The Wallabies enjoyed a great victory in the Bledisloe Cup match at the MCG on Saturday night and while it was an unexpected win according to many of the experts Anthony Koutoufides was always confident the Wallabies would prevail over New Zealand. While rugby union may not be a game that Kouta is an expert in it didn’t stop him telling everyone at Carlton last week that the Wallabies would win. And why the confidence? It was due to a meeting with Wallabies Lock Nathan Sharpe at MC Labour Park last weekend.

The Wallabies arrived in Melbourne for a week of training and promotional work in the lead up to the Bledisloe Cup and while the rest of the team took the bus to the team hotel, Nathan detoured in a taxi via MC Labour Park to meet with Kouta for a promotional photo. And it is not often that you can say Kouta looks small but standing next to Sharpe, 200cm tall and weighing 115kg, it is fair to say that Kouta looked ‘normal size’.

“He is huge,” Kouta said on first meeting Nathan. “It is great to meet with athletes from other codes and you appreciate how hard they work, he is a man mountain and really fit and you appreciate just how hard they work and hit each other when they are on the field,” Kouta added.

The photo shoot did not take long and the conversation between Kouta and Nathan certainly lasted much longer. All sports people enjoying having a chat and for Kouta and Nathan it was a chance for two of the best from their respective sports to have a private chat. While Kouta may not know a lot about rugby union Nathan, being a Perth boy, knows his AFL.

While Kouta was the confident Wallabies supporter at Carlton during the week, all of Carlton have taken something out of the Wallabies victory. The Wallabies held a training session and fans day at MC Labour Park on the Sunday prior to the Bledisloe Cup match and perhaps that helped prepare them for the win. It was ironic that while the Wallabies were enjoying an underdog win against New Zealand at the MCG the Blues were in Nathan Sharpe’s hometown, Perth but unfortunately there was no underdog fairytale in Perth.