Former Adelaide ruckman Rhett Biglands could barely string together a sentence of Portuguese when he first met his Brazilian wife, Janaina Lopes.
In 2014, Biglands travelled with a group of mates to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, courtesy of a few tickets from Nike.
“Biggles” crammed in some Portuguese lessons before the trip - a saving grace to break the ice with Lopes.
“I approached her in a bar after Germany had defeated Brazil in the semi-finals,” Biglands told AFC Media.
“She thought I was German and didn’t want to know me.
“Once I got through my five or so conversations I could speak in Portuguese, she felt sorry for me and spoke to me in English.”
And just to throw one more nationality into the mix, Biglands and Lopes welcomed their daughter, Aria, in Washington DC in 2018 - ruling her a US citizen.
“My wife lived in the US due to her work,” Biglands said.
“We decided to have our daughter in the US just for nationality reasons.
“She has three passports - Australia, United States and Brazil… Hopefully she’ll play (whichever sport) for Australia rather than Brazil or America.”
Biglands retired at the end of 2006 following a string of knee troubles, but stuck around the Club as a commercial operations manager for two more years.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
- Ian Callinan
- Ian Perrie
- Scott Stevens
Although he was done playing football, Biglands took up a position coaching with Woodville West-Torrens.
“We won the flag in 2011,” he said.
“I was the midfield coach there for two years while also doing Triple M and SAFM.
“It got a bit too hectic with my workload, so I decided to focus on my media work.”
In 2010, Biglands permanently departed the Crows to open the Nike store in Rundle Mall. Two years later, he opened a second shop in Marion Shopping Centre.
This year, the former No.35 is stepping up his radio work to include commentary.
“I’m at every game with Triple M,” he said.
“I’m on the commentating side this year, so really looking forward to getting back into action.”
Despite running two shops and regularly featuring in radio, Biglands still has time to catch up with his former teammates.
“Still the same group as when we were playing… Scott Welsh, Ian Perrie, Mark Stevens, Graham Johncock,” Biglands said.
“We also have a fishing trip we do once a year with the old guys like Mark Bickley, Nigel Smart, Rod Jameson.
“Unfortunately, Kym Koster is consistently the worst fisherman in the history of the universe, but we look after him.”
As for today’s players, Biglands had a simple message to pass on: enjoy it.
“It goes by quick, make the most of whatever you can, even if it's time away from the Club like right now,” he said.
“Before you know it, even the 2020 season will be over with.”
