Blofeld's revenge - Bond hangs up his boots


By Hobbledehoy's Dad
December 21 2004

At least we still have the memories. Graeme Bond has been forced to retire through injury, and will no longer grace the Edgeley Park pitch. This appreciation by Hobbledehoy's Dad goes with every supporter's best wishes and thanks for all that 007 did for Sale Sharks. Have a good life, Graeme.

Graeme Bond came to the fore, as far as the rugby following British public were concerned, in the Summer of 2001. The British & Irish Lions succumbed for the first time on tour to an Australian “A” side (28-25) with Graeme Bond, wearing 13, part of a backline that gave the lions considerable problems.

He played again in the ACT Brumbies team that took the Lions closer to losing than any other provincial team on that tour, frequently embarrassing Will Greenwood , Mike Catt, Scott Gibbs and Mark Taylor in the process.

Those two quality performances might indeed have gained him his first full Wallaby international opportunity; coming on from the bench in the hard-fought tri-nations draw with the Springboks in August 2001.

However he was already well-known in Australian rugby circles; making his mark as a very talented multi-purpose outside back, initially playing with the NSW Warratashs, and then in the renowned ACT Brumbies Super 12 side that dominated for 3 years from 200-2002. This side featured a devastating backline with George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Rod Kafer, Andrew Walker, Joe Roff, and latterly, Steven Mortlock all involved. It was no wonder that Bondy often found himself as right wing, but he was always regarded as a player with the “X” factor; with ball in hand he almost invariably made things happen.

Following his performances against the Lions, he then went on to gain 5 caps in the Australian European tour in October. His international performances seemed likely to establish his presence in the national side.

However, an existing sea change was gathering momentum in Australian Rugby, which critically affected his international prospects.

Mat Rodgers and Wendell Sailor, already famous league stars with huge followings, were both tempted to join the union code.

In a country where attendances of rugby fans are often split between league and union, Graeme read the writing on the wall as the Wallaby coach Eddie Jones overlooked him repeatedly for selection, preferring to pick the more famous crowd-pullers. Graeme decided on a new start in Europe and signed for Sale Sharks in the summer of 2002. After a couple of months of wrangling with the Australian RFU he came to Sale and immediately grew his hair in order to provide a bit of insulation.

When introduced to the Sale faithful at HR in the Autumn of 2002, we were informed that Graeme was a Papua New Guinea-born player who had been a former Australian player at Under-19 and 21 level. A cruel run of injuries had delayed his full Wallaby debut until the age of 27, after two shoulder reconstructions, a serious back injury, and numerous broken bones. Now he was fit and raring to go.

He was hailed as the final jigsaw piece in Sale back-line which could lead them to top honours. A fully committed highly talented, incisive, ball-playing back who was a consistent performer.

From the first match, when he was thrown in at the deep end in a Heineken cup match against Bourgoin, he made his presence felt with the quality of his performance.

Working in tandem with either Mel Deane or Dan Harris he gave considerable extra edge to our centre play every time he played, and he played almost every game.

During the 2002 season I cannot remember a game without at least one crunching Bondy tackle, following by an immediate return to his feet, spreading his legs wide and stripping the ball. Ball-stripping by 007 was an art form, frequently gaining us turnover ball or winning penalties. He seemed able to regain his feet almost before his opponent had hit the ground. The 007 legend had arrived. He became a cult figure almost immediately.

That season he scored 5 good tries, mostly with his exemplary support play, but I certainly remember two or three exceptional outside breaks, where a quick swivel of his hips denied a despairing opposing centre a tackle. More frequently, he created half breaks, and releasing our wingers into space; he was responsible for a considerable percentage of both wingers’ try tally.

My favourite piece of Bondy magic was, I think against Saints when he kept both hands free in the tackle and popped up a glorious late feed into Jason’s safe hands on the Northampton 22. It was obviously a well-prepared move with perfect timing from all involved. The instant pass off the deck, feeding Billy Whizz on the burst, was unstoppable and Jason scored under the posts.

