There has been much discussion on the composition of Laurie Daley’s Game 2 Origin team this week and many names have been tossed about as potential solutions to the seemingly insurmountable mountain that the Blues will face at Suncorp Stadium next week.

The main thrust of the selection calls has been for an injection of youth to aid in potential series victories in the future. There has been utter frustration at the apparent undeserved loyalty that seems to be currently shown to players who have failed to perform in recent times.

The author of this piece has been consistent in the view that if defeat is imminent then select a team that can grow and develop in order to win in future series.

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However, one of the names that has been tossed up consistently over the last few weeks has been that of Michael Ennis. This perked my interest for two reasons.

Firstly, it is a credit to a man at his fifth club and his fourteenth year of football to be held in such high regard by followers of the game that he would even be in the frame for the New South Wales hooking spot.

Secondly it made me reflect on the much maligned Ennis and the general consensus regarding his on-field behaviour, niggling ability and what his potential legacy might be when he retires in the not too distant future.

In my 37 years of watching the game I have heard more negative and vitriolic language directed at Michael Ennis than any other player.

A few others have come close and Josh Reynolds appears to be up there among the younger crop of stars, being universally hated by everyone except his own supporters, yet Ennis seems to raise the ire of fans more than anyone else.

The perception of Ennis is that he never shuts up on the field and uses his quick wit and motor mouth to get under the skin of opposition players, who, admittedly should know better and show a little more self-control.



Moreover, the anti-Ennis brigade see his manipulation of the referees and his constant whining and whinging as unsportsmanlike, weak, pathetic and a blight on the game. The new stance on captains has stopped this to an extent and Paul Gallen is the current captain of the Sharks.

Jamie Lyon would take the proverbial cake in this area in my opinion. If you were to call Lyon a grub you might just be shot, especially on the peninsula.

In addition, fans detest his annoying infractions that have led to him being one of the most penalised players in the game. 2016 seems to be an exception to the rule as Ennis has been on something like his best behaviour.

When you add all of these elements together you arrive at a simple answer. Ennis is a grub. If I had a fiver for every time I have heard that over the years I think I might just own that little French vineyard in Champagne and be sitting in the early summer sun drinking a home-grown Shiraz.

I’d be devouring a medium rare piece of local free range beef sourced from my friend Francois’ local cattle.

But I digress. The grub tag will haunt Ennis forever. It made me think about other current player, players of the past and whether Ennis truly deserves the tag.

Tommy Raudonikis is a legend of the game. He was also however, the phantom biter, the man who took a hunk of meat out of Steve Mortimer’s knee around the scrum base in a city country game when he saw Mortimer as a threat to his state jersey. He is one of the greatest serial pests to play the game.

The game was different back then, context might be everything, but I can’t help wonder whether the modern players inability to curb emotion and respond to Ennis might make him less of a grub and them a little more stupid.



The famous encounter between Ennis and Nathan Hindmarsh at the Olympic stadium in Round 6 2011 springs to mind. Coming out of a ruck, Hindmarsh trotted off to the next contest and was looking like completing one his finest third man in flops when he stopped, turned and ran back towards Ennis in a rage.

Hindmarsh then let fly with a barrage of punches, Ennis threw a couple, it was all pretty timid really, and both players ended up in the sinbin. Hindmarsh cheered off the field and Ennis waddled off smirking to cries of, ‘You’re a grub Ennis.’ I chuckled. It was good theatre.

I reflected later on Ennis’ role and wondered what he had said. It must have been good. I guess we’ll never know. The players suggested in the media what was said but it didn’t seem worthy of the reaction.

The 1973 grand final also comes to mind when I think about Ennis and his label.

The level of brutality and violence that featured in that game was gruesome. Along with a few legendary Origin games such as the 1984 match where coach Frank Stanton’s instructions were to ‘fight’, the ’73 grand final made me think about the sanitised and ‘clean’ game that we witness today.

Ray Price rolling on the ground pounding the face of Chris Close or one man holding another while a third let punches fly.

Paul Vautin’s open palmed slap also comes to mind but that might be the subject of another article. Violent lifting of the knees towards the face of the opponent and eye gouging in clear view of the referee and the television coverage were common place. Ennis might annoy people but he is a cleanskin by this comparison.

There were a lot of stupid grubby acts in all these clashes, some of which were inspired by some great ‘lip’ that obviously hit a few nerves.



The Greg Dowling versus Kevin Tamati rumble on the way to bench in 1985 at Lang Park is infamous and was pretty grubby behaviour really. Some might label it as manly, or a face to face stoush that reeks of honour. I’m not so sure.

There have also been plenty of players who have played the game in a similar way to Ennis yet somehow not built the reputation that he has. Terry Hill and his rather annoying antics, particularly the phantom dive he took to slow the game down when his side were pinned on their own line.

John Lomax attempted to callously decapitate player after player in the 90s yet never really copped the grub tag despite copping a number of suspensions. He missed the ’94 grand final and ended one of the most promising young careers when he belted Adam Ritson in 1996.

He was a real grub.

We’ve had fingers in the anus, scrotum grabbing which became a trend in the 90s and the infamous squirrel grip from one of the game’s modern grubs, Sam Burgess.

There are hundreds of examples, yet for some reason, most of the perpetrators have escaped the ongoing label that has been attached to Ennis. A choir boy he is most certainly not yet teammate s all speak highly of him as a player, captain and a family man.

There is no doubt that Ennis is up with the best of all time in terms of getting a rise out of the opposition and he might just be the best. Yet I can’t help but think that there were a lot of grubs in the past whose actions are now glorified as they become part of legend.

As I said earlier, context might be everything, but in such a clean and sanitised game are the actions of a player like Ennis any grubbier than the deeds of some of our folklore heroes?

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