Barnaby Joyce loves talking about his days working as a pub bouncer while he attended university near his home town in northern New South Wales.
But one tale the Deputy Prime Minister has told about those wild times seems to have left many confused: how and why he had his front teeth punched out.
As Mr Joyce fights for his political future in the wake of revelations he is expecting a child with his 33-year-old girlfriend Vikki Campion, an old footballing foe set the record straight.
Craig ‘Morgs’ Morgan, who the member for New England has previously named as the man responsible for him needing major dental work, reluctantly told his side of the story to Daily Mail Australia.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce had his front teeth knocked out in Armidale in the 1980s
Vikki Campion and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce are sharing a home in Armidale
Craig Morgan has reluctantly described knocking out deputy PM Barnaby Joyce’s teeth
Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce worked as a bouncer at Armidale’s Wicklow Hotel in the 1980s
Mr Joyce, who announced in December he had left his wife of 24 years, gave an interview last year in which he seemed to say he once had his teeth knocked out by a pub patron.
Sky News presenter David Speers wrote in his Daily Telegraph column in early December before the New England by-election about a rowdy pub gathering where Mr Joyce had been heckled about his private life.
‘Joyce worked as a bouncer in his younger days,’ Speers wrote. ‘He lost his front teeth and copped 28 stitches in his head along the way. He can handle himself, but on Monday night he resisted the urge to take a swing.’
The incident occurred at Armidale, in northern NSW, where Mr Joyce is reportedly now living with Ms Campion.
Mr Joyce told GQ magazine last July about his time working the door of the town’s Wicklow Hotel while he was at the University of New England in the mid 1980s.
‘I have 28 stitches in my head from those days,’ he said. ‘And yes, I got my front teeth removed by a bloke called Craig Morgan.’
Interviewer: ‘You remember his name?’
Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion were pictured at Glebe’s Different Drummer bar last year
Armidale’s Wicklow Hotel where deputy PM Barnaby Joyce worked as a bouncer in the 1980s
Barnaby Joyce celebrates winning the seat of New England in 2016 with his wife and daughters
‘When someone removes your front teeth, you remember their name,’ reckons Barnaby Joyce
My Joyce: ‘When someone removes your front teeth, you remember their name.’
Craig Morgan certainly remembers Mr Joyce and how he knocked out his front teeth. But he says it was not at the Wicklow or any other hotel.
‘I read it and thought “what a load of s***”,’ Mr Morgan said.
‘The way it sounded was that it happened at the Wicklow.
‘That’s the way it read to me. But that’s not the way it happened.’
Mr Morgan would prefer the matter was left alone and feels no animosity towards Mr Joyce but believes the Nationals leader’s words made it sound like he belted him outside a pub.
‘The story’s wrong because it happened on the football field,’ he said. ‘But I did belt him and knock his teeth out.’
Hardly original: Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce had his teeth knocked out while playing football in Armidale in the 1980s, according to his former rugby opponent Craig Morgan
Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has apologised to his estranged wife Natalie and four daughters
Mr Morgan was playing prop for Armidale City when he came up against Mr Joyce, playing breakaway or second row for St Albert’s College at the University of New England (UNE).
The game took place on UNE’s Consett Davis playing fields, about 1985 or 1986, according to Mr Morgan.
‘What had happened, I’d been sent off in first grade and I was coming back in second grade,’ he said. ‘I was trying to get back in first grade.’
Mr Morgan could not remember why he had been sent off in a first grade game but said: ‘I wasn’t backward coming forward back then.’
Whatever happened, Mr Morgan says he came to the attention of Mr Joyce and his teammates that day.
‘I think they were all looking for me because I went into a ruck early and broke a bloke’s ribs,’ he said.
Barnaby Joyce is expecting a child – his fifth – with former staffer Vikki Campion in mid April
Mr Morgan said there had been no malice in his play but Mr Joyce might have seen it differently.
‘I had a run down the sideline and he punched me in the back of the head,’ Mr Morgan said. ‘I said, “If that’s the way you want to keep playing Barney, I can play that way”.
‘Something happened, then I saw an opportunity to belt him and he got clobbered.’
‘When I got hit, he got hit back.’
Mr Morgan knocked out Mr Joyce’s front teeth.
‘That’s the truth of the matter. Absolutely.’
The 56-year-old Armidale mechanic has seen Mr Joyce, now 50, around the New England district and talked to him over the years.
Barnaby Joyce playing touch football in 2013 in a match for politicians at Parliament House
Smiles all round: PM Malcolm Turnbull (right) campaigning with Barnaby Joyce last year
‘He always says g’day to me,’ Mr Morgan said.
When the story in GQ was published Mr Morgan was asked if he had really belted Mr Joyce outside the Wicklow. ‘I said no, I belted him at the football.’
He would prefer to leave things in the past.
‘When I first read it I was half expecting a reporter to ring me up,’ he said when contacted by Daily Mail Australia. ‘I was almost waiting for this.’
‘I’d just prefer to leave it alone. It’s a long time ago.
‘I’m not a person who likes a lot of publicity. I never have been.
‘I want to let sleeping dogs lie.’
Mr Joyce has publicly apologised to his estranged wife Natalie, his four daughters and Ms Campion for the scandal that has surrounded him.
Mr Joyce’s office has been contacted for comment.
The Consett Davis playing fields in Armidale where Barnaby Joyce had his teeth knocked out, according to his former rugby opponent Craig Morgan