Ex NRL boss John Quayle reveals what it was REALLY like to work with Tina Turner
John Quayle remembers late great Tina Turner as ‘humble and endearing’ and reveals what it REALLY was like to work with beloved superstar
John Quayle has paid tribute to the late great Tina Turner following her death at the age of 83.
The former NSWRL general manager remembers Turner as “humble and engaging” after they worked together on one of the most iconic rugby league marketing campaigns in Australian history.
“She was such a professional, humble and engaging woman. Sometimes her script went out because she made it her own,” he revealed on The Project.
“That’s why, along with her music, what she was made it into the iconic ad campaign it became.”
He added that Tina helped make the game “a little sexier” by personalizing the sport with her song (Simply) The Best, which became NRL’s unofficial anthem.
John Quayle (pictured) has paid tribute to the late, great Tina Turner following her death at the age of 83. The former NSWRL general manager remembers Turner as “humble and engaging” after they worked together on one of rugby league’s most iconic marketing campaigns. in Australian history
“People asked why we would use an American grandmother to promote the game. But that ended when they saw her iconic commercial.”
As the world mourns the loss of the ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, rugby league Tina Turner remembers her for spearheading one of the largest marketing campaigns in the history of Australian sport.
Turner, 83, passed away at home in Switzerland after a long illness, with tributes from around the world for the beloved 12-time Grammy winner, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 following one of the greatest careers in music history.
“She was such a professional, humble and engaging woman. Sometimes her script went out because she made it her own,” he revealed on The Project. In the photo: Turner
Known for hits like Nutbush City Limits, Proud Mary and River Deep – Mountain High, it was (Simply) The Best that fans of the League Down Under will remember most fondly.
The American megastar was recruited by NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) in 1988 to lead a campaign for the iconic Winfield Cup, which organizers said at the time was becoming boring and unappealing to fans who didn’t like middle-aged men goods.
This is where legendary NSWRL chief John Quayle, advertising guru Jim Walpole and Australian Rugby League (ARL) boss Ken Authurson perform, with the singer’s management agreeing to run the campaign – and the rest, as they say, is history.
“People asked why we would use an American grandmother to promote the game. But that all ended when they saw her iconic commercial,” he added
Turner first changed the direction of rugby league with the 1989 campaign with her hit ‘What You Get Is What You See’, which she filmed in the UK alongside Manly great Cliff Lyons and ex-Cronulla hardman Gavin Miller.
But it was her 1990 advert, filmed in Australia and featuring all of the game’s top players, that is now forever enshrined in NRL folklore.
(Simply) The Best is now synonymous with rugby league for many Aussies as it changed the game forever.
Famously from Nutbush, Tennessee, Turner would go on to become a footy icon; so much so that she performed the hit at the 1993 grand finale.
Turner, who is famously from Nutbush, Tennessee, would go on to become a footy icon