There's a common misconception abroad that Australian fans like their sports stars to be brash, cocky and brimming with braggadocio.

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You should be confident, but not cocky, Rueff says.

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And you can be certain they came into another game cocky, complacent, and unprepared.

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Plenty of adjectives could be used to describe Gillespie: proud, cocky, adamant, verbose, ill-advised, rash, even stupid.

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He should be sensitive but not paternalistic, smart but not cocky.

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How to be smart, in the moment, without being cocky.

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His affect can be distant and disorienting, a strange mixture of shy and cocky.

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