The nickname itself however doesn't seem inappropriate as Adam is reputed to have been the weirdest member of the NSW Blues Squad until the addition of Mark "Shrek" O'Meley. Mark is said to rub deep heat into his head to get himself fired up before a game, Adam only talks to his thighs - or at least that's the rumour going around. He has never outright denied that it's true, and his teammates swear that it is, however Adam has suggested that it is just another one of Andrew "Joey" Johns' tall tales.
When fully fit, Adam is firmly entrenched at representative level, as it is generally accepted that he is one of the best wingers in the game. He has also proven himself more than capable at fullback, in the centres, and of course, on the wing, in the number 5 jumper he's made his own at both club and state level. His career hasn't been without controversey, what with the whole drug scandle (which has it's own section on this site so I'm not going into it here), and even stomping allegations after 1997 Grand Final. However he's hung in there, and he's still there, and among the best in the game, in my opinion that alone is worthy of respect. However as if that wasn't enough, at the end of last season, on the Knights charge to their second Grand Final, Adam released T-Shirts (with the slogan Go Mad, Go The Dog! on the front, and Go Legs Go" on the back) and donated all proceeds to charity (the Ronald McDonald House if memory serves me correctly). In spite of past mistakes, he is a valuable member of and representitive for every team he plays for from the Knights right through to the Kangaroos.
Adam hasn't had the best of years, in fact he played a grand total of 10 minutes in Season 2002, between recovering from surgery after the off-season, and injuring himself early in a match against the Roosters in round 5, and needing a knee reconstruction. After he first learnt of the injury there was some talk (mostly from Adam himself) about his retirement, but it is now several months later and the talk hasn't re-surfaced, so us Mad Dog fans can only hope that the man's love of the game has led him to give it another go.
|
