Nick Cummins was born on the 15th October 1987 in Port Macquarie,
New South Wales, Australia and raised by his father Mark Cummins along with 7
other siblings. Schooled at St Francis’ College in Crestmead, Brisbane he starred not only on the rugby field but also developed a reputation as
a strong swimmer and showed athletic prowess.
Nicknamed “The Honey Badger” after drawing inspiration from
the fierce nature of this wild animal, it wasn’t just the name that was adopted. In fact Nick tried to implement elements of the creatures own attributes into his rugby
game. Cummins was quoted as saying:
“One of the stories
that inspires me is that it is documented that a honey badger killed a lion in
a one-on-one. What happened was that he clawed the canastas off the big fella.
He just went one-two on the ball bag, and the big fella has walked around the
corner and fell over … That, to me, is outstanding”
Early flirtations with Rugby saw Nick represent Queensland
in the Australian Schools Rugby Championship back in 2005. In 2006 Nick moved to Sydney where he represented Randwick Rugby Club, The
Galloping Greens in a team which has previously seen some of the greatest
Australian players feature for them including Australia’s Record Points Scorer
David Campese and former Captain George Gregan.
Able to play on the wing and at
outside-centre, Cummins really came into his own as part of a struggling
Western Force side, where his speed and direct approach to the game offered
something different and often creative in the attacking third. It was in 2008
that Nick joined the Force to feature in the Super Rugby Championship, after a
year with Perth Spirit. In the six years that Nick was at the club he racked up
close to 75 appearances for the club amassing around 80 points in the process,
whilst lining up alongside some greats of the game including David Pocock, Matt
Giteau and James O’Connor.
Nick is also a former Australia
Sevens representative. He featured at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi,
India where he was a silver medal winner. Cummins played games against England
for the Australian Barbarians (An Australian A side) in 2010 and has been
called up to the latest Barbarians Rugby squad with whom he will be playing in the UK
later this year against his native Australia. Cummins won his first International
cap for Australia during the 2012 Rugby Championship in a 25-19 win over Argentina
in Rosario and went on to win another 14 Caps for the Wallabies scoring 6
Tries in the process.
Aside from his talent on the
field and becoming the Force’s 3rd highest Try scorer and a key
member of the squad, there was something else which managed to catch the
attention of a large contingent of rugby fans from all over the World. Was it
his talent, power and pace? Er, well no, this of course was no doubt there but
there was also something far more prominent. Embracing what can only be
described as an 80s perm, complete with porn star moustache and the iconic
headband Nick soon gathered a wave of fans who supported him throughout his
time at the Force and as he broke through to the National side. It wasn’t
unusual to see swathes of fans kitted out in their own Honey Badger style wigs
and moustaches cheering this fans favourite on.
On top of this characters eye
catching looks he also garnered a reputation for what we can only call a unique
way with words. The Honey Badger’s quotes have become stuff of legend and have
even led to him having his own features where he would interview members of the
teams he played in post match to get their verdicts and to of course allow fans
to get their fix of Honey Badger wisdom. Take a look at some of his classic
quotes below:
“I just saw the line,
pinned me ears back and ended bagging a bit of meat in the corner there, which
was tops!”
“The flamboyant
French? They look all right. They have a good style about them with their
hairdos. I might take a few pointers and go to a stylist to sort myself out. A
few of the boys tell me I look a bit ordinary at times.”
“The boys were on it
like seagulls at a tip.”
“Sweatin’ like a gypsy
with a mortgage, actually.”
“You’re as tough as
woodpecker lips.”
“Yeah mate I bloody
was like a rat up a drainpipe in one of them runs there.”
“Last year we were all
sizzle and no steak, but now we’re off like a brides nightie.”
“Busier than a one
armed bricklayer in Baghdad.”
Unfortunately for fans of the Honey
Badger, his time with Western Force was brought to an abrupt end earlier this year
when it was announced he was leaving Australia to ply his trade in the Japanese
Top League with Coca Cola West Red Sparks. Initially there were rumours that the
moved was fuelled by money as the key motivator, which no doubt disappointed some
fans. However, these rumours were quickly flipped when Nick released a statement
citing family reasons as being the cause for his move to Japan, money was a
motivator but not in a mercenary type of way.
Nick’s own Father has battled
with Prostate Cancer and two of Nick’s younger siblings both have Cystic
Fibrosis, Nick simply couldn’t continue to sit back and watch his family
struggle when he felt he could do more for them. In an interview with The
Courier Mail Nick’s Father Mark said:
“He’s no mercenary. He treasures playing for the Wallabies and all he
is giving up is because of his family… He told me that in his heart he couldn’t
enjoy himself when he could be doing more for the kids.”
The move to the Japanese Top
League actually means Nick will have more time off to spend with his family and
more importantly the financial backing to support them and to research further
cures and treatments which may of course benefit those who are closest to his
heart.
As a result of some of the
bureaucratic rules attached to some of the World’s leading Rugby Football
Unions, Nick will unfortunately not be able to feature in the 2015 World Cup in
England having been released from his contract with the Australian Rugby Union.
This is of course not a rule confined to just Australia, but England are also
at risk of losing some of their best players due to abiding by such ruling (Steffon
Armitage being a prime example).
Nick made a huge sacrifice in
leaving behind his native Australia, his family, his beloved Force and of
course the opportunity to play at the pinnacle of any player’s career, The
World Cup. However, given the reasons for the move, nobody could blame him and
I’m sure it would be a move he would make again and again if given the choice.
As fans we can say that The Honey Badger has gained a huge amount of
popularity, respect and support. He is no doubt doing his best to endear the
Japanese fans and we all hope we see him on the International stage again very soon,
even if it may not be at the World Cup.
Here’s to “The most Australian
Man in the World” Nick Cummins – The Honey Badger! One “Animal” we would all
love in our Grogg collections!!
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