Best Passing Young Halfback
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@chimoaus said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
@junior said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
@chimoaus said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
Roe looks very exciting to me, a nose for the try line and just puts pressure around the ruck defenders. I hope he gets a shot at super level next year. I haven't seen enough of the other players to have a strong opinion. I think Drummond is 26 so not that old.
No mention of passing.
This is not a crack at you, @chimoaus, but more an example of how the NZ rugby public tends to look at their halfback options - how's his running game? Does he score many tries? It's no wonder we breed halfbacks who can't pass!
Agreed, his short passing game on the weekend was very good leading to tries, I didn't see any major issues with his passing. Maybe someone that has followed him through age group etc has a better opinion on his passing game.
I haven't watched a lot of him to be honest but what I noticed when I have is that he "looks" like a halfback - good running lines to the breakdown allowing him to get there quickly; good low body position, ready to pass the ball; and seems to get the ball out quickly.
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@junior said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
It's easier to learn how to box kick than how to pass.
Is it? I don't recall Smith's pass being even a patch on what it is now when he started. He was a touch player with a big floaty skip pass and some handy short passes, along with quick feet (kinda like Mounga). We've seen how much he works on his distribution.
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@Bovidae said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
@Nepia Kelleher and Tonu'u both had great passes too. We can question the accuracy and reliability of their passing though.
Kelleher also spent far too much time at the bottom of rucks, meaning he was not in position enough to use his good passing game. This really stifled far too many decent attacking opportunities during his time as an AB.
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@Nepia said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
@chimoaus Who the hell is the AB there? Is my early on-set dementia hitting and I can't remember recent ABs now?
Sir Ritchie of the McCaws!!!!
Doesn't look much like him though. But , it's a flanker, in 2003 RWC quarter final
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@Bones said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
@junior said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
It's easier to learn how to box kick than how to pass.
Is it? I don't recall Smith's pass being even a patch on what it is now when he started. He was a touch player with a big floaty skip pass and some handy short passes, along with quick feet (kinda like Mounga). We've seen how much he works on his distribution.
It's gotten better over 94 tests, obviously, but his inclusion in the ABs was so noticeable because he was just so much better at passing than the guys who played there in the preceding years (Weepu, Cowan, Ellis mainly).
As for box kicking, yes, I honestly do feel it's easier to learn how to box kick late on in a halfback's development. Think about it like this: a halfback needs to throw dozens of passes over the course of 80 minutes at varying speed over varying distances with probably 80% accuracy to be deemed good. Those passes also have to be made in between bursts of sprinting from breakdown to breakdown, probably 75% of the time, with the ball moving around and bodies flying everywhere. It takes years of drilling a solid passing technique to develop that kind of metronomic accuracy those dynamic and unpredictable circumstances.
Conversely, the box kick gets performed maybe half a dozen to a dozen times a match, usually with a slow and clear setup to allow the halfback to get a good kick off. In addition, the quality of the chase plays a huge role in the quality of the kick. Also, you don't see many age grade halfbacks ripping out box kicks - it's something that comes generally from a style of play seen at the pro level by fairly well developed halfbacks. (I'd also suggest that the number of international halfbacks who can box kick better than they pass - lots, IMO - tends to suggest that it's an easier skill to develop.)
I'm not saying it's easy to box kick consistently accurately. I'm just saying that it's easier than developing a kind of Smith-like pass.
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@Bones said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
Milo-Harris, that's the guy. Fallen out of favour? His pass looked pretty slick for a young fella early on in super rugby.
Milo-Harris does have a strong pass but very inaccurate. I'd take Roe over him for the 3rd halfback at the Chiefs.
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@cgrant said in Best Passing Young Halfback:
And Hammington ? Nothing flashy but his service is quicker than many of the names which were selected for this poll.
And Ratima seems to have a better pass than Roe. The latter always seems to look for a gap before passing, which delays his pass.I like hammington, the landers have always preferred someone who plays like smith so as not to change the game plan when they come on, as opposed to variety, tanaka’s main contribution was energy and a quick pass, same with josh Renton, cowen was probably the last we had of a different mold
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Odd that Perenara has gone backwards at only 28, at one point a lot of posters and pundits were saying we had 2 world class 9s that were almost on par with each other. At his age it surely must be more mental than anything, he may never have Smith's pass but surely he can get back to his best.
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@mofitzy_ it really is odd - his strengths definitely lie in link play (especially in broken play), workrate and defence. But it's like he's sitracted by trying to provide a point of difference and a nuggety attitude rather than just getting his head down and working the team. We know he's "got the tools" but he's just choosing to push other aspects.
