Tribute to Sayle
WALLABIES coach Michael Cheika has penned an emotional letter to his mentor, mate and former coach who died on Monday.
The death of Randwick club legend Jeff ‘Sayley’ Sayle has ‘hit like a brick’ for Cheika. Upon learning of Sayle’s death, Cheika summed up his feelings in a letter - posted on rugby.com.au - addressed to Sayle written from Tokyo where the Wallabies are preparing for their next match of the Rugby World Cup against Uruguay at Oita Stadium.
“The news this morning hit me like a brick. You did more for me that I can put into words but I’m going to give it a try,” Cheika wrote in the letter that was published on rugby.com.au. He said Sayle, who died aged 77, taught him everything that was great about the game of rugby from friendship, teamwork, passion, loyalty, honesty and respect.
“You are grassroots rugby Sayley. Men like you will always make it succeed. And Australian Rugby is poorer today without you mate,” Cheika wrote on rugby. com.au.
“You taught me, first and foremost, to love the game. You were always so positive about the game — you lived it, you bled it and you did a bloody good job.” Cheika wrote, on rugby.com.au, that Sayle had an amazing skill of bringing players together from all walks of life to form a team culture. “You were definitely a players person. You had this amazing skill of bringing us all together. The weird mix that we all were. You could connect with the street rat kid, the Indigenous kids, the elbow patch kids and everyone in between — and you could pull them all under the same banner in Rugby.”