Terry Newton

Journalist Phil Wilkinson ghost-wrote Terry Newton's autobiography, Coming Clean. Here, he pays tribute to the Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Wigan and Great Britain rugby league forward.

THE first time Terry Newton came around to my house, he walked in, took off his shoes (without prompting) and started playing with my baby daughter. And he was great with her, too.

"He's not like I expected him to be," my wife later said to me. In speaking to his many friends while researching Coming Clean, I heard dozens of people say the same thing.

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Terry was a really nice and generous person, a complete contradiction to the persona he displayed in the game he excelled at.

He never gave an inch during a match but he gave so much to his friends; if he was a caveman on the pitch he was more of a Carebear off it, which is why his untimely death has been met with such an out-pouring of grief.

Coming Clean wasn't written after his doping ban, but before it. The manuscript had virtually been finished when he was suspended, and we frantically began adding extra chapters.

During the hours we spent together, he was candid, thoughtful and witty, though I soon realised that the drawback of having a life packed with so many events (and a career packed with so many knocks to the head!) was that he forgot things that, to many of us, would have been unforgettable.

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So often, I relied on recollections from friends to prompt him about various events.

"Terry, is it true you were arrested in the chemist at Orrell Post?"

"Oh yeah, I'd forgot about that..."

And on it went.

"Terry, someone told me you were stabbed when you were 10..."

"Who said that? Who told you that? That's not true... I was 13."

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He'd have me in hysterics as he recalled some of the things he used to do. Like the time he took the hinges out of the boot from Brian Carney's car... only for the Irishman to discover his 'prank' when he was doing 80mph down the M6 and half his car flew off!

Or the time, dressed as an old lady on Boxing Day, he lay on the pavement outside a care home until a passer-by 'helped' him inside. Tez even had a cup of tea before admitting his identity!

Yet there was also a deep side to Terry, and when we wrote Coming Clean, he wanted to admit that he suffered from depression after his sister died. He wanted fans to know that he was as vulnerable as anyone else. He masked his pain so well, but behind the facade of banter and witty one-liners was a tormented soul.

As the shock over his death subsides, people will begin to ask: why? Because for everything that had been taken from Terry in the last two years – his sister, and his career – he still had so much to live for, not least the two daughters he absolutely doted on, and a brilliant family. And friends who saw Terry in the days, even hours, earlier had no inkling of the tragedy that would unfold. It's impossible to comprehend the depths of despair he must have been feeling inside.

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His death is a personal tragedy, but inevitably the sadness has been felt by those who didn't know him as a person but will never forget him as a rugby league player.

Terry was, without doubt, a character of the game. Fans either loved him, or loved to hate him; he knew his provocative and aggressive style made him a pantomime villain, and he loved it.

Terry had all the skills of a world-class No.9, but his determination set him aside from the rest. The same determination that had taken him away from a life destined for crime and into the professional game later saw him make a successful transition from prop to hooker.

He didn't just wear his heart on his sleeve, but on his face, and his love for the game, for winning and for Wigan was evident in every performance.

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It's why so many cried with him when he shed tears on the Old Trafford turf seven years ago, after a Grand Final defeat. Rugby players don't cry, do they?

This one did. Because he cared for Wigan so much.

Adrian Lam didn't hesitate to call Terry the best player he'd ever played with. It wasn't a knee-jerk tribute... he'd said the same thing to me months earlier when Coming Clean was released.

As many people as Terry hurt on the pitch, there are many more hurting now. He will be greatly missed.