Rugby Freaks
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@majorrage said in Rugby Freaks:
Skinstad was something else when he first came on the scene.
Andrew Walker probably the most natural runner I’ve seen on a rugby field.
Walker was in a class above, he played on instinct which he had in spades - simply exceptional. He was a beautifully balanced runner, similar to Jason Little, could step and swerve and find his way through openings which simply did not exist! He had splendid natural ability, reminiscent of Mark Ella.
He battled the grog, went on benders and Eddie Jones never stopped caring for him and responding whenever his wife called for help. He did it for Walker's welfare, not to enhance his own Brumbies and Wallabies record. He was finding Andrew work in league, using his vast network, long after he left rugby.
Eddie once left a Wallaby camp at Coffs Harbour to go down south looking for him when he went walkabout. He understood the phenomenon - he grew up with the La Perouse locals, went to Matraville High with the Ellas and Lloyd Walker - and he demonstrated outstanding ability to work with it. He's an easy mark for the big mouths who know not much, Eddie, yet he has a long history of going well beyond the ordinary fellow in his efforts for his fellow man.
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Lots of great players being touted here, but we're supposed to be talking about freaks.
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@victor-meldrew said in Rugby Freaks:
@arhs said in Rugby Freaks:
Cullen Campo J van der Westhuizen Serevi Hugo Porta would be my top 5.
Good call
Hugo Porta, certainly, we saw him do some wondrous things with consummate ease in the '87 World Cup - taking a ball at Concord near halfway, on the sideline in front of the stand. He glanced at the advancing defence and nonchalantly dropped the ball over for three points - just couldn't be bothered expending energy unnecessarily. His left winger, RAF Flying Officer Rory Underwood turned to the crowd and gestured, palms up, as if to say "Is there anything this genius cannot do?"
Hugo was appointed Ambassador to South Africa and later became a Minister in the Argentine government.
David Campese was simply the best, talented, quick, creative and focused. He epitomised excellence, and led the way for players to earn good money in Europe before the game turned professional.
He cops criticism from lesser men and I doubt he hears it because he has always been a bit busy being successful. He is not at all friendly.
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Your Zinzan Brooke was special - splendid, especially capable, a joy to watch. He ran like a centre holding the ball out in front and was a punishing tackler.
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@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
Lots of great players being touted here, but we're supposed to be talking about freaks.
So you will throw your boot at the screen if I mention Tony Woodcock or Greg Somerville ... Anton Oliver?
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@machpants said in Rugby Freaks:
Pocock was a freak in the jackal, best player in the world ever at that imo. Not much else, but fuck me the penalties/turn overs he created from nothing. So good at it, ABs made their forwards tactics around running directly at him to nullify him.
Yeah see I can't really get behind that eh - all he did was look for a jackal - to the detriment of pretty much every other factor of his game at times. I don't see it as anything that can't be pretty much replicated by any other half decent player if they shelve every other aspect too.
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@mick-gold-coast-qld said in Rugby Freaks:
Hugo Porta, certainly, we saw him do some wondrous things with consummate ease in the '87 World Cup - taking a ball at Concord near halfway, on the sideline in front of the stand. He glanced at the advancing defence and nonchalantly dropped the ball over for three points - just couldn't be bothered expending energy unnecessarily. His left winger, RAF Flying Officer Rory Underwood turned to the crowd and gestured, palms up, as if to say "Is there anything this genius cannot do?"
Saw him play way back in '78 or '79 in the UK (Cardiff I think). Took the ball from the half-back on the half-way line, ran laterally towards the middle of the park, did a 90 degree left turn and simply outpaced everyone to score.
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@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
Rupeni and Lomu are the stand outs. Cullen great player, amazingly quick, ran great lines but not in the same league of freakishness for me. I’d say Blanco an honourable third.
