Former Wallaby Nathan Charles, known as "Cheezy," visited the Australian rugby team ahead of their Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday. Charles, who has Motor Neurone Disease, inspired the players with his positive attitude despite battling a serious illness. The Wallabies, who haven't won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002 or won at Eden Park since 1986, enter this match as underdogs but are buoyed by recent successes and the emotional support of Charles.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A visit from former Wallaby and MND sufferer Nathan Charles in Auckland - and belief gained from ending a six-decade hoodoo last year - has the Wallabies armed with quiet confidence as they attempt to bury several droughts in the Bledisloe Cup series.
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they → gain → series
The Wallabies will take on the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday night, in the opening clash of the two-game Bledisloe Cup series.
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Wallabies → take → series
Australia haven’t won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002; a losing streak of such length that four Wallabies who’ll play in Auckland weren’t born at the time, and another seven were under the age of 3.
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seven → win → 3
But that’s only one of the hoodoos to contend with.
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that → ’ → hoodoos
To give themselves a chance of winning the Bledisloe Cup, the Wallabies will have to win for the first time at Eden Park since 1986; a venue where the Kiwis have a 53-match unbeaten streak against all sides, dating back to 1994.
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Kiwis → give → 1994
It’s uphill territory, but the Wallabies were given a timely dose of perspective and motivation on Friday, with Charles attending the captain’s run at Eden Park.
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Charles → ’ → Park
Charles defied cystic fibrosis to become a four-Test Wallaby hooker in 2014, but last week revealed he has Motor Neurone Disease.
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he → defy → Disease
The 37-year-old subsequently appeared alongside Jai Arrow in a pre-game tribute at last Sunday’s NRL grand final.
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old → appear → final
Known as “Cheezy”, Charles and his fiancée Steph were greeted by Les Kiss and many Wallabies players and staff.
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Charles → know → Kiss
The former Force forward also got a rousing applause from the players when he posed with them in a team photo.
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he → get → photo
“It’s really special to have him here, he is a former Wallaby and obviously it’s terrible what he’s been diagnosed with, but just seeing him around here, he’s got a smile on his face and he was joking with the boys, and he’s just really happy to be here,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said.
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Wilson → ’ → boys
“I know he’s come over here wanting to see a great Wallabies result, and he’s given us a bit of confidence.
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he → know → confidence
It’s terrible what’s happened to him, but he’s out here living his life and he’s a happy man.
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he → ’ → life
It’s just great to have him around the group.”
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It → ’ → group
The Wallabies enter this game as $4 outsiders.
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Wallabies → enter → outsiders
But the local media is more nervous than in the past years, given the Wallabies had a win over the Springboks in their last start, and are on an unbeaten streak of six games.
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Wallabies → give → games
New Zealand are also struggling with injuries to key players and have lost their last three Tests.
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Zealand → struggle → Tests
Asked if the All Blacks are vulnerable, Wilson was happy to let the loaded question sail through to the wicketkeeper.
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question → ask → wicketkeeper
“We’ve just got to worry about ourselves, I’m not giving them any more ammo.
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I → get → ammo
We just want to go out there and play some good footy,” he said.
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he → want → footy
But the Australian skipper conceded the Wallabies’ win at Ellis Park last year, for the first time since 1963, against the Springboks was a source of confidence about the team’s capacity to take down a long-standing curse.
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win → concede → curse
“Ellis Park, that definitely gives the group confidence,” Wilson said.
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that → give → confidence
No one really gave us a shot, but we went out there and we played a good game and we got the result.
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we → give → result
This group, we just wanted to keep improving and we’ve done that since then.
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we → want → that
That showed the group what we can do on our day, and why not [here]?”
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we → show → day
A mostly similar Wallabies side went close to breaking the Eden Park drought last year when they fought back from a 17-point deficit early, and only trailed 26-24 with 12 minutes to go.
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they → go → minutes
But controversial Italian referee Andrea Piardi had also taken issue with the Wallabies discipline, pinging them 7-0 in the last 25 minutes, in an overall lost penalty count of 15-10.
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Piardi → take → 15
Harry Potter was sin-binned in the 72nd minute and All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard scored two minutes later to secure a 33-24 win for the hosts.
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Roigard → bin → hosts
“We’ve shown ourselves in patches over the last couple of years that we’re a team who can have a really good 30 minutes against the All Blacks and we know to beat them we’re probably going to need a good 80 minutes, or 80-plus minutes,” Wilson said.
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Wilson → show → minutes
“I like to think if we put it together we’ll be in for a good shot.”
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we → like → shot
The Aporia
