TSR
Steve Williams (59)
My problem with Foley is that his kicking game in hand is substandard, from the tee is inconsistent, he is a very poor defender - even for a 10 and he doesn’t have a great long passing game. His strength has always been his running and short passing. Under Cheika who didn’t want us to kick, he was a logical choice and played sone very good footy but as he got older he increasingly made poor kick/pass/run decisions.Foley and JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor) pose the exact same thing. An older experienced head which is appealing when compared to the current group.
State coloured lenses get in the way when choosing which one if you had to. If JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor) was riding the pine for the Highlanders would we be saying similar things? I think it's extremely unlikely we see either but to compare them
JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor): 18 games, 1 start at 10 with an average of 24 mins per game.
Foley: 18 games, 18 starts all at 10 with an average 75min per game.
I know they are different comps but comparing the two in regards to starting 10 seems silly.
I think O’Connor is better in almost every aspect of the above except that, sadly, he has lost his speed so is slower and it does impact him because he is good at the line with players around him (as was Foley at his best).
Rennie dropped him because he played in a game at 10 and barely touched the ball/controlled the game. And, from memory, prior to that when he was playing tests he was standing very deep and not threatening the line - which is the opposite to how he plays best - but he was coming back from leg injuries (knee & groin from memory).
So, yes, I am giving some benefit of the doubt to O’Connor that I am not affording Foley. IMO that’s both logical and justified.
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