Lee Grant
John Eales (66)
You can't win with the league media in Sydney: if he gets into the Wallabies they say it's a triumph for the standard of the NRL and if he goes back to league it's a case of his being too good for the game and the game not being good enough for him.
I am sorry that the Tahu experiment didn't work. He came looking to play rugby union without insisting on getting paid a bomb.
He had some problems in his time in our game:
• learning the game from the wing - which is where most leaguies are introduced to the game because defensively it is more one on one as it is in a league backline and where you have to worry about only one half of the park.
• his injuries which cut his time on the park, especially in the learning months.
• not getting enough ball at the Tahs
• not acquiring the skill to use the ball which is a less common skill in league where beating the man and offloading in a tackle is more important but for the couple of playmakers in the team. His skill at passing was often poor and was not corrected.
I had high hopes for him after his stint for Oz A in 2008 and again on the RSA tour at the end of the 2009 Super14, with Horne injured, Carter dropped, and Beale giving a few good balls from 12. It's ironic that he looked like a much better union footie player, at 13, in his last games in our code.
He seems like a decent bloke; I wish him well.
Except when the Eels play the Dragons.
I am sorry that the Tahu experiment didn't work. He came looking to play rugby union without insisting on getting paid a bomb.
He had some problems in his time in our game:
• learning the game from the wing - which is where most leaguies are introduced to the game because defensively it is more one on one as it is in a league backline and where you have to worry about only one half of the park.
• his injuries which cut his time on the park, especially in the learning months.
• not getting enough ball at the Tahs
• not acquiring the skill to use the ball which is a less common skill in league where beating the man and offloading in a tackle is more important but for the couple of playmakers in the team. His skill at passing was often poor and was not corrected.
I had high hopes for him after his stint for Oz A in 2008 and again on the RSA tour at the end of the 2009 Super14, with Horne injured, Carter dropped, and Beale giving a few good balls from 12. It's ironic that he looked like a much better union footie player, at 13, in his last games in our code.
He seems like a decent bloke; I wish him well.
Except when the Eels play the Dragons.
