Goalkicker
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I'd rather have Jordie's 75%. I don't have any trust in BB's kicking. He misses from in front too often and doesn't really have that much range. He could always start taking them if Jordie was struggling too.
Overall, I think right now Barrett just isn't world class in that area, and it's the one area of the game where the ABs don't have a player close to being the best in the world. That drives me nuts.
We were so lucky to have Carter for so long, who was world class (maybe not the best, but clearly world class). One of the nice things about the goal kickers site is that they use a formula (which we could argue about) that also involves things like importance within the game and kick difficulty. Carter was still a positive influence when those other factors were accounted for:
In Barrett's case, this has been a work on for a few years, and it's going to be very hard for him to go on to be considered a great 10 without him improving that side of his game.
My way of looking at it is whether I'd allow him to kick for my life, and of the team members assembled for the final test, I'd rather have Jordie that BB if that is the case. Dan Carter could be relied upon to make the big ones, so he's my leading kiwi on that metric.
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I know there has been mention that Beauden has some technical things he is working on and there are few on here that consider his problems are technical rather than psychological, but from personal experience I think his problems could very well be psychological. I, and a number of other goal kickers I have spoken to over the years, always found the 'easier' kicks the hardest. You know you are expected to get the ones out front and this adds pressure. Kicks that you are not expected to get are like a free shot. There is bugger all expectation.
I always found the kicks out front between the 10 metre line and midway between the 22 and the 10 metre line the hardest of all. My memory tells me Beauden missed a few from around that mark the last couple of weeks?
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@gt12 I don't think that a 10 needs to kick goals to be considered a great 10. Anyone can kick. A 10 who sets up tries, makes breaks, and kicks his side out of trouble can be great without being a goalkicker. However, I don't think Barrett is close to Carter in the great stakes.
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@Bovidae said in Goalkicker:
I was watching BB practice his goal kicking from in front at Eden Park. One hit the post and the others missed.
The ones that are on the left side appear to be the problem. He has a natural hook and it often starts straight and then hooks to the left upright.
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@ACT-Crusader He was kicking towards the posts at the West stand end and the ball hit the right upright.
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Would be great if Jordie could take the kicks and just let Beauden be Beauden. That also means him bloody staying at 10 for the entire damn game. Moving him to fb at that stage of the game makes zero sense.
IMHO a truly great 10 also kicks the goals so BB might have to settle for being a very good 10 rather than a great.
What I would find interesting is BB's kicking stats overseas vs NZ. Iirc he kicked well on the EOYT and in Argentina. Ironically he seems to kick like shit at home.
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JB. Kid is a star in the making. I have no confidence in BB consistently hitting 80% which is the required international standard.
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I don't see any reason why we shouldn't expect/demand that both Barretts, Sopoaga and even Dagg to up their overall goal kicking games.
Hansen has been ambivalent to it and there has been no focus on it, we don't even have a dedicated skills coach for it - is it really that hard to get Daryl Halligan in to do sessions with these boys?
Hansen often talks about constantly resetting standards and improving constantly. How about setting the goal for having the best goal kicking come the next world cup and invest time/effort into that?
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if you're a professional player, and as coordinated as these guys are, you shouldn't be missing kicks from in front. it's as simple as that. so do the work required. better still have 3 or 4 guys do the work. every day, together. then whoever is best gets the gig on game day.
position is totally irrelevant to goal kicking. playing 10 means you need to be able to kick from hand, nothing else.
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Teaching my 8 year old son how to kick goals yesterday and I smacked a couple over from out near half way (albeit pretty much straight in front) and he asked why I didn't kick for the all blacks. Could only offer up that I can't tackle for Shit. Also slow, unfit and couldn't throw a skip pass to save myself
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@JK said in Goalkicker:
Could only offer up that I can't tackle for Shit. Also slow, unfit and couldn't throw a skip pass to save myself
Well on the basis of those skills I've got a contract to play wing for the Hurricanes (upgrade on Savea), start from there and you can work your way into AB contention.
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If you are missing these ones out in front, then it is more likely a minor technique flaw.
Fox has often mention similarities in the mechanics of a golf swing and kicking the ball, mental strength can help overcome poor technique, but when things go wrong, the flaws in your technique get exaggerated.
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Can somebody pls refresh my (fast-fading) memory...
When DC started as AB he was a centre, but mostly a bench replacement... did he ever start a test match at centre? And if so, was he primary goalkicker? (Making me think a player doesn't have to be a 10 or 15 to shot for goal. Piri wasn't shithot as a goalkicker either, but we gave him the job when required.)
Also makes me think about how Frano Botica, who was a BB of his day, wasn't getting selected over Fox, who wasn't nearly the magician that Botica was but had a golden boot and a match-winner.
(Later irony of course Frano jumped code and became one of very best League kickers.)
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@Salacious-Crumb said in Goalkicker:
Can somebody pls refresh my (fast-fading) memory...
When DC started as AB he was a centre, but mostly a bench replacement... did he ever start a test match at centre? And if so, was he primary goalkicker? (Making me think a player doesn't have to be a 10 or 15 to shot for goal. Piri wasn't shithot as a goalkicker either, but we gave him the job when required.)
Also makes me think about how Frano Botica, who was a BB of his day, wasn't getting selected over Fox, who wasn't nearly the magician that Botica was but had a golden boot and a match-winner.
(Later irony of course Frano jumped code and became one of very best League kickers.)
DC's 3 or 4 first test starts were all at second five (which I assume that's what you mean by centre).
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@Salacious-Crumb and then jumped back and was knocking them over from everywhere.
His massive improvement coincided with the legalization of kicking tees. Whether that allowed him to improve a technical deficiency, gave him a psychological boost or a bit of both we will never know but if he had started out kicking the way he ended it would be a case of Fox who?
Definitely a salient lesson for anyone to work on their weaknesses.
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