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'It's the best way': How Humour Helped Nick Cummins Through His Father's Cancer Fight

When it comes to family, giving up your spot on the Wallabies is a 'no brainer.'
The Honey Badger opened up about humour curing the tough times.
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The Honey Badger opened up about humour curing the tough times.

Nick "The Honey Badger" Cummins has opened up about how humour helped get his family back on track after his father's cancer diagnoses.

The 29-year-old winger told The Project it was a "no-brainer" giving up his spot on the Wallabies to play for Japan so he could earn more money to support his family during his father's treatment.

"Playing for the Wallabies is a massive thing, and it's something you dream about for so long, and when it finally happens, all the emotions that come through -- to give that up, yeah, it's a no-brainer, when it comes to family and that sort of thing," he said on Monday night.

"With Japan, offering three times more loot than Australia is, you'd be mad not to."

Cummins -- whose one liners have made him a cult hero -- was released early from his Western Force and Rugby Union contracts in 2014 on compassionate grounds.

He said humour had helped his family navigate his his father's fight with prostate cancer.

"It's the best way. You can sit there and cry about it and if everyone's crying, it gets into a big spiral of, you know, Kleenex boxes being emptied and the whole bit," he said.

"If there's a way you can bring humour into a time that's tough, especially in the moment where he does have the Big C. When he says it, he'll say, 'but I'm too stubborn to give up to that bloody carry-on.'

"It stops the rest of the family from worrying so much, and just sort of lifts the nose up a bit, you know? Gets us back on track."

Cummins has just released his second book of wit and wisdom -- The Adventures of The Honey Badger -- written with his dad, Mark.

And we're sure there are a few more one liners in there.

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