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Message: [QUOTE="Huge, post: 2684072, member: 1992"] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]level rugby league, you know, that first year out of high school, but he won a premiership.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (archive): Brisbane are the premiers![/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BEN IKIN, RUGBY LEAGUE COMMENTATOR: That generally doesn't happen.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: Everyone wants to get a photo and they, they... they love you or they're your biggest fan or they want to praise you or whatever it is. And it's like, well... It's, it's, it's just weird because you didn't, you never got that before.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: I have followed Darius’ career, like: yeah, I went up to watch Darius play for the Broncos one year, when he was about 18, 19, I think he would have been. But he didn’t know I was there. It did feel strange: watching Darius out there, you know, like... and not being able to... A few people joked with me, just said, "Oh, I’d want to run out on the field and give him a big hug," or (laughs) you know, but no, you can’t do that.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]JUANITA PHILIPS, NEWSREADER (ABC TV News, 2008): After two successful decades guiding the Brisbane Broncos, Wayne Bennett is taking his coaching credentials to the Dragons.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: That relationship with Wayne Bennett would follow Darius Boyd throughout his career. When Wayne up and left and joined St George Illawarra in 2009, and sure enough, Darius Boyd followed him. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Ch. 9, archive): Boyd, stepping, is over! Darius Boyd has scored![/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: It was probably, looking back, as one of the best things I ever done was going to the Dragons for sure. I suppose I'd really become of age, at that time: you know, 21. And we were really successful at the Dragons for a couple of years there.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Ch. 9, archive): Here he goes for his third try: he does that for the Dragons.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I met Kayla in 2010 at the Gold Coast.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: I just kind of thought, "Wow, he’s a really good-looking guy." That’s what got my interest. And then, yeah, we got talking and he seemed to be a very confident person: not arrogant, not cocky or anything like that.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: We kind of hit it off after seeing each other for a few times and the rest is history, I guess.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: I met him at the peak of his career, really when, when football was going amazing for him. He was in a really good place professionally and personally.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: Kayla and I got married at Mission Beach. It was awesome.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: I didn't get to go to Darius's wedding. Well, it was sad, like, to be sort of not involved or included.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BRETT KEEBLE, SPORTS WRITER, NEWCASTLE HERALD: For all of his talent, for all of his success, he was a hard player for supporters to relate to because they felt like they didn't know him. It was early in his time at St George Illawarra, he had, ah, the infamous one-word answer interview that was, that eventually the media cut that one off because they weren't getting anywhere.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: When I first met him, I ended up coming across that interview and I actually thought to myself, "Oh my God, does he not know how to talk?"[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: Someone would say, "You've got to talk to these guys." And I, oh, I don't want to do it. And they kind of force you and it's like, well, and I ended up doing one of those interviews. I just didn't want to say anything, pretty much.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Footage of post match interview) REPORTER (archive): What are your thoughts about the way your team's going at the moment, Darius? DARIUS BOYD (archive): Um... Yeah, it's pretty good, ay. REPORTER (archive): Pretty... DARIUS BOYD (archive): Yeah. REPORTER (archive, off-screen): Waste of time. (End of footage)[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Darius has been called everything from rude to arrogant; obtuse. The media want more out of Darius but he just doesn’t have the tools to give them more.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: For a long time, I suppose, I was never trying to win a popularity contest. I just wanted to play football. I love footy. That’s my job. That's what I want to do. And I know the media’s part of it and that, but I just really didn’t like that side of it.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: He made me look good with the media. I used to love his interviews. You know, in Darius's case it, it was something that he was scared of: something that he felt he couldn't handle. Something that... They were trying to, you know, get into his life, into his space which he'd kept so many people out all this time, you know. You know, there's a part of me that admired what he did because he was being himself. You know, as hard as it was, he wasn't playing the game.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]NEWS PRESENTER (ABC TV, 2011): To sport and the Newcastle Knights have secured the most sought-after signature in the NRL: Dragons coach Wayne Bennett.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BRETT KEEBLE, SPORTS WRITER, NEWCASTLE HERALD: So Wayne coached the Dragons for three years and here he was, coming to Newcastle in 2012 with Darius Boyd, his star player. And the expectation was that premierships would follow.