Dale hiding his tongue stud
When I visited the set of
Hectic Nine-9 recently I met cricketer Dale Steyn for the first time. He was a guest on the show that afternoon which blew my hair back - I'm intrigued by sportsmen and also, his GF Jeanne Kietzmann was with him i.e. I went into WAG-alert-bonus.
Just before they started their interviews on the show, I chatted to them for us. I discovered that they've recently moved to Cape Town from Jozi - Dale was in Jozi, Jeanne moved there after they met and now they've moved to Cape Town permanently - to Muizenburg/Tokai sort of area.
Here's what they had to say:
Forgot to ask if Jeanne tweaks that odd tuft of hair
Tashi: So are you and Jeanne going to get married? (Jeanne out of earshot)
Dale: We're still young - I've got my career to worry about, she's got her career to worry about so there's nothing like that at the moment - we're just enjoying the life ride together.
Tashi: How long have you been dating?
Dale: Two-and-a half years now.
Tashi: Oh - that's a long time.
Dale: Yes, we've been living together for about a year now so that's pretty cool but life's too hectic at the moment. I'm always out of the country and she's always working and everything like that so there's no time. Stability comes when I basically retire, things'll slow down then so we'll look at them later down the line.
Tashi: Being a sporstman's wife, there's always trickiness with that.
Dale: Yes, she does her best to do all the travelling around - whenever she's free she travels to be with me and I try to be in Cape Town as much as possible. If we were married though, not being together, it's something we'll have to look at.
Tashi: Okay, big question (themed to the occassion too): what would you say
the most hectic moment on the field has been?
Dale: When it comes to cricket, I've been asked this a million times: how does somebody go out there and face a bowler bowling at 160k's an hour. It's pretty hectic - the thought that the ball could end your life.
People do extreme things like skydiving, skateboarding, diving with great whites, which I've taken part of, standing in front of a cricket ball that could kill you, it's extreme.
At club level it's extreme and when you get to the big stage and know the guy has legal deliveries to try to take your head off, it's pretty intimidating.
Tashi: So what do you? How do you psychologically handle it? Do you just go like "rwwwwwoar* (roar)
Dale: Your body takes over - you set yourself up for what's gonna come - you set yourself up for the worst. Your body knows it's gonna come, you basically set your body and eyes up and do you best to get out of the way. Sometimes you can't and it can end up in stitches or concussion or hospital.
Tashi: I
know. (sounding thrilled for some bizarre reason)
Dale: It's intimidating, especially for a bowler - I'm a bowler who tries to bat so for me, I go out there, I'm not used to facing me.
Tashi: You.
Dale: Yes, I'm the one who does the damage, I don't face the damage so for me it's the most intimidating thing.
Tashi: As I've watched the game more and more I've started to understand the psychology behind it more - espesh the longer games.
Dale: Yes it's fascinating - with the shorter games they're over, you've got to be on your feet, it's over in a blink, you've got to know exactly what's going on.
Then when you get the longer games you've got to be in it for the full five days. Two days afterwards you're finished, not just physically but mentally. It's a mind-game, you're permanently thinking - it's probably 30% skill - 70% mental. It's scarey, almost like playing chess.
Tashi: When I get stressed out I always think of Gary Kirsten's motto of batting one ball at a time.
Dale: Ja that's it - that's what it boils down to. Whatever's happening with the next ball is what counts most. As a player you can always fall back on watching the ball - one ball at a time - but when you sit down at the end of a game, it's eighty overs of those you've had to watch.
*Cut to ...*
Tashi: Are you and Dale gonna get married? (Dale out of earshot)
Jeanne: The fact is we're too young. I've got so much in my life I want to accomplish and as soon as you get married things slow down. I'm studying at the moment, I'm doing a Bachelor of Consumer Design - it's sort of like fashion design but more along the lines of fashion buying, marketing and so on with business so I'm concentrating on that before getting knocked up and all that.
Tashi: So you're not
Minki?
Jeanne: Different people do different things, I don't plan it anytime soon. Also, we've been only been dating for two-and-a half years and I don't feel you can base a marraige on knowing someone for two-and-half years. You've really, really got to get your heart and soul into it, you don't want to get married and divorced.
Tashi: Yes.
(thinking: but two-and-half years is long. It could be 'cos she's only seen him for about 17 days out of it?) How did you meet?
Jeanne: I was working at a restaurant in Constantia, Peddlars On The Bend, he came in and I didn't know who he was, I didn't know anything about the cricketers. He took my number, called me the next night and that was it.
It's so strange seeing him him on the field on TV, thinking that he's my boyfriend, it's so difficult to think he's the same person because he's a completely different from how people see him.
Tashi: I once did an interview with Adrianna - Paul Adam's wife about whether or not life as a sportwife is Footballers Wives.
Jeanne: A lot of people assume it's a glamorous lifestyle to live. People are like "You get to travel the world and watch cricket." Firstly, I don't like cricket, and secondly I never see Dale so it's not as normal or amazing as people make it out to be. You also get a lot of flak from fans who might not approve of you or whatever . "She's just using him. blah blah blah" - I get that all the time.
Tashi: You get that a lot? (Was gonna ask natch)
Jeanne: All the time - when I hear it nowadays I'm like "whatever." At the end of the day there's only two people in the relationship Dale and myself and it's got nothing to do with anyone else - that's how I see it.
Quick SinglesAfter my visit I found myself morphing into Dale - *trying to copycat with a fancy bowling-type move*. The show's invited me to be on as a guest to chat about
Snaparazzi, share behind-the-scenes TV dirt I've snooped over time, people I've met who've needed a slap, that sort of thing - it's gonna happen live tomorrow - Thursday, 6 August at 16h00.