NICK Cummins was the “Farm Boy” before he was the “Honey Badger”, but they are one in the same.

The Wallabies winger has revealed the banter that used to fly around his old man’s shed is the reason he has emerged as the most fascinating personality in rugby.

Growing up in Logan, Queensland, attending St Francis College, Crestmead, where he was known as Farm Boy, the 27-year-old’s journey towards the bloke with the most ocker turn of phrase in sport began with a few sledges with his older brothers, his dad and his dad’s mates.

The only problem is there were those in the Australian Rugby Union who didn’t think Australia was ready for the Honey Badger.

When the talented teenager progressed from Randwick to the Western Force to the fringe of selection for the Wallabies, Cummins was flown from Perth to Sydney to sit through an etiquette course and polish a few rough edges on his interview style.

“To be honest at the start, they put me through like an etiquette-type course where they fly you to Sydney and you learn what hand the knife and fork are supposed to go in and how you’re supposed to speak doing media and all those things,” the new Tradie Underwear ambassador told news.com.au.

“That was fine, but when it came to do an interview, I struggled. I’d get nervous and I’d bloody remember what Dad always said: ‘If you don’t know what to say, just tell them a story.’

“That’s what I’d turn to when I absolutely boggered myself. I was just ripping off story after story that had nothing to do with the questions, but it got a far greater reaction. There’s always a story for something.

“There were a few people telling me some stuff, trying to explain it to me and saying, ‘No, no you’re doing it wrong.’ That just didn’t work for me. Since then I’ve just answered it the way you would sitting with mates because that’s probably the best way and it’s the most real way. People can relate to that.”

Which brings us back to the mates Cummins chatted to growing up that helped shape the famous Honey Badger glossary of terms.

You might not always know what they mean, but they’ll give you a giggle more often than not.

The former Rugby Sevens specialist doesn’t get what the big deal is. All his brothers and most of the friends of the family all had the Honey Badger turn of phrase before he did.

More here: http://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/w...-1227473746265