Camp Maroon: Nice guys finish first
The marquee at Suncorp Stadium is packed.
Confusion reigns.
25 journos and cameramen are clambering for spots amongst 400 dinner guests.
Wait staff sidestep tripods and microphone cables like Justin Hodges darting out of dummy-half.
They've just witnessed the naming of the first Maroons team for 2012 - a side that all but picked itself.
Players are now trying to make their way to their tables.
More confusion.
It's a bit like downtown Mumbai during peak-hour.
Through all this, a Colossus of a man tries his best to glide through the mess.
He's used to smashing through bodies - inflicting as much damage onto opposition players as possible - that'd be the easy thing to do.
So would keep walking.
But he doesn't. He stops. Turns. Leans in and apologises.
"Hey mate. Sorry I brushed you the other night. I just wanted to keep my head out of the papers and off TV heading into this week."
After last Friday Night's Broncos-Manly match, Petero Civoniceva said no to me for an interview.
Getting knocked back is nothing new for a sport reporter (especially after a last minute heart breaker like that).
Getting knocked back by Petero is.
He's always up for chat.
Good result or bad result.
While I thought it odd at the time, I quickly moved on and asked Corey Parker about the "chewie on his boots".
I didn't think for a second Petero would give it another thought.
I mean, the media thing is OUR job - not his.
Not giving an interview doesn't impact Petero’s work - unlike me not getting one.
So for him to stop, turn around and apologise - amongst the organised chaos of that night - is the true mark of a man.
There a hundreds of Petero stories similar to this - but this is mine.
Well, mine and a colleague’s.
There's a thought to excel in sport you need to be ruthless. Unrelenting. Selfish.
Win at all costs.
Petero - like he's done to the Blues for the past 12 seasons - smashes that thought into next week.
He's the most capped player in the toughest position, in the toughest sporting contest on the planet.
But the universal admiration and respect goes beyond that.
He's the player everyone wants to play with - he's the player everyone wants to be like.
Who says nice guys finish last?
