He's been a revelation on the pitch since making his Test debut for England, but it was a rocky start for Sydney Roosters star Victor Radley after cameras during a pre-tournament friendly revealed he didn't know the words to the national anthem.
Now the 24-year-old has revealed the extent his teammates went to in the hopes of ensuring he knew the words to the anthem, knowing that he'd be heavily scrutinised once the tournament began.
โAgainst Fiji in the warm-up game, I never thought about it once until we went out โ then I thought โoh, we've got to do the anthem,'โ Radley told Fox Sports.
โI didn't know the words and someone must have filmed me, so (the team) got into me at review.
โAll the coaching staff and team made me stand up and then they sang me the anthem.
โI wasn't letting (being caught on camera) happen again, so I made sure I learnt the words. It's actually quite easy, I've learnt them and now I'm all good.โ
Radley recalled a similar moment during the tournament opener, when cameras lingered on him in the hopes of catching him out.
โThey stopped and came back to me and I thought โthey're trying to catch me out',โ Radley continued.
โBut they had to be better than that because I knew the words, I got them.โ
After a strong showing during the tournament, Radley is one of three English players to be nominated for the golden boot award. He was also one of four Sydney Roosters players nominated, joining Joey Manu, Joseph Suaali'i and new club recruit Brandon Smith.