Other fans will have different pictures in their minds; we are extremely fortunate to have had Bondy in a team where his ‘Super 12’ skills could be appreciated so quickly.

What seems so strange to me is that he was only with us two years, yet it seems so much longer.

Last season his best performances on paper were against Leicester away. In October in the ZP he made the difference in the match, commentators referring to “Bond breaking a host of tackles before cutting inside the last man to score under the post”. The 22-16 victory was down to Graeme. The following month in the Powergen, he repeated that performance, scoring two memorable tries, out of a record six, again against Tigers. “Bond soon saw to the deadlock as the second half got underway, repeating his trick from earlier in the match as he found another gap in the Tigers midfield as he crashed over the line”.

Unfortunately with Charlie missing much of the season, our back line looked decidedly out of sorts that year, yet with Bondy in the back line you felt we were always in with a good chance.

Bondy shouldered far more responsibility that season; his last ditch defence saving us on many occasions, when poor alignment gave opposing teams easy line-breaks. Nevertheless, despite our relatively poor form, he scored a further 5 tries in the premiership. The highlight for many was his performance at Pinkerton’s leaving party, which showed what an all-round good player he was, negating the attacking talents of both D’Arcy and BOD.

Shouldering responsibility was always the 007 way and later that year, we were to witness the end of Bondy’s playing career in one of the most sickeningly thudding tackles I have seen on a rugby pitch.

In a crucial Powergen Cup semi-final against a big Leeds side Graeme plugged the occasional gaps in our defence as Mike Hercus took centre stage for Sale in what ended as a good victory. However, most fans will only remember it, for the interminable delay in the ref. stopping the match after Bondy flew across the pitch and felled Dan Scarborough, as if with an axe, and injured himself in the process.

For once Graeme’s head ended up on the wrong side in the tackle, and he lay prone, temporarily paralysed, whilst play went on around him. Play was eventually stopped and Graeme was stretchered-off, motionless, with the crowd in shock.

Initial concerns that this was significantly more than a bad ‘stinger’ injury were later confirmed. Although the information could not be released at the time, 3 specialists indicated Bondy’s lower neck had been traumatised repeatedly and was now potentially unstable. A repeat of the injury could leave him paralysed. This was, in fact, an injury causing an exacerbation of previous serious trauma and they advised his career was over. Bondy went home to recuperate and to take further advice.

One orthopaedic surgeon in Brisbane, believed he might just still be able to play again, but confirmed surgery was unlikely to be of benefit. He underwent extensive physiotherapy.

The differing medical opinions caused considerable confusion as to the certainty of the outcome, which lasted throughout the spring and summer. Little could be said publicly.

However the inevitable pragmatic conclusion was that he would be uninsurable and the potential consequences of a further neck injury were too horrific to contemplate for both the club and Graeme’s family. Although, in his typical brave manner, he indicated he was willing to give it a go, there was only one outcome possible.

Further medical and legal opinion confirmed the veracity of the original opinions and Graeme, although healthy in himself, must inevitably now pursue other career options.

Rugby, at times, is a cruel and dangerous sport, and our feelings must go to Graeme’s family. Hopefully insurance companies have now accepted claims and Graeme will have a degree of financial recompense. Our best wishes for the future go to Graeme, his wife and family.

Graeme Bond played a mere 43 times for Sale, scoring 13 tries in the process, and firmly cemented his all-round game into the collective memory of Sale Sharks fans. He must have set-up dozens more and we always knew what a quality player he was.

He leaves us running on half-empty, well aware that although he gave numerous stunning performances, at 29, his best years were perhaps only just upon us.

In this author's opinion this centre, wearing 12, playing 13, was quite rightly called 007. As Carly Simon sang: No-one did it better.

Players at the club will have other fond memories, like the anecdote of his initial confusion of where to go when he found out we used a different number of player “pods” from that which he was used to. A whole day of Bondy consistently running in the wrong direction during training sessions raised many a smile and comment. But most of the anecdotes should be savoured privately.

Suffice it to say Bondy is sorely missed and Sale are finding his boots nigh on impossible to fill.