I’ve never understood why some people who get paid well to play a game they love are compelled to carry on like punks.

But I do know that if this is ever going to change then our wannabe sporting stars need to start asking themselves, “What would Mick Fanning do?” before they do or say something petulant and dumb.

(I’m gonna start asking it of myself! I very much doubt Mick Fanning would have turned in a column last week listing the things he hates.)

When it comes to grace, courage, fair play and winning with humility there is a no more shining an example than Mr Michael Eugene Fanning.

Although a bona-fide three times world surfing champion the humble, unassuming Fanning managed to cruise along outside of the full glare of the mainstream media for years due to a laid-back, low profile approach to life.

That was until he was forced to punch out a large great white shark that attacked him during the final of the J-Bay Pro in South Africa last year.

When the ensuing global media feeding frenzy abated, Fanning quietly resumed the 2015 season while dealing with the spectre of his brush with death, a marriage break-up and the shock passing of his older brother.

No wonder he chose to surf in just a handful of world tour events this year. Of course Fanning was always going to return to South Africa to compete in the 2016 J-Bay Pro. And of course he was always going to win it – it’s what we expect Mick Fanning to do.

There was no sledging, no gloating and no chest beating when he emerged triumphant from the water last week; just a quiet reflection from a humble champion.

“I wanted to come and do some things, personally right some wrongs,” he said.

“I’ve done that, so now I can move on.”

A class act in anyone’s book.

If only the NRL’s top players had channelled Mick Fanning following the State Of Origin decider in Sydney last week, it may have stopped them from descending into schoolyard sniping.

Not long after the final whistle blew the supposed cream of the game north and south of the border started figuratively pulling each others’ hair and bending their fingers back.

When Maroons captain Cameron Smith took to the post-match podium to say a few words honouring retiring Blues skipper Paul Gallen, the NSW team turned their backs on him.

“Disrespectful!” the Queenslanders cried.

“Don’t lecture us about respect!” the Blues hollered back. NSW claimed (dobbed) that Queensland – who won the series despite losing game three – started it all by sledging during the match.

In his Origin swansong, Gallen was allegedly subjected to the following comments by senior Queensland players:

“That’s why you are where you’ve been for the last 10 years. That’s why you are s-- -” — Cameron Smith.

“Enjoy your mad legacy, you c-- -” — Nate Myles.

“F-- - your Blues” — Johnathan Thurston.

Honestly. Grown men. Calling each other names. Turning their backs. Whimpering like first graders.

It makes you wonder: “What would Mick Fanning do?”

It’s bad enough seeing unsportsmanlike behaviour in team games but it’s even more cringe-inducing - and there’s nowhere for protagonists to hide – when it occurs in individual sports ... like tennis!

On the very day Fanning won (in an individual sport) at J-Bay, tennis’s enfant terrible du-jour Nick Kyrgios was back in the news for badgering the Australian Olympic team’s chef de mission Kitty Chiller on Twitter.

Kyrgios had previously mocked Chiller about her performance at the 2000 Olympics, where she finished 14th in the pentathlon. “Ha ha she came 14th. I don’t think that counts as competing in the Olympics,” Kyrgios had sneered.

In an interview with Fairfax last week, Chiller said that remark cut her to the quick. So, evidently seeing an opportunity to continue being an uppity little worm, Kyrgios tweeted again. “Haha rlly (sic) we still talking about this?? You got enough attention from this already. Stop now.”

It says a lot about Kyrgios and it makes me wonder how long his face would go un-slapped were he a pro surfer – or in any sport outside of tennis – with such an attitude.

Were it Kyrgios in the water with Fanning that fateful day last year instead of Queensland surfer Julian Wilson (who famously paddled to Fanning’s rescue when the shark knocked him off his board), one could easily imagine him scrambling safely aboard a jet ski and shouting at Fanning “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that mate.” Perhaps he’d follow up with some sour, smart- arsed tweets, too. We’ll never know.

But Kygios is not alone in Australian sport. Soon enough the nation’s surly sledgers in chief – i.e. the Australia XI – will return to centre stage as the domestic cricket season gets under way.

Before a single ball is bowled or a single verbal takedown of the opposition is attempted this summer, I truly hope that someone in a position of influence over them will urge our cricketers to consider: “What would Mick Fanning do?”

Taking it down a peg ... In the wake of last week’s hate-fest I considered following up this week with a column about the things I love. But outside of the obvious - like my family, my friends, The Beatles, mashed potato and Mick Fanning - I found it harder going than I anticipated.

Then I was reminded of something else I love – random acts of kindness. Rhonda – one of Ulladulla’s finest child educators who has helped shape the two littlest Henderson girls – had read my rant about washing pegs that go brittle and snap after exposure to the weather.

When I dropped Little Miss Three off at preschool on Monday, Rhonda pulled me aside and gifted me a brand new bag of pegs. Not just any pegs mind you – UV resistant pegs with super-strong non-rust springs. And you can’t just get them anywhere – you have to go to a special outlet.

Weatherproof pegs! Who knew?

So Rhonda, I want you to know that I really, really love them. Thank you!