Although Sam is not the only footballer who transitioned to sports commentary, he certainly is the only one to turn his hand (and mouth) to cultural comedy, brilliant and controversial ‘Lambassador’ for the Australian meat industry and much sought after keynote speaker.
But as Sam reveals to Louise, it hasn’t always been a painless slide down the splintery bannister of life. Early stardom and a huge public profile in his football career turned out to be an incredible start during his teenage years, but was relatively short lived. Only after a big thud back to earth did Sam begin adapting his disciplines in repetition, practice, word play and improvisation to complement – as he puts it with tongue firmly in cheek – his ‘erudition and good looks’!
You’ll quickly notice the self-deprecating, intelligent, sincere and straightforward family man behind the ranting, satirical character, having survived some pretty impassioned (and failed) ‘gag-orders’ over the years. Freedom of speech and expression being important themes to Sam in these sometimes stiflingly politically correct times.
Louise and Sam unpack some really insightful elements of public performance:
• The ‘low, slow and loud’ factor
• Presence and gravitas
• Confidence and delivery
• Presentation and content
• Audience ‘horse sense’
• Conversation versus lecturing
It’s an action packed 15 minutes, and in Sam’s words:
“You’ll know it makes sense!”