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: Newcastle was an exciting opportunity with the unknown. Um, and it was a positive move. We were really looking forward to it.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Fox Sports): On the inside to Darius Boyd. And Boyd's too good. The Knights are back.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: There was a lot of hype, a lot of expectation that Darius could do what he had already done at two previous clubs. But he failed to live up to that reputation and it was when he couldn't deliver on that performance of previous seasons that the pressure became all too much.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: Football wasn’t going that great for him. And you know, if he didn’t play well again or if he, he wasn’t happy with how he played... Um, you know, we would go back to an after-function and he’d sit there and he’d just look down at the ground or he’d look at the TV. He didn’t want to engage or talk to anyone. He couldn’t understand why people were happy when they, they lost a game.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: You just get down and worse and worse and you just get in this hole and you can't get out. I just think: just... And then I suppose everything comes up from childhood and other things you've done in your life and your early years or whatever: it all comes on and piles into one. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: His mother was the key to it all. I mean, I’d talk to him about going to see his mother. I knew how important that was. I just, I just... That was a thing that I really wanted him to do. But he would just reject me. He would just walk away from that conversation, you know?[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: My mum sent me a watch. I think it was sent through the Knights club and they passed it on to me. And I opened it up and there was a watch. There was no... There was no note, no nothing. And that had been about, say, six years. No, I hadn't heard one thing.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: And it was just to say that I was still thinking of him: you know, like, that I hadn’t forgotten about him or anything.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I remember Kayla, my wife: she... I told her to send it back and I was pissed off. And I thought, there wasn't even a note: nothing.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: But yeah, no, that probably hurt me a bit, 'cause it come back. Yeah.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I was just angry and I mean... Now, looking back, I feel terrible about it but I mean it's... I mean, that’s... like too much anger and I couldn’t understand at the time.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Darius doesn't have an extended bunch of mates. He has a close unit of friends but at the top of the tree is Alex McKinnon. They, they have a, a rare relationship of real trust and respect.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Here’s Boyd on the outside of them again! McKinnon getting across![/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: Everyone loves Alex. He’s just got that personality that people just: you meet him and you love him. And Darius is obviously a lot more quiet and shy. So that I think as friends they kind of complemented each other.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: He's a great bloke. He gets along with everyone. He was probably my best, definitely my best mate in Newcastle.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BRETT KEEBLE, SPORTS WRITER, NEWCASTLE HERALD: Alex was kind of his mouthpiece. He was his point of contact with the team and with the town. And he kind of, ah, lived the life for Darius. Everything changed on the night of their game against Melbourne in March.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]SPORTS COMMENTATOR (Fox Sports, Mar. 2014) Now, McKinnon going into the turf head-first.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]BRETT KEEBLE, SPORTS WRITER, NEWCASTLE HERALD: Alex McKinnon was tipped up in a tackle and he suffered a couple of fractured vertebrae in his neck.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WENDELL SAILOR, FMR TEAMMATE: You know, he was laying on the ground and you could see the words where he couldn't feel his legs and that. You know, and he just couldn’t have movement and you knew it was bad.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: We were at home watching the game, because Darius was injured.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I wasn’t too sure 'cause, I mean, you see people get taken off in a neck brace all the time. So I mean, it's, you know, it's precautionary most of the time. But I remember seeing him: like, he looked like in a lot of pain at the time. That was pretty scary.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: They were genuine best friends and the Alex situation affected him enormously[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I felt, like, empty. I felt like I'd nearly lost, lost a mate in a way, like it was. When he eventually got back to Sydney, I'd drive down to Sydney at least once a week and see him and that.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]NRL ANNOUNCER (Jul. 2014): Ladies and gentlemen, before we kick off this afternoon we would like to recognise an outstanding young man.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DAVID RICCIO, SPORTS WRITER, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: There was the "Rise for Alex" round that was specifically put on by the NRL to raise funds and finance for Alex. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]NRL ANNOUNCER (Jul. 2014): Rugby league fans, I now ask that you as one rise for Alex.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: Everyone was in tears on the field and it was just a, yeah, a really emotional time. There was heaps of signs in the crowd. I felt terrible, but you can only imagine his pain and how he was dealing with things.