David Campese - Legacy

Legacy

In 2007 Campese was honoured in the third set of inductees into the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame.

Off the field, Campese was regarded as the first professional when rugby union was strictly an amateur sport and when he declared himself "rugby's first millionaire", it was controversial. Professionals were banned from playing in the early part of his career and players were not allowed to profit in any way from their image as players. Campese played a part in changing this but he also brought professionalism to the game in the manner in which he felt teams should prepare for games, most noticeably when he played at Milan. These attitudes became normal in many clubs, not just elite ones. This cannot solely be contributed to him but he was early in advancing these ideas.

He also dramatically altered the style of play expected of wingers. Before him, wingers were often just the quick men who caught passes and then sprinted for the line. They were expected to stay on their wings and wait for the ball to come their way, the English were special targets for his criticism here. Campese, rejecting that thought, scored many tries from all kinds of positions where defences were not expecting a winger to appear from. Modern wingers are now all expected to have a higher work rate and are more complete players who have a fuller range of skills than the speed merchants of before.

He is best remembered by many as from being part of an era when it was acceptable to try things and take risks. With highly structured game plans and so much at stake in the professional game, risk taking became less common after his retirement. It is ironic as he was the highest profile of the Australian players who won the 1991 World Cup. The upsurge in interest in Australia in rugby union can also be attributed to him in a large part and therefore perhaps helped create the professionalism which does not favour the style he liked to play.

David Campese donated his handprints to endangered species and world peace causes with Davson's Artists for Life charity in 1993.

His nickname was "Too Easy (Campese)". The phrase 'Easy Campese' has passed into the vernacular in Australia, meaning something like no worries.