GEOFF Burr has played a lot of rugby league in his time.
He started playing when he was five years old until he was 42.
“That’s why my body is the way it is, I played way too long,” he jokes.
He played for Souths where he was coached by Wayne Bennett.
Asked what Bennett was like, Geoff replies, “Quiet”.
“I don’t know whether he liked me that much because I was a loud, big-mouth kid.”
“He took the captaincy off me actually because he said I was too aggressive to be a captain.”
“I was a bit insulted by that because we’d won a premiership the year before with that aggression, controlled aggression that is.”
Geoff went on to play in Papua New Guinea for the Northern Territory State team before coming back to Queensland to play for local clubs.
He started playing Masters when he was 37.
When he retired from playing rugby league, Geoff tried Austag and made the Queensland State team, but didn’t find it fulfilling.
“I think we undersell the effects that players, men and women, go through when they retire from rugby league.”
“It is such a great euphoria you feel playing league and it gets taken away from you – it’s the teammanship and the esprit de corps.”
Coaching
The experienced coach was a real find for Beaudesert Kingfishers, with Club President Scott Bannan saying the Under 14s Division One team will be the ones to watch this season.
“Scott said ‘I’ve got a great Under 14s team and we need a good coach for them. So I said I’ll have a look at them,” recalls Geoff.
The culture and history of the Kingfishers also attracted Geoff to the Club, who has worked with Mick Hancock on Junior Development for Beaudesert Broncos.
He has a true love of coaching and takes the responsibility very seriously.
“I love coaching – it’s not just about the sport or the game. You get 20 kids in your life for a year and you get to make a difference in their life.”
“For me its about child development, it’s about making them better human beings. We see that all the time – at the start of the year to the end of the year you can see they’re better people.”
A new club, a new team
Geoff is looking forward to the season with a new club and a new team to coach.
The week prior to talking to Beaudesert Bulletin, the Under 14s Division One team took on Mudgeeraba in a trial game and won 26 to 12.
“The team we played beat them 38 to 10 last year in the last game.”
Geoff puts the difference down to the confidence in the team.
“We could have won by a lot more points but we decided not to kick goals after the first one.”
Playing to your advantage
While they are up against some physically larger teams, Geoff says the Beaudesert team is learning to play to their advantage.
“What we’ve got to do is make sure that you believe in yourself.”
“You play to your advantage – they’re a fast side and they’re a fit side.”
Asked if there are any standout players, Geoff said it is about how they play as a team.
“A standout player to me should be helping the least player on the team.”
“If he’s a golden child and a great footballer, my expectation is that he should be helping Johnny over here who isn’t as strong a player.”
“If they all help each other, that team esprit de esprit de corps they build up is beautiful.”
“We’re not scared of any of those teams.”
“Can we beat them? I don’t know but we’ll give it a good shake.”
