AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP
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@Dan54 Ha - I'm old enough to have thrown into a few lineouts from the wing as a kid - initially with the two-handed between the legs lob - and a bit later basically sort of bowling offspin - torpedo style - with my hand wrapped around the ball because it wasn't big enough to grip it.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
Think Conrad's smarts, timing, decision making and step with Reiko's pace and you have Bruce Robertson.
Summed him up perfectly but I'd add his kicking ability as well.
Probably the best AB 13 I've seen.
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Possible future father in law mentioned what amazing player this guy was, thats generally an indication he could play ( in amongst griping that todays guys spend too much time in the gym and not enough on basic skills )
Apparently Robertson was dropped for not being a punishing tackler at one stage ? Who of that era was though ?
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@Chris-B said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@Dan54 That 1976 tour reminds me of how the likes of JJ Stewart hadn't yet appreciated the importance of goal kicking - the Jaapies were well ahead of us in picking Gerald Bosch.
Cough. Cough. Don Clarke. Cough.
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@MN5 said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
Apparently Robertson was dropped for not being a punishing tackler at one stage ? Who of that era was thought ?
Fascinating, didn't know that. Any idea when that was?
Remember reading in one of Terry McLean's books that Robertson was regarded as being a pretty fearless tackler and not afraid to mix it and there was a worry that as a key player he'd get injured.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@MN5 said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
Apparently Robertson was dropped for not being a punishing tackler at one stage ? Who of that era was thought ?
Fascinating, didn't know that. Any idea when that was?
Remember reading in one of Terry McLean's books that Robertson was regarded as being a pretty fearless tackler and not afraid to mix it and there was a worry that as a key player he'd get injured.
I’ll have go over todays internet history to find it !
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@MN5
Ta. Genuinely interested. -
@Victor-Meldrew said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@MN5
Ta. Genuinely interested.Oh you’re being serious ?
There it is, 0.22 in the video shared by @Daffy-Jaffy
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@Catogrande said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@Chris-B said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@Dan54 That 1976 tour reminds me of how the likes of JJ Stewart hadn't yet appreciated the importance of goal kicking - the Jaapies were well ahead of us in picking Gerald Bosch.
Cough. Cough. Don Clarke. Cough.
We'd forgotten.
Our test goal-kickers on that tour were Williams and Going, who were pretty much 30 percent men by today's standards.
Laurie Mains was the only decent kicker on the tour, but was perceived to be too slow in general play and Kit Fawcett - better kicker than the other two, but too flaky.
A while ago I re-read one of Terry McLean's books where he put up some kicking stats for Don. He's miles short of good modern kickers.
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@Chris-B said in [AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP]
A while ago I re-read one of Terry McLean's books where he put up some kicking stats for Don. He's miles short of good modern kickers.
Were the balls as consistent in Don's day?
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@nostrildamus said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@Chris-B said in [AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP]
A while ago I re-read one of Terry McLean's books where he put up some kicking stats for Don. He's miles short of good modern kickers.
Were the balls as consistent in Don's day?
Heavy when wet
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Amazing player , in the days when backline play was less about physicality, he was beautiful to watch ,
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they mentioned on the news Robertson refused to play SA in '81 which effectively ended his career, which was something I didnt realise.
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@nostrildamus Whether or not - McLean says that in his best years The Don was a 50% kicker.
On his last tour, when his kicking faded, McLean counted 32 conversions and 41 misses, 18 penalties and 56 misses, 6 drop goals and 16 misses. 50/147 from place kicks.
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@Chris-B said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@nostrildamus Whether or not - McLean says that in his best years The Don was a 50% kicker.
On his last tour, when his kicking faded, McLean counted 32 conversions and 41 misses, 18 penalties and 56 misses, 6 drop goals and 16 misses. 50/147 from place kicks.
heavy (slippery when wet) leather and he kicked with his toe (I think they also held the ball for the player?) and he often kicked for mad distances (for the time) so that might need to be considered.
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@nostrildamus He was miles better than pretty much anyone else at the time, but that returns to my original point - especially in The Don's day, goal-kicking was very much an afterthought. (We didn't finally learn the lesson until the mid-1970s).
Around Don's time, I think the Brits were still arguing that having a coach was unsporting!
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@Chris-B said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
Around Don's time, I think the Brits were still arguing that having a coach was unsporting!
Didn't know that, thanks!
