Height and Weight Exaggerations in Rugby

[dobduff11]

Everyone has heard about the tactics of teams to bump up their schoolboys height and weight stats. It also seems that some professional teams have also been fond of this approach.

Some notable examples:

Will Genia listed at 182cm and weight of 85kgs. Others have listed him as 174cm and 82kgs, which to believe? A few years ago he was listed as 169cm which seems a bit short but you never know.

Quade Cooper was last night on Australia's greatest athlete listed as 88kgs where as some sources have him at 95kgs.

James Simpson-Daniel has long been listed as 6'0, Stuart Barnes on the rugby club has often laughed it off and said he struggles to push 5'9.

Was just wondering if others stats have been bumped a fair bit probably some of the inside backs, Giteau, JOC (James O'Connor), Berrick and maybe some props to sound beefier.

Anyone have any theories on the practice of stat bumping?

 

[jason]

My memory might be playing tricks on me but I've noticed the opposite a number of times in the last couple of years. IIRC, when they list the pack weights at scrum time, the Wallabies have often been listed as heavier than the Boks - there's no way that can be true, right?

 

[qwerty51]

I'm not sure of any advantages of fudging the stats? Why would they do it? You'd rather underrate yourself if anything.

 

[TOCC]

im friends with a couple of NRL players, and i know they add a few kg's and cm's on every time..

 

[dobduff11]

Just to try and make the opposition more afraid I guess.

Jason: thats what I mean obviously the Boks will have a bigger pack but the Wallabies probably try and pad it out a bit to seem bigger.

I know a few of the England u18 and u20 players and they always have their stats bumped up. Last year the 9 for england was 5'8 and around 66kgs. They bumped him up to 5'10 and 72 kgs.

I always thought the Genia quote of 182cm was funny cos he is nowhere near that

 

[Lee Grant]

Kurtley Beale was listed at 94kgs for 2-3 years but you could see it when he was fat and closer to 100kgs.

 

[jason]

Just to try and make the opposition more afraid I guess.

Jason: thats what I mean obviously the Boks will have a bigger pack but the Wallabies probably try and pad it out a bit to seem bigger.

Haha fair enough, pretty naive/biased to assume that the Wallabies wouldn't lie and the Boks would - you're right, was probably our boys that tried to pad it out a bit.

Definitely happens a lot though. I bumped into a lot of the Northampton 1st XV when their 2nds were playing Cambridge (btw, very impressed that so many of their stars came along to support a 2nds game) and guys like Chris Ashton, Ben Foden and even Courtney Lawes seemed a lot smaller than I'd expected. I'm around 6'4" and was way taller than Ashton who's listed at 6'0".

 

[rugbysmartarse]

Shit - all these years I ahve been underquoting my weight, now I know why Im not a professional sportsman.

In order to cerrect this, lets say I am 136kgs

 

[Ruggo]

Everyone has heard about the tactics of teams to bump up their schoolboys height and weight stats. It also seems that some professional teams have also been fond of this approach.

Some notable examples:

Will Genia listed at 182cm and weight of 85kgs. Others have listed him as 174cm and 82kgs, which to believe? A few years ago he was listed as 169cm which seems a bit short but you never know.Quade Cooper was last night on Australia's greatest athlete listed as 88kgs where as some sources have him at 95kgs.

James Simpson-Daniel has long been listed as 6'0, Stuart Barnes on the rugby club has often laughed it off and said he struggles to push 5'9.

Was just wondering if others stats have been bumped a fair bit probably some of the inside backs, Giteau, JOC (James O'Connor), Berrick and maybe some props to sound beefier.

Anyone have any theories on the practice of stat bumping?

Genia is not 182cm that's for sure. I am 5'6 (168cm) and am the one on the right.

I was suprised at the size of Quade. he is quite solid and I would guess he is bigger than 88cm

 

[TOCC]

Genia is not 182cm that's for sure. I am 5'6 (168cm) and am the one on the right.

I was suprised at the size of Quade. he is quite solid and I would guess he is bigger than 88cm

I have a feeling that your guess is on the money

 

[Ruggo]

I have a feeling that your guess is on the money

Smart arse.

I mean 88kg.

 

[dobduff11]

From your picture ruggo it puts willy g closer to the figure of 170cm than 175cm.

JOC (James O'Connor) is quoted on the ARU site as 180cm and 88kgs. I would expect that to be about 178cm and 83/84 kgs there is no way he is 88

 

[TOCC]

From your picture ruggo it puts willy g closer to the figure of 170cm than 175cm.

JOC (James O'Connor) is quoted on the ARU site as 180cm and 88kgs. I would expect that to be about 178cm and 83/84 kgs there is no way he is 88

id love to know how tall David Smith is then, he is listed 182cm but there was a photo with him next to Genia, and Genia had a fair chunk on him

 

[RugbyReg]

id love to know how tall David Smith is then, he is listed 182cm but there was a photo with him next to Genia, and Genia had a fair chunk on him

our wiki has him at 172cm, and we got the stats from the Force web site.

 

[Hartman]

I saw WP Nel, the Cheetahs prop, listed at 95kg twice in the pregame lineup thing during last season's super 14.

 

[Ash]

I saw David Smith a few times close up at the game on Sunday, and I can say he was definitely much closer to 172 cms than 182 cms.

 

[lincoln]

At 196cm I have always had a bit of giggle at how much some of these players' heights are rounded up - 2m is much easier to say than 195cm - but somehow I still seem to be able to examine the extent of their hirsuteness. All a bit silly - although at my age you start to under-estimate weight (hopefully only 105 today).

 

[sevenpointdropgoal]

They're just publicity stats. All part of the branding and licensing machine at work within all major modern sports.

To be honest I don't really mind them. I like a bit of pantomime with my sport. All these ever increasing stats give us something to talk about. I love the start of year info sheet telling me that not only have all the members of my favorite team all stacked on 6kg of muscle in the off season without sacrificing speed, but they have also, mysteriously, managed to grow 3cm. He's a mungo admittedly, but Gordon Tallis gained at least 3kg and a centimeter every year of his career. By the time he was playing his last origin series he was about 150kg, and over two meters tall.

I personally think they should take a leaf out of pro wrestling's book and start developing back stories. I want to hear Berrick Barnes' introduction voice-over describe hm as an ex-government assassin, known for his devastating crane style martial arts, or have Rocky Elsom's fact sheet tell me about how, as a result of a bungled medical experiment, he is actually able to breath fire.

 

[Hartman]

At 196cm I has always had a bit of giggle at how much some of these players' heights are rounded up - 2m is much easier to say than 195cm - but somehow I still seem to be able to examine their hirsuteness. All a bit silly - although at my age you start to under-estimate weight (hopefully only 105 today).

...pardon me? Explain?!

 

[I like to watch]

He says that he is 196cm tall, but is taller than guys who are listed 200cm (so he can see bald patches on their head)
He also said he is an old fat bastard who tells people he only weighs 105kg's which is apparently far less than the scales would indicate.