Scotty Stevenson: Big Yogi everything a great team man should be

Johan Bardoul of the Chiefs. Photo / Getty Images

The problem with a guy like Johan Bardoul is this: you never quite know whether or not you should be taking him seriously. Which, given he's a school teacher, makes him ideally suited to being a professional rugby player.

For starters he's got arms the length of legs and legs the length of arms - a distinctly discombobulating arrangement of limbs which leads one to the logical conclusion that he would be more comfortable putting his shorts on over his head, and stepping into his playing jersey. For all we know, that could well be how he gets dressed before the game. And, for that matter, it would not be surprising if his big toes were opposable.

In any case, once on the field, Bardoul's peculiar proportions lend to the loose forward a kind of poetic gracelessness that brings to mind an image of a badly hungover man, running late for work, looking for the car keys and busting for the loo, while carrying a full cup of coffee across a floor littered with tiny pieces of Lego.

He is a syncopated symphony of sidesteps and surprise movements. You don't know whether to tackle him or sedate him. By all accounts, every photo of him is from a distance, and blurry. But, and this is where the story really begins, the bloke they call Big Yogi is an absolute beauty.

And, in all his ungainly brilliance, he's a poster child of a kind. He's the guy who doesn't give up, the guy who sets the toughest targets for himself, the guy who would lead a horse to water AND make it drink. He's the guy who's not just here to make up the numbers. In other words, he's exactly the kind of guy upon whom winning teams are built.

Let me tell you about him last weekend. In case you missed it. Johan Bardoul entered the game in the 12th minute of the first half. The Crusaders cleared their 22 with a long kick off a scrum and Bardoul, who had run back to his own half from the side of that scrum, took a short ball from Sonny Bill Williams to set the ruck on the halfway line. He then got back to his feet and played halfback at the next ruck, passing to Aaron Cruden before doubling around for the return ball. He then took the next tackle and handed off to Sam Cane. From the ensuing ruck he was the first receiver, taking a two-man tackle and offloading to Charlie Ngatai. He cleaned out the next ruck on the Crusaders' goal-line with such accuracy and vigour, that Williams was able to pick the ball up, twist over the line and score. It was, quite simply, brilliant.

Want to know the sad part? In a week in which Rangi Chase's league heroics have been seen by millions, Johan Bardoul's 8-play try assist was noticed by a handful of pundits and his coach, and maybe a couple of farmers from Matamata. Worse, he also made three turnover plays in the game, too. And two of those led directly to tries.

Secretly, Big Yogi will be pretty chuffed about how he played last week, though he would never say as much. After his debut three weeks ago, when he played his first 62 minutes for the Chiefs, he cut a rather downcast figure after the full time whistle. I asked him at the time what was the matter. He replied, "I played like s**t." He hadn't, really. But when you're 27 and finally getting a crack at things, you could be forgiven for being overly self-critical.

I've always admired players like Johan Bardoul. You notice that look of intensity on their faces at training, as if they are petrified of missing anything lest someone take all of this away from them. You notice the work ethic and the application and the drive to be better.

You notice, too, how much their teammates like them, how much they love giving him a pat on the back, calling out a word of support, trying to get a reaction out of him. It's as if, in the Johan Bardouls of this world, in all the flailing arms and gangliness, they see the embodiment of what they know a great team man to be: egoless, selfless, humble.

Johan Bardoul is all these things. And he's better on the field than he gives himself credit for, too. Maybe it's time to take him seriously. He just might have something to teach us all.