barbarian
Amen to that. Sometimes opinions about this player or that being off form are right but other times the player is hampered by the limitations of team mates. In the case of outside backs: they are so dependent on the success of the players inside them - just ask Tuqiri and Turner.
This constraint applies to outside centres also. Even with good ball from the forwards they are dependent on the inside centre doing his job; and it is of no help if the 12 is blameless when the halves are off their feed.
IMO the dearth of quality 12s since the retirement of Horan has constrained Oz backlines in both the S14 and international rugby. Giteau was the best of them, but he was not a great facilitator of players outside him unless he actually made the outside break he was always looking for.
We should never write off a champion like Mortlock unless we see him falter when the players with lower jersey numbers are doing their jobs.
Likewise, we should not be too critical of Barnes this year in an environment of crap ball and naive play. Yes, every player has to make a difference on their own account, but there are limits to what one can do.
I bet that Deans would have had one of his wry smiles on his dial if he ever read any criticism of Barnes. The Reds were crappy last year too but he saw beyond that by choosing Barnes at 12, just as Knuckles saw beyond the Reds limitations in 2007 and chose him at 10 for the RWC.
As for Genia: others have mentioned his merits before. I have liked him ever since his schooldays and I reckon that he has got scant recognition of his ability since he first played for the Reds from the QA. Lucas has done well as a makeshift scrumhalf and is a brave rooster playing with injury, as he was at school, but the more you see him and Genia in the same match, the more you realise that the specialist is the real deal.
Noddy has touted Genia for Wallaby honours on another thread and I don't think that Nod is too far off the mark. He is certainly a better medium term prospect than Sheehan is.
[And not to the point of this thread, but did anybody else notice the Brumbies scrummie, Josh Holmes, showing a bit more interest in his job when playing against the SAffer teams recently?]
