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Message: [QUOTE="Huge, post: 2684071, member: 1992"] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WALEED ALY, PRESENTER: Hello. I’m Waleed Aly. In a sports-mad country like ours, even Victorians have to accept that State of Origin is about as good as it gets. It’s one of the highlights of the sporting year for me every single year. And Darius Boyd is an Origin legend. But he’s also one of rugby league’s most reluctant stars, famous for shunning the media spotlight. That horrific accident to his friend Alex MacKinnon caused him to walk away from the game, realising that he needed to confront his own demons. But now he’s back, triumphant in Origin One and ready to talk about his battles with depression and how to make peace with the past. This is his story.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (archive): On five, Lockyer again, they’re trying to go quickly. Greg Inglis - and now Boyd! Darius Boyd is in to score![/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: Darius is in the elite category. Yeah, he's one of those special ones with, got special gifts. And he's maximised all that with his attitude and his dedication.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (archive): Boyd! Boyd! Stepping is over! Darius Boyd has scored![/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: He’s basically done it all when it comes to rugby league.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (archive): Morris, inside to Boyd! Boyd has scored for the Kangaroos![/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BRETT KEEBLE, SPORTS WRITER, NEWCASTLE HERALD: Off the field Darius is painfully shy. He has a mystique about him, because he's never let the media or the fans into his world.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WILLIE MASON, TEAMMATE (Ch. 9 news, archive) (laughs): Don’t interrogate my friend! Don’t interrogate him![/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BEN IKIN, RUGBY LEAGUE COMMENTATOR: I think he’s made a habit out of being able to hide his emotions and his feelings and not discuss, you know, what he’s going through.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]REPORTER: What about your own form, Darius? Are you happy how you’re going personally?[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: Oh, next question.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WENDELL SAILOR, FMR TEAMMATE: People that don't know him: they just think he's an arrogant sort of prick, sometimes, you know.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I thought everyone hated me. Everyone was against me. It was me against the world.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: He is his biggest critic. Um, he’s extremely hard on himself.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: He plays in one of the toughest sports in the world. But deep down there's a turmoil that he's been unable to rectify and it's what brought his career to a shattering halt.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (archive): Queensland there with their superstar team.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BRETT KEEBLE, SPORTS WRITER, NEWCASTLE HERALD: Rugby league players and the profile they have: they’re rock stars. You know, they’re celebrities.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: Yeah, they do. They get treated like they’re superstars. (Laughs)[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Ch. 9, archive): Well! What a catch by Darius Boyd. They break into the delight of victory.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WENDELL SAILOR, FMR TEAMMATE: Football's not the real world. You get pampered. You get put on a pedestal. And sometimes you know it’s a bit false.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Ch. 9, archive): Here comes Darius Boyd again. He’s almost - there he is! That's a try.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BEN IKIN, RUGBY LEAGUE COMMENTATOR: You know, if you've got a introverted personality then, when you're living life publicly, like professional rugby league players do, you can get into a bad habit of withdrawing and, you know, disconnecting from people.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Ch. 9, archive): Here they go again! Darius Boyd scores another try.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I've been someone that's always been quiet and shy anyway. And I think over the years: trusting people, I've been burnt and a few different things - or bagged or whatever it is - it's just closed me off more and more.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Ch. 9, archive): And Darius goes in to score. Another try.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: We have to realise he didn’t grow up in a normal upbringing. He didn’t have the support and the social skills that most young boys have.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: You admire those that battle so hard to get somewhere. And he'd obviously had a battle. But I knew he was different. There was just things about him that kind of intimated to me so. And over a period of time, you know, I picked up the pieces of what the hell was really going on in his life.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Home video footage of Darius Boyd as a boy playing rugby) DALLIN BOYD, UNCLE: C’mon Darius! Go! DELPINE BOYD, GRANDMOTHER: Can’t he run straight without them getting him down? (Footage ends) [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: One of the obvious struggles for Darius growing up was really never knowing his father. And I think for a young boy that’s, that's a tremendously difficult experience to go through.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: Darius grew up on the Gold Coast. I wasn't in a relationship. I just fell pregnant and I was a sole parent. And I don't know his dad's name or anything. Yeah, I mean, if I knew I'd tell him, you know, but I don’t know a lot about his dad.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: So the father figures in Darius’ life were his uncle Dallin and his grandfather.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DELPHINE BOYD, GRANDMOTHER: He grew up with his uncle, Dallin. You know. They adored each other. I've got a photo of them - of Darius and him together - and the love that's shining out of that photo of them both: he was like what a good dad would be.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I started playing when I was six years old and I've loved it ever since.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Home video footage of Darius Boyd as a boy playing rugby) DALLIN BOYD, UNCLE: Go, Darius! ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: Come on, Darius! (End of footage)[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I think I was pretty good, growing up.