Triumph and tragedy
Mat Rogers is a football legend and television star who has triumphed over hardship, loss and heartache. He has shared his powerful life story in A Father’s Son
Queenslanders
probably remember Mat Rogers for his many exploits on the football field.
Rogers reached the greatest heights rugby league and rugby union have to offer.
But with his recently released book, A Father’s Son, he has shown that he has an introspective honesty that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.
Rogers’ frank and candid language mixed with the relentless pace of 44 short chapters makes for a great read.
Initially he was going to let another author write for him, but, thankfully, his wife and agent convinced him that to put his life through the filter of someone else wouldn’t give it the justice it deserved.
“It wasn’t without its challenges along the way, you know, writing about some pretty tough times in my life – I found it to be a lot more difficult than what I anticipated,” Rogers said.
“I had to have a few pretty significant breaks, I actually almost just gave up because it was just too hard to relive some of the things, particularly going through the stuff with dad and my mum.”
In the book, he goes into his mum’s four-year battle with breast cancer – which she lost at only 45 – with heartbreaking rawness.
Only years later his father, Steve Rogers, an NRL Hall of Famer, Cronulla Immortal and chief executive officer of the Sharks at the time, took his own life at 51.
The tragedies do not define Rogers, but they understandably had a huge impact on the now 46-year-old’s life.
“Writing the book helped me reconcile a lot of my life, I sort of resented a lot of my childhood,” he said.
“I think a lot of stuff I went through with dad, particularly, was sort of holding me back a little bit – I didn’t feel that I could open up about a lot of parts of my life.
“The book helped me realise that life moves on.
Everyone has challenges in their life and I hope the book helps people understand that regardless of the challenges, the sun keeps rising, the world keeps spinning, and you’ve got to keep moving.”
The former footballer was up in Townsville as part of his book tour, and he said it was somewhere he always looked forward to visiting.
“I love coming up to North Queensland because it’s just a beautiful part of the world, and I love fishing, so I come up here and holiday a lot,” Rogers said.
But his clearest memory of playing in Townsville certainly wasn’t anything like a holiday – it was getting smashed by the
Brisbane Broncos in the semi-final of Super League in 1997.
Playing alongside Paul Green, the Sharks
were convincingly beaten 34-2 by a Broncos team stacked with legendary names including
Langer, Lockyer, Walters, Thorn, Sailor, Renouf, Mundine, Tallis and Webcke.
It’s safe to say the eventual Super Leaguewinning Broncos outclassed their opposition on paper and on the field.
“I always enjoyed coming up to North Queensland and playing in Townsville, the fans are amazing, they come from everywhere, and the passion for the game is great,” Rogers said.
The dual international also revealed the Cowboys’ co-captain Chad Townsend used to pester him at his home in the
Sutherland Shire.
“He (Townsend) was a little kid who lived next door, or about three houses up from me, and he would always stand on my front lawn when I was playing for the Sharks,” he said.
“He would stand on my front lawn in his full Yarrawarrah Tigers kit and wait for me to come out and kick the ball with him.
“I enjoy watching Chad, I’m really proud of the way he handled himself when there was a lot of criticism with him coming up here.”
Rogers said he was also a huge fan of Scott Drinkwater and Val Holmes, the latter of whom he shared a place with in Cronulla’s “Team of the Half Century” as the two wingers.
In his early life, Rogers moved to the Gold
Coast when he was nine years old and went on to attend The Southport School during his high school years.
He shone on the rugby field and played in the Australian Schoolboys team in 1993, where he played opposite modern rugby legends Jonny Wilkinson, Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen and Carlos Spencer.
After debuting for the Cronulla Sharks two years later in 1995, Rogers enjoyed a mercurial rise to the top of the sport, representing Queensland eight times and the Kangaroos 11 times.
He played in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup final against New Zealand and won.
He switched to union and played in the
2003 Rugby World Cup final against England and lost.
Rogers is one of the last Wallabies to hold aloft the coveted Bledisloe Cup, back in 2002, when his late try sparked a remarkable comeback that was finished off by a Matt Burke penalty goal after the hooter.
It’s a footballing resume that would be the envy of any aspiring athlete, and it takes some time for Rogers to settle on the most memorable match of his career.
“It’s hard to put my finger on one game, but it’s hard to go past my first State of Origin match in ’99,” he said.
“We won the game 9-8 and I scored all of Queensland’s points that day, and I kicked the field goal to win the game.
“State of Origin is so big, to do that on that stage was incredible.”
Rogers said he never thought he would
become an author, but after seeing the reception his book has received, it’s a decision he doesn’t regret.
“I’ve been blown away by some of the messages that I’ve got from people saying I’ve made the best book they’ve read, and they couldn’t put it down, and I’m just grateful that the finished product is as well received as it has been,” he said.