“Me and Cliffy Lyons.”
When Turner arrived at the studio, she pulled Quayle aside.
“If it’s all pretty, I don’t want to see the ugly!” She laughed, before hugging Miller and Lyons, who were so nervous in front of the rock goddesses that they could barely speak.
And so began Rugby Union’s unlikely love affair with one of the world’s greatest recording artists. Over time, she became the face, face, and giant spiky hair of the sport. To many fans, she still is.
As Quayle recalled on Thursday: “I’ve gone from being the most beautiful football player in the game to being the two least beautiful. All the advertising we do. She’s not programmed. She’s invested in our game.”
Quayle led the tribute to Turner after he died of a long illness in Kusnacht, near Zurich, Switzerland. She is 83 years old.
Her association with rugby league brought new viewers to the game in the late ’80s and early ’90s as part of the ARL’s push to attract more women.
In 1989, Tina Turner knew how to make rugby league sexy.
The league hired Hertz Walpole advertising genius Jim Walpole, who approached various artists to record Turner’s 1986 song What you see is what you get, but It doesn’t sound right coming out of someone else’s mouth.
Then fate played its part in protecting Turner.
Quayle was assisted by Mitch Braithwaite, who was married to Darryl Braithwaite, frontman of the rock band Sherbet, who had been managed by Australian manager Roger Davies, who also represented Turner. .
“Me and Paul McKay of Hertz Walpole met with Roger, but he wasn’t interested,” he recalls. “He said, ‘No, it’s not for Tina’. He called a few days later and said, ‘You’ve got that one day, in London in early January. If you’re ready to do it, we’ll see how it goes.’ “
The creation of rugby union had a backlash. Quayle and Chairman Ken Arthurson have kept Turner’s involvement secret, including from their own board, fearing the idea would be dropped because of the cost.
The night before the ad was released, Quayle got a call from commentator Rex Mothorpe.
“Please don’t tell me you have an American grandmother who is the face of the NFL,” Mossop said.
If the campaign backfired, Quayle would undoubtedly be fired. But despite these concerns, the ad was surprisingly successful: In one season, the game’s female fan base grew by 70 percent.
A new deal was struck for the next season, with Turner heading to Australia to shoot another commercial, this time singing the best, Everyone involved was taken aback by Turner’s humility and lack of demands.
“Without guardians, there are no security guards,” Quayle said. “Her only request is not to wake up too early and eat a plate of fresh mangoes every morning. Whether it’s on the beach or in the gym, she absolutely loves filming these commercials. She laughs the whole time. The players love her.” “
In one famous scene, Turner had to smash a medicine ball into the stomach of St George winger Ritchie Walford.
“I’ll hurt him!” she cried.
“Harder! Harder!” shouted the producer.
“Sorry, Ricky! Sorry!”
NSWRL bosses Ken Arthurson and Tina Turner announced Simply the Best as the theme song for the competition at a press conference. Credit: steven sievert
the best was the theme song for the competition for the next seven years, and the cost to the ARL was low because Winfield paid most of the cost. Quayle said the coalition invested just $200,000 over its seven-year tenure.
Turner sang the song with Jimmy Barnes in 1992 and 1993 and then at the Sydney Football Stadium on Finals Day in 1993 before handing the Winfield Cup later that afternoon. To Broncos captain Alan Langer.
She floated the idea of performing on the Sydney Harbor Bridge at a dinner three days before filming her final commercial. Quill figured she’d say no.
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“It sounds like fun,” said Turner, who shot the commercial in heels with a cameraman and a bridge operator.
NRL officials have restarted the campaign for the 2020 season, although it was put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic halted play.
“I’m glad the NRL is still simply the best and will use it again in 30 years,” turner told Herald then. “After 30 years, it is very humbling to see the song being celebrated and the event restarted. The Grand Final was my first rugby union game and I will never forget it. I wish the NRL everything in the campaign smoothly.”
Quayle and Walpole kept in touch with Turner through Davis and were invited to her 50th birthday celebration in London.
“It’s a sad day,” Quayle said. “But rugby union will never forget Tina Turner.”
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