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http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/rug...-1226725250748
DIGBY Ioane leans in, pauses for effect, and says "Do you really want to know the truth?"
In three weeks the bulldozing Wallaby will leave for Paris after a tumultuous end to his six-season Queensland Reds career.
As he prepares to leave our shores, Ioane has opened up about his sudden departure from the Reds, the bizarre pub scuffle, which ended in suspension and a court appearance, and why he still texts deposed Australian coach Robbie Deans.
Ioane is a loveable enigma. He is perhaps the only person who counts Quade Cooper and Deans among his best friends.
Ioane said 12 months ago the Reds were it for him.
He wanted to own the honour of playing the most games for Queensland, which stands at Sean Hardman's 148.
He has the letter "Q" tattooed on his arm, inked in the blurry haze of their 2011 Super Rugby premiership win, but will leave without half of Hardman's appearances.
As he says repeatedly throughout the interview, "You lose one thing, you gain another".
We are on the banks of the Brisbane River, the iconic Story Bridge casting shadows that spare us from 30C spring heat.
Ioane is trading this view for one of the Eiffel Tower.
It is hard to blame him after a year in which he was stood down from the Reds, sign for Stade Francais, face court, was disciplined for a separate incident and had his Wallabies season ended through injury.
Oh, he also had to deal with an attempt to sue him for $1,000,000.
It is the March 9 scuffle at a Melbourne pub and the failed litigation attempt that appears to bother him most.
"I'll tell you what really happened," he says.
"He wanted a mill from me.
"He was never going to get it. He's dreaming.
"It wrecked my reputation. I'm not a bad guy.
"This is what happens in life though. Some idiot tries to start something and you are the bad guy.
"When it went to court, the judge just said "this is ridiculous" and dropped it.
It was a big relief. I hated the media attention. I was listed as fifth in the top 10 bad boys of rugby.
"I was just like 'Are you serious?'
"No one knew the real story, he was just trying to sue me to get money...
"I just wanted my name cleared.
"What happened was... I went to the pub to see my brother and when I walked in he told me he had lost his phone and then soon after he was in a scuffle with this guy.
"I was the one trying to stop the fight. Then I got blindsided and saw someone charging so I pushed him.
"One of the managers (of the pub) told me off like I was the bad guy.
"Quade (Cooper) and 'Buddy' (Hawthorn AFL forward Lance Franklin) were walking through the pub and Quade... he's been in too much drama, and I didn't want him being targeted so I just decided to jet.
"I was in there for like five minutes.
"Then this guy tries to sue me. It was all on camera so I wasn't stressed.
"I didn't lie so I knew I was fine but still I caused this so I had to show leadership.
"I took my punishment and that's what I would do for the Reds, take the blame.
"The game I missed was against the Western Force and we lost."
Ioane trails off after that, he cares deeply for his teammates and feels he was placed in an impossible situation.
Ioane, 28, is a stereotype-shattering winger who works harder than most backrowers.
His injury has exposed how much the Wallabies need him.
Today a French flag is draped around his shoulders for the photo shoot.
His now ex-Reds coach and fluent French speaker Ewen McKenzie has been helping him find an apartment in Paris.
His deal with Stade Francais was completed in record time after third party deals failed to materialise at the Reds and he had a falling out with chief executive Jim Carmichael.
"People like to twist stuff but look... I'm the type of guy who doesn't want to bag anyone," Ioane says.
"People talk about loyalty.
"There is no loyalty except for your mates beside you.
"To be honest it was not the Reds, there were just issues between me and Jim Carmichael.
"You lose one thing, you gain another.
"I don't want to talk badly about the CEO because I believe everything happens for a reason.
"Ewen McKenzie has been great to me.
"His personal assistant... she has saved me from potential trouble so many times.
"Half of what was said wasn't true.
"So I put my name out there and within a day Stade Francais offered me a contract.
"You only live once. I don't want to have any regrets.
"The downside is I will be missing my best mates, guys like Quade and Will (Genia).
"I'm nervous going over there but at the same time excited.
"If I don't like it I can come back after 20 months, in time for the Rugby World Cup."
For Ioane that hopefully means playing for Australia under the tutelage of McKenzie.
He credits McKenzie and the man he replaced, Deans, as his greatest rugby mentors.
Deans has been widely blamed for the Wallabies slip down the world rankings. Ioane tells a different story.
"I was really good mates with Robbie. I still talk to him. I just say 'what's up' to him here and there," Ioane says.
"I liked him because he kept his word.
"He said to me once he would not pick me for Tri-Nations but wanted me for the Spring Tour later in the year and he kept his word.
"I was in a situation like that at the Western Force with John Mitchell and ... he was the worst.
"I was man of the match one week and dropped the next.
"That's what made up my mind about leaving the Force (in 2007).
"What I love about Deans is he's honest.
"I was thinking about going to Japan (club rugby in 2011) and he flew up here to meet me and my family and convinced me to stay.
"It is funny, him and McKenzie are similar but different.
"McKenzie is really smart but really strict.
"I don't know why people bag Robbie.
"He's a great coach and that's the truth."
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Originally Posted by PeterM
