Legends on and off the footy field: (from left) LJ Hooker's Alan Tongue and Troy Thompson.
Former Canberra Raiders captain Alan Tongue has embarked on a new career as a real estate agent, working alongside former teammate turned mentor, Troy Thompson, at LJ Hooker Country Canberra.
Widely respected for his hard work, leadership and dedication to rugby league on and off the field, Tongue, who is a veteran of 220 first-grade games, has already signed up his first listings. And he couldn’t be more excited to start a new chapter with Australia’s most iconic real estate brand.
“I’m applying the same mentality to my work that I had back when I was playing footy,” Tongue said.
“It is about focusing on getting one per cent better every day. When I walk out of the office in the evening, I want to know that I am just a little bit better than yesterday. To do that, I have to keep up my energy, work hard with the team and utilise the resources and experts around me.”
It was Thompson, now a director of LJ Hooker Country Canberra, who suggested the change of career. He was looking for someone who knew the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory regional markets to run their country division and who could also build their expanding team.
Tongue, who grew up in a rural town just outside Tamworth, lives in the small village of Sutton in the Yass Valley Shire with his family and was the perfect fit. The pair have been long-term mates, having played most of their first-grade football careers together for the Canberra Raiders.
“When Alan’s name came up in discussion, I just rang him straight away and we had a few meetings with him and his wife Katie, and it just went from there,” Thompson said.
“He is probably the most genuine person I have ever met, both in football and generally in life. We played a lot of footy together, and he is from a great family. He is just one of the best guys, if you ask any footballer who played with or against him, his name would certainly be on the list.
“Having captained the Canberra Raiders and spending a lot of time with the NRL, he has a great work ethic. He has always led from the front, and I think he will do very well in real estate.”
Head of Network Australia, Chris Keating, welcomed Tongue to the LJ Hooker family and congratulated him on launching his new career with the network.
“LJ Hooker Country Canberra is an exciting and successful expansion of our Gungahlin office resonating in growing townships such as Bungendore, Yass and Murrumbateman,” he said.
“Alan, who was known for his tireless tackling in rugby league, will apply that same determination he showed in his football career to property sales. He is well-loved in Canberra, but what he brings to the job is a genuine passion for regional living and the lifestyle it offers.”
Tongue and Thompson are not the only former sports stars working within the LJ Hooker network. Jarrad Anderson, who played for the Cronulla Sharks, is a sales agent for LJ Hooker Coolangatta | Tweed Heads, and David Lonie, a former NFL player with the Green Bay Packers, works for LJ Hooker Southern Gold Coast. Former pro-golfer Darren Wyatt is an associate director at LJ Hooker Double Bay.
Since retiring from rugby league at the end of the 2011 season, Tongue has worked in a variety of positions, including sports media and as an NRL ambassador.
More recently, he was delivering a primary prevention domestic violence program and workshop while studying for his real estate licence at night. In addition, he has been spending time with all the agents in the LJ Hooker Country Canberra, attending listing presentations, appraisals and client catch-ups.
Tongue, a one-time Dally M Lock of the Year and an NRL crowd favourite believes that sport is a great icebreaker when meeting potential sellers and buyers.
It is also helping to create a positive vibe among the team at LJ Hooker Country Canberra. On one of his first days on the job, he took a football into the office.
“If we have been on the phone all day and we need a bit of a spark, then we will throw the footy around, and it just lifts the energy and the mood straight away,” Tongue said.
“It has been exciting getting those early listings, but this isn’t a short-term dive in and out for me, this is something I want to make sure that I get right, and I am trying to absorb as much as possible.”
Tongue has not given up his links with the NRL and will continue to work with the Canberra Raiders one day a week as the Leadership and Culture Manager.
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