No surprise to me that Beale is a trump at No.10
May 17, 2012
Given a go … Rebels five-eighth Kurtley Beale.
Photo: Getty Images
It's always interesting to note what the perception is and what is written in the public domain. More often than not there is such haste and enthusiasm to announce the next big thing that sometimes it's missed that it has been staring them in the face for some time.
In the past 10 days one of the bigger stories has been around the revelation that is Kurtley Beale at No.10, while much has also been said of Liam Gill's play for the Queensland Reds. A great deal has been made about both topics but I'm not sure why there has been so much surprise.
Beale is an extremely good player, can read the game well, and best of all, can bring the players around him into the match. For Gill, only a month ago I was being asked about the possibility of signing David Pocock. At the time I rejected the notion as the Reds have a strong belief in what Gill and Beau Robinson bring to the group. Nothing has changed.
This isn't about pushing anyone's agenda for representative honours or otherwise, but more about making a point that amidst all the excitement in the media, more often than not, the answers are right in front of them.
I said it before the Rugby World Cup - if Quade Cooper was injured I would have Beale at five-eighth. They are the same type of player, so you don't need to change much tactically to make it happen.
What's forgotten, though, is that Cooper and Beale are the same age and therefore faced a problem at Australian schoolboy level because, logistically, coaches wanted them on the field at the same time. One of them was always going to end up at fullback.
When I was at the Waratahs, I recall the difficulty of finding a No.10. I went to Beale's manager Glen Ella and, after meeting Beale when he was only 16 while he was in year 11 at St Joseph's, we signed him to the Tahs. This stopped rugby league chasing him as we waited for him to arrive.
He hit the scene in 2007 where he was to be the understudy to Mat Rogers. Rogers left early to league so Beale started at five-eighth for NSW in his first year out of school. It was a tough for him but the talent was clearly there.
The Tahs struggled in 2007 but went to the 2008 final against the Crusaders when Beale was at No.10. The final was in Christchurch and we were leading the Crusaders before an ankle injury forced him from the field with half an hour to go. We ended up losing to Dan Carter's boot but Beale had helped create two tries to the Crusaders' one. The evidence was always there that Beale would be very useful in the key playmaking role. I subscribe to the theory that the best ball players need to touch the ball the most, so it's good to see the Rebels giving him a go.
Read more:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/no-surprise-to-me-that-beale-is-a-trump-at-no10-20120516-1yrcl.html#ixzz1v5WdXOEU