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DELPHINE BOYD, GRANDMOTHER: When he was eight years old, Darius said, "They asked us at school today what we would do for a job when we grow up." He said, um, "I'm going to be a professional footballer." I said, "Oh, lovey, you're not going to do that. You get hurt and knocked about and everything." He said, "I'm going to be a professional footballer," like this, see.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: My uncle passed away when I was about eight, which was, which was tough. And I suppose you don't really understand when you're a little kid but he was like a - I don't know, like a bit of a brother or a father figure all mixed into one. He was always a lot of fun when I got to see him. And then, um, my grandpa passed away when I was 11, so that was tough as well.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: Obviously the loss of both of his father figures in his life: I think that was an extremely difficult time for him.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: So it was me and my Mum and my Grandma and, um, that was: I still don't think that was too bad, like, until I was 15 and that's when my Mum started to have a few issues and different things, which I didn't really understand at the time.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: When Darius was 15 I was hospitalised at Robina with major depression.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: She became quite unwell and yeah, she went into a home. I guess, as any young teenage boy: when you kind of need your parents more than ever - you’re going through a lot of life changes - um, and he didn’t, he didn’t have that. He didn’t have a mother or a father.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: Fifteen to 17, 18 was probably the hardest times. I remember one time I went and stayed at a mate's house. And, um, she I think went into hospital or something like that. And I thought, "I'll stay the weekend, then, instead of the night." And I ended up staying for about six months.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: It would have been frightening for Darius, yeah. And I probably didn't know what was going on, either.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I didn't really understand. I just thought, you know, my Mum was just leaving me and not - didn't want to help, or she was making it up. I didn't really understand and I suppose that's probably where our relationship fell apart.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: And then you don’t trust a lot of people because you don’t want to let people in and trust them, because you’re worried that they’re just gonna leave you again.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I think it's been about eight years since I've seen my Mum. It was 2006, was the last time I seen her. And I think she used to message me for a while and I think I kind of changed my number after a while and then kind of lost contact.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: He was always on my mind. So I think I just eventually had to come to terms with - that maybe one day he would get in contact with me.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: Footy became his saviour. It was his way of dealing with everything in his life, I guess, or the... You know, you can run out on the footy field and let that aggression out (laughs); let the, the feelings out, especially if you’re quite introverted, like he is.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROD PATISON, HIGH SCHOOL COACH : Yeah, Darius enrolled at Palm Beach Currumbin State High to be a member of our sports excellence rugby league program. I think even the basic logistics of getting to and from sport and all of his arrangements were a little bit of a struggle for he and Nan. He had to work hard to get lifts with mates and mates' families and all that sort of stuff.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Footage of Rod Patison introducing Darius to weightlifting students at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School) ROD PATISON, HIGH SCHOOL COACH: Jack's a 16-year-old front rower. He's a Broncos boy. DARIUS BOYD: Oh, nice. He's bigger than me when I was that age, but. Still bigger than me now, pretty much. (Footage ends)[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: Mr Patison, my football coach: he was great at the time. There was a few other teachers there that used to give me a lift to school or help me out.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROD PATISON, HIGH SCHOOL COACH: It did show a lot of character as a junior, particularly. It didn't come easy for him and he was prepared to make a lot of sacrifices to give himself an opportunity.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Footage of Darius as a teenager playing rugby) ANNOUNCER: For his second try today, the full-back, Darius Boyd, is in under the post.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROD PATISON, HIGH SCHOOL COACH: Darius' career really exploded straight out of school. He left here to join the Brisbane Broncos.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Wayne Bennett was the head coach of the Brisbane Broncos: one of the most respected er, and most successful, er, coaches in Australian sport. And what Darius found there was the father figure that he'd been longing for his entire life. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: Yeah, well it all kind of resonates with me: you know, the battle he had and his mother not being well after 15 years of age and getting through those last few years and living with his grandma who was aging and all that type of stuff. So, you know, I can relate to all that.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WENDELL SAILOR, FMR TEAMMATE: I think Wayne’s patched up a lot more lives than people give him credit for. And I still remember it: he looked me in the eye and he goes: "'Dell," he goes, "what my job as a coach and a mentor is, is what sort of men you become when you finish footy." You know, it’s not just about being the best footballer: it’s about being the best person you can be.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD : I reckon we probably talk about life more than we talk about footy, sometimes. And I mean, I’ve had times where I've been upset or down about things. He'd ask me a question or he'd just know. I wouldn't have to even go up to him: he'd just know I'm not... I'm off my game or I'm off my training. I don't look happy or whatever it is.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BEN IKIN, RUGBY LEAGUE COMMENTATOR: Darius has a meteoric rise, so he came out of playing high school football into the Broncos' first-grade side...[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Footage of Darius Boyds’ first match with the Broncos) SPORTS COMMENTATOR (archive): Over Boyd! And Boyd is over on debut! (End of footage)[/FONT][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]

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