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: I think Darius got really cheesed off with himself when he realised he had so much and Alex had so much taken away from him. And Alex was happy every day and doing his best, and he was unhappy.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: When Alex got injured, Darius then became even more introverted and more in a shell. So he really didn’t leave the house and he really didn’t want to do anything or see anyone or, or talk to anyone.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I got in that bubble of negativity and it was just: couldn’t get out. It was just like a spiral that just got worse and worse and I never got on top of it until it was too late, kind of thing.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: It affected our marriage, like, massively. Like, everything that could tear a marriage apart happened. And I - Everybody has their limits, you know? And as... I mean, I just felt helpless: like, I couldn’t help him. He was pushing me away. He didn’t want my help.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: She just had enough and it was... wasn't a good relationship for her to be in and she left. And it was probably, it was really what I needed: just to - that was the last straw and it was what probably what woke me up and just, I needed a change, I needed to change myself.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: There's no 27-year-old in Australia who wouldn't love to have what Darius Boyd had. But he wasn't happy. Yeah, well, he came and seen me and he said, "Look, I need to go to rehab." And he'd convinced himself that's what he needed to do, and I supported that. I didn't, I didn't know where he was at and I'm not qualified to do that. So I said, "Mate, I'm totally behind you. Go and get yourself sorted out." And... and that's what he did.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WENDELL SAILOR, FMR TEAMMATE: I think, you know, we talk about courage on the football field but I think it took... takes a lot of courage off the field to be able to put up your hand and say, you know, "I've got some problems in my life. It stemmed from this." Or, "I've got to take responsibility but I don't want it to be a band-aid solution."[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: So I remember my manager helped me organise the place and I remember ringing a nurse in there and she was really helpful. And after I hung up the phone I just started crying. I was just like: it was like a relief. I was just like, I was so happy I'd sorted it out and organized it.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: When he made the decision to go into the clinic he, you know, came to me and, and asked if I could support him through that. And, you know, I obviously love him. And so the hardest time... (crying) in, um, anyone’s life, I think, if they feel the need to do that. So, you know, of course I love him and I’m his wife. Like, of course I was going to support him.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I didn’t have any expectations. And I was open to medication, I was open to group therapy or whatever I had to do, just to help myself because I knew I needed it. I wasn’t holding back: I just wanted to get better and that's, I mean that's half the battle, really.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: As a whole I think I feel more positive... My therapist said it was a bit like an adjustment depression. He just said obviously I hadn't sorted out a lot of things from my childhood and my teenage years.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]WAYNE BENNETT, COACH, BRISBANE BRONCOS: I went out and visited him, felt like jumping into bed with him. (Laughs) We were going through a pretty tough time ourselves and he was my star player, one of the many we'd kind of lost through the year. And I thought, "God, Darius, I should be here with you. What am I doing visiting you?" Um, but it was a.. .you know, it was a pretty uplifting occasion. He was - I could see the change in him after about a week there, you know: how much happier he was in himself.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]KAYLA BOYD, WIFE: I think the clinic was the best thing he’s ever done in his life. It made him realise that he does have people around him who love him and who care about him. And to kind of express his feelings and talk about what he’s going through and it, it’s OK to have down days. Overall he, you know, he’s a much happier person and our relationship is in a much, much better place and we’re both really happy.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: After I got out of the clinic I made contact with my Mum. So I had a bit of a plan when I got out of the clinic and that was one of them. And yeah, I was definitely nervous at the time.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Footage of Darius Boyd visiting his mother Rochelle Boyd) DARIUS BOYD: Hey. ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: Hi. DARIUS BOYD: Going all right? ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: Yeah, good. Yourself? DARIUS BOYD: Yeah, I'm good. (End of footage)[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: Well, I hadn't seen him for nine years. When I saw him a few weeks ago, I was just so happy to see him. I was really... I don't know, just glad that he was back in my life, sort of thing.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana]DARIUS BOYD: I definitely feel, like, she's my Mum and things. But it's still, it's still a bit awkward. I think going to the clinic’s really made me understand more and what's important with family and friends and all that’s more important than football.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Verdana](Rochelle and Darius Boyd look through photo album) ROCHELLE BOYD, MOTHER: That’s your first birthday there. : That’s your fourth birthday.[/FONT][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]

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