FOOTY STAR TURNED TV SHOW GUEST

SPORTS

You can trust Beau Ryan when it comes to bluffing. The former NRL star, now a regular on The Footy Show, successfully bluffed his way through two careers, and continues doing it today.

“I bluffed my way through as a footballer,” he says of his seven-year career.

“I was just about to start my debut in the NRL – I’d played fullback and centre my whole life – and the week before debut my coach says ‘We’ve got a position in the wing. Do you play wing?’

“I said ‘Yeah, I can play wing, I love wing, I’ve played wing my whole life.’ I’d never played wing.

“So that was the start to my career and really the same thing happened with The Footy Show. I don’t know how any of it happened.”

While Beau attributes his uncanny ability to pull a fast one to genetics (his dad’s a bluffer, his dad’s dad is a bluffer), he says it is a skill that can be taught, especially in the game of rugby league.

“I think with bluffing you gotta keep a straight face and pretend you know what you’re talking about,” he says, beginning with fundamental bluff basics.

“I think use numbers instead of positions. Girls talking about playing hooker might not go down too well.

“When you talk say ‘Gee he’s a good number 6,’ or ‘Number 1 could go a run in number 5,’ or ‘Number 7 is playing way better this season.’

“I THINK WITH BLUFFING YOU GOTTA KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE AND PRETEND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT.”

“I think hands on face a lot and hands in the air. I used gestures a lot to maybe make it seem like I was way more passionate than I maybe was.

“I used to throw my hands in the air when I dropped the ball – like it was someone else’s fault. And if we scored I used to point at the crowd like it was all them.”

If the conversation turns to players and