafter he has remained heavily involved and the highest individual honour in Queensland rugby, the Pilecki Medal, is named after the Reds legend.

He has never minced words and was particularly angry at the punishment handed to cocaine-stained Karmichael Hunt, making it clear to The Courier-Mail that he thought the six-week ban and $30,000 fine imposed by rugby’s governing bodies was inadequate.

“I know you get second chances in life but rugby doesn’t need any bad baggage,” said Pilecki. “I know there are plenty of former players in my circle of friends who believe rugby should cut him totally.”