Rugby Freaks
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@mick-gold-coast-qld said in Rugby Freaks:
"I would agree about George Smith. Maybe he had a stronger team around him, but I remember him as being a far more significant nuisance when we played him"
Of course he was, yes. My amusement is at the locally generated hyperbole that accompanied him whenever he played, and the failure to acknowledge his limited repertoire. Bono was the new "great white hope".
I guess all good rugby players are held up in Australia, because they have to make the most of it in a highly competitive environment where rugby is the third best oval ball code in Oz
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@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 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
He was just an extraordinary player, no doubt about it. The Scots weren’t slouches then, pretty handy team that put 31 on the ABs that day but how he got past those last few in particular just boggles the mind.
Having him and Jonah play at the same time just wasn’t fair.
You know what wasn't fair? The Hurricanes had a back 3 of Lomu, Cullen and Umaga, along with AB MF Alama Ieremia, all awesome, and we couldn't put together a decent forward pack to allow them to try to win titles
Or find a 10.
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@booboo said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 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
He was just an extraordinary player, no doubt about it. The Scots weren’t slouches then, pretty handy team that put 31 on the ABs that day but how he got past those last few in particular just boggles the mind.
Having him and Jonah play at the same time just wasn’t fair.
You know what wasn't fair? The Hurricanes had a back 3 of Lomu, Cullen and Umaga, along with AB MF Alama Ieremia, all awesome, and we couldn't put together a decent forward pack to allow them to try to win titles
Or find a 10.
I think we could have won with Holwell. I know he wasn't an AB. But he was steady enough and passed it on to let the outsides do the biz. Our packs, particularly the tight 5, were abject
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@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@booboo said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 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
He was just an extraordinary player, no doubt about it. The Scots weren’t slouches then, pretty handy team that put 31 on the ABs that day but how he got past those last few in particular just boggles the mind.
Having him and Jonah play at the same time just wasn’t fair.
You know what wasn't fair? The Hurricanes had a back 3 of Lomu, Cullen and Umaga, along with AB MF Alama Ieremia, all awesome, and we couldn't put together a decent forward pack to allow them to try to win titles
Or find a 10.
I think we could have won with Holwell. I know he wasn't an AB. But he was steady enough and passed it on to let the outsides do the biz. Our packs, particularly the tight 5, were abject
Tito, Waller and Afeaki were all good players. Was Hewitt still there or had he retired by then ?
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@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@booboo said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 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
He was just an extraordinary player, no doubt about it. The Scots weren’t slouches then, pretty handy team that put 31 on the ABs that day but how he got past those last few in particular just boggles the mind.
Having him and Jonah play at the same time just wasn’t fair.
You know what wasn't fair? The Hurricanes had a back 3 of Lomu, Cullen and Umaga, along with AB MF Alama Ieremia, all awesome, and we couldn't put together a decent forward pack to allow them to try to win titles
Or find a 10.
I think we could have won with Holwell. I know he wasn't an AB. But he was steady enough and passed it on to let the outsides do the biz. Our packs, particularly the tight 5, were abject
Tito, Waller and Afeaki were all good players. Was Hewitt still there or had he retired by then ?
We couldn't achieve parity up front consistently enough
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@kiwimurph said in Rugby Freaks:
Classic Fern - a thread on rugby freaks descends into Dion Waller.....
He was an All Black so he’s one up on Paul Tito who I guess was freakish for a Maori ranga
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@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
He might have beaten seven defenders but they were only Scotsmen
That was a bloody great game - think the Jocks put 35 or so points on us. Apart from Cullen's efforts, Lomu and Townsend scored a couple of stunners too.
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@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
Does Ma’a Nonu deserve a mention or was he just someone who did everything really well without being freakish ?
I think he was freakish. A physical specimen, he was perceived as being one-dimensional, but he displayed amazing touch that he developed over time
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@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
Does Ma’a Nonu deserve a mention or was he just someone who did everything really well without being freakish ?
I think he was freakish. A physical specimen, he was perceived as being one-dimensional, but he displayed amazing touch that he developed over time
He was just below the level of freakish for me. An uber-talented bloke who worked hard to become the complete player and probably the best 12 I've seen.
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@victor-meldrew said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
Does Ma’a Nonu deserve a mention or was he just someone who did everything really well without being freakish ?
I think he was freakish. A physical specimen, he was perceived as being one-dimensional, but he displayed amazing touch that he developed over time
He was just below the level of freakish for me. An uber-talented bloke who worked hard to become the complete player and probably the best 12 I've seen.
Yeah that sums him up. Strong and quick but not ridiculously so. It was that plus the skills that set him apart.
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@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
Does Ma’a Nonu deserve a mention or was he just someone who did everything really well without being freakish ?
He was as you say, in my opinion. I watched his development throughout - I liked what I saw in the Hurricanes when Super Rugby arrived and followed them a bit - Rodney, Piri, Jason Eaton. I saw a really focused, deliberate effort from Tana Umaga, bringing Ma'a Nonu on from his clumsy, random early days.
When Tana left that fine team it seemed as if he and Conrad Smith had colluded to fashion the second half of the plan. With Corey Jane he did a lot of work teaching Nonu positional play. To his credit Nonu paid attention and just got better and better at it.
When Sonny Bill turned up he did not see him as a threat and it was a joy to watch the ease of their combination. The try in the 2015 World Cup final was, for me after 12 years, the icing on the cake.
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@mick-gold-coast-qld the try he scored in John Smit's 100th match, when he ran away to score leaving Smit holding his boot, was also satisfying
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@victor-meldrew said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
Does Ma’a Nonu deserve a mention or was he just someone who did everything really well without being freakish ?
I think he was freakish. A physical specimen, he was perceived as being one-dimensional, but he displayed amazing touch that he developed over time
He was just below the level of freakish for me. An uber-talented bloke who worked hard to become the complete player and probably the best 12 I've seen.
@victor-meldrew said in Rugby Freaks:
@canefan said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
Does Ma’a Nonu deserve a mention or was he just someone who did everything really well without being freakish ?
I think he was freakish. A physical specimen, he was perceived as being one-dimensional, but he displayed amazing touch that he developed over time
He was just below the level of freakish for me. An uber-talented bloke who worked hard to become the complete player and probably the best 12 I've seen.
I’d agree. When he came on the scene he looked like all he wanted to do was bulldoze through all day but he really developed and importantly, kept on developing. If he was a freak it was his ability to just get better and better. Glad to see the back of him in the end. 😉
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@mick-gold-coast-qld said in Rugby Freaks:
@mn5 said in Rugby Freaks:
Does Ma’a Nonu deserve a mention or was he just someone who did everything really well without being freakish ?
He was as you say, in my opinion. I watched his development throughout - I liked what I saw in the Hurricanes when Super Rugby arrived and followed them a bit - Rodney, Piri, Jason Eaton. I saw a really focused, deliberate effort from Tana Umaga, bringing Ma'a Nonu on from his clumsy, random early days.
When Tana left that fine team it seemed as if he and Conrad Smith had colluded to fashion the second half of the plan. With Corey Jane he did a lot of work teaching Nonu positional play. To his credit Nonu paid attention and just got better and better at it.
When Sonny Bill turned up he did not see him as a threat and it was a joy to watch the ease of their combination. The try in the 2015 World Cup final was, for me after 12 years, the icing on the cake.
Nice write up of Nonu there, Mick. Thanks for sharing.
