It’s part of his story so we’ll get straight into it. In 2018 James Slipper was axed from the Queensland Reds after two positive tests for cocaine.
His 86-Test rugby career, which had included captaining Australia, was in tatters and his life was a hot mess. His mum had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
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Slipper will tell you he was in a “dark place” and could see nothing good in his immediate or long-term future.
Yet he did a smart thing: He owned it. He saw professionals. He copped his axing from Queensland on the chin. And slowly he came out of the funk. And today, he’s more than proud to say, he’s the happiest he’s been since those scattered and dark times of three years ago.
“People can shy away from the fact that they’ve made mistakes,” Slipper tells us.
“But it’s part of my story. After my mishaps, my poor decision-making back in the day, I went through a dark period where I didn’t see any positivity at all.
“I take a lot of pride in coming back and coming back a better person. That [being sacked] coming to a head forced me to look at myself. And the last three years have been some of the happiest of my life. I’m really enjoying rugby and really enjoying my time around the boys.”
Asked if he feels that Reds coach Brad Thorn and the Queensland Rugby Union offered significant duty of care, Slipper won’t go there. Things were said behind closed doors that Slipper intends to leave there.
“End of the day they made a decision and I fully complied with it,” Slipper says.
“But mate I’m not going to sit here and get too deep into what actually happened behind the doors. I think the important thing is that a decision was made and I copped it on the chin and moved on.”
Indeed he did. All the way up to 100 Test matches for the Wallabies, the 13th Australian to reach the mark. He currently sits on 105. Tonight at Optus Stadium he’ll equal Sekope Kepu as most-capped Wallabies prop.
If you want to know how the Wallabies scrum is going, he’s a good man to ask.
Slipper says that following the French series, the Wallabies’ concluded that they’d let themselves down in certain areas. Yet the scrum – as it was in two Tests against New Zealand – was not one of those areas. Slipper says they mauled well, too.
“We want to put a marker down at set piece,” Slipper says. “We train pretty hard and we’ve got some good tight-heads – Allan [Alaalatoa] and ‘Nela’ [Taniela Tupou]. We want to turn [the scrum] into a strength of ours. And we’re going to work on it. I don’t think we’re at the level we can get to. There’s a lot of improvement in us.”
Scrums, particularly the work going on in the front row, can look a dart art to the uninitiated. Ask Slipper to explain something technical to the layman and he demurs.
“It’s a tough one,” he says. “Ideally we want to scrum ‘square’. We try to win the hit and go from there. It’s a bit like the old school scrum: you win each contest at each step of the way; the setup, the hit, the scrum.
“That’s kind of how we operate, to get into a good position. Because we know we have the back five that will work the other [opposition] back five. As front-rowers we have to keep it off the ground and going forward.”
Heading into the French series Slipper says he “was just happy to play rugby again” after suffering an MCL injury in the semi-finals of Super Rugby AU.
“I missed the whole trans-Tasman, had two months out. I was ecstatic to just make the team. To contribute has been very satisfying.
“But I always bring it back to how the team played. We won the [French] series, it made me smile. I’ll be better for the run and it’s been another step up against the All Blacks. I’ve got to keep up with these young blokes, mate.”
Joining Slipper in the seniority stakes is prodigal son Quade Cooper, at 33 the only Wallaby older than the 32-year-old front-rower.
Asked if he was as surprised as most everyone else that Cooper was being brought back in the fold, Slipper says he’d heard talk.
“I knew there was talk about possibly bringing him in. He’s been a great addition. He’s really fit and his body seems to be in a really good place.
“I’m a big believer in Quade. I’ve played a lot of rugby with him; I’ve known him since my early days. He’s a great player, he’s got class.
“Having someone like him in the squad is exceptional. Particularly for Noah [Lolesio] and [other young players] he’s invaluable. And it makes me feel better because there’s someone older!”
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As Cooper helps Lolesio and other young Wallaby play-makers, Slipper is a senior figure in the Wallabies’ exclusive front-rowers’ club.
“It’s a special group,” Slipper says. “Sometimes we’ll go out for dinner and we might allow a special guest to join us. But normally it’s only us and normally it’s a meat joint.
“We do get along with the other players. But end of the day the front rowers do most of the work. We feel like we’ve got enough war stories to get us through dinner.”
Slipper says ‘Tongan Thor’ Tupou is the biggest eater of the crew though utility back Reece Hodge eats more than anyone. “You could not believe how much he eats,” Slipper exclaims. “He’s an empty bin.”
James Slipper is not running on empty. He’s the ballast of a Wallabies scrum that’s becoming increasingly respected and a senior man who’s been through the wars and emerged a stronger and better one for it.
And there’s more to his story yet. Good luck to him.
