Was Abbott a 'fat bastard'? Hockey asked

Was Tony Abbott a "fat bastard" when he played in the front row of a rugby scrum during his university days?

If he was, Joe Hockey - one of his teammates back then - isn't telling. Well, not quite.

"He's one of the only props I know that has actually skinnied down over the years," the treasurer told Triple M radio in Brisbane on Friday.

And it's "not true" that a young Hockey was decked by a future prime minister for giving "a bit of cheek" during scrum practice.