Funny I watched Cullen as he was coming through the college ranks etc and thouht he was pretty good, , but kind of familiarity thing didn't really think he that great until I saw him as a 16yo play for the Nua against Northern Transvaal, try he scored I just went f*** me he really is a bit of a freak. I got told by kids that played against him at 1st XV he was special, and my own son when he played him in club rugby was shaking his head at things he did. Funny was similar to what some of the young fellas at the local college said after playing against Lomu in a 7s tournament, just didn't know how they did some of the things they did.
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I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
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@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
You're a hard marker.
Give a peak Cullen the modern jerseys and he might never get tackled.
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@dice said in Rugby Freaks:
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
You're a hard marker.
Give a peak Cullen the modern jerseys and he might never get tackled.
Not only was Cullen brilliant on attack, he was brave and capable in defence, and he was quite small relative to Lomu and Rupeni. He and Lomu were probably the two best I have ever seen
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@dice said in Rugby Freaks:
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
You're a hard marker.
Give a peak Cullen the modern jerseys and he might never get tackled.
He seemed particularly unstoppable against the Jocks!
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@pakman said in Rugby Freaks:
@dice said in Rugby Freaks:
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
You're a hard marker.
Give a peak Cullen the modern jerseys and he might never get tackled.
He seemed particularly unstoppable against the Jocks!
He might have beaten seven defenders but they were only Scotsmen
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@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
@pakman said in Rugby Freaks:
@dice said in Rugby Freaks:
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
You're a hard marker.
Give a peak Cullen the modern jerseys and he might never get tackled.
He seemed particularly unstoppable against the Jocks!
He might have beaten seven defenders but they were only Scotsmen
He did it too the aussies too
I was at the Brook when he scored that try while running through what felt like half the team
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@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
@pakman said in Rugby Freaks:
@dice said in Rugby Freaks:
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
You're a hard marker.
Give a peak Cullen the modern jerseys and he might never get tackled.
He seemed particularly unstoppable against the Jocks!
He might have beaten seven defenders but they were only Scotsmen
He did it too the aussies too
I was at the Brook when he scored that try while running through what felt like half the team
Same, good times
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@voodoo said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
@pakman said in Rugby Freaks:
@dice said in Rugby Freaks:
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
I didn’t see a lot of Cullen in his prime but I have to admit his highlight reels are pretty special. I guess what I mean is that as special a player as he was there didn’t seem to me to be that thing that said “no one else could do that”. I actually think he was a pretty complete rugby player and maybe the best full back I’ve seen. But the Rupenis, Lomus, Blancos of this world, did other worldly stuff.
You're a hard marker.
Give a peak Cullen the modern jerseys and he might never get tackled.
He seemed particularly unstoppable against the Jocks!
He might have beaten seven defenders but they were only Scotsmen
He did it too the aussies too
I was at the Brook when he scored that try while running through what felt like half the team
Same, good times
Those were the days. Turn up early to stand on the terraces, no steps of course, just rough gravelly concrete. Buying beers in cans by the 6 pack out of a shipping container. The crowd was screaming by the early afternoon kickoff time. It was Pat Howard's Wallabies debut, he was meant to be the next big thing for them, and he had a stinker
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@bones said in Rugby Freaks:
@machpants said in Rugby Freaks:
Pocock was a freak in the jackal, best player in the world ever at that imo. Not much else, ... . So good at it, ABs made their forwards tactics around running directly at him to nullify him.
Yeah see I can't really get behind that eh - all he did was look for a jackal - to the detriment of pretty much every other factor of his game at times. I don't see it as anything that can't be pretty much replicated by any other half decent player if they shelve every other aspect too.
Lazy Owen Finegan, David Wilson, the exceptional George Smith all offered way more than him. Schalk Burger, Thierry Dusautoir, Jerome, Liam Messam and Sir Richie not only monstered him, they were technically better, more effective. World Rugby disagreed - kept awarding him as Australian-World Idol, to stop his agent yabbering in their ear ... and to punish McCaw because they didn't like him.
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So good at it,as a minor irritation ABs made their forwards tactics around running directly at him to nullify him." That would have taken them all of three minutes in the tactics session a week beforehand.
