Stephen Moore - world's best hooker

[disco]

I think Moore & Bismark would be the two best in the world, I can't split them ATM.

Moore can be a penalty magnet sometimes which is annoying.

 

[Sully]

Jesus Naza, can you and Moore get a room and finally oust the obvious sexual tension between the two of you!!

OK, lets recap the Pom game.
The scrum was OK, he threw well. News flash if they are the only 2 things you have to do in your life while paid $300K a year, you would want to be good at it. He he accomplished at his basics, which to fair, is rare for an Aussie no. 2 in recent times.

Will he be one of our best? Hard to say, but interesting to see the ELV's making Hookers revert their play to the dark days of amature rugby. Set piece comes 1st. The scrum is a weapon again. The lineout is critical. If anything Tom Lawton would be a revalation in the modern game (ponder that one my younglings).

Now there was a Hooker! Fuck he was good. no offence intended

 

[Lee Grant]

I think those people who are belittling Moore are making a mistake.

But it took me a while to come around I can tell you.

IIRR I first saw him at the ground in senior rugby playing for Qld A against NSW A at Concord and he was terrific. I thought he was a future Wallaby then, but it took him a while to establish himself as the main man in Queensland.

Part of it was learning the game at the professional level, a part was problematic throwing and another was being a bit of a hot head and penalty magnet.

His throwing has improved a lot and I can't remember a not straight throw in the S14 this year. He has thrown a few in internationals and some a bit too long, but there wouldn't be too many better in 2008 in any team. He is still giving away a few penalties, but those caused by wanting to win pissing contests are getting fewer and fewer.

He was said by somebody to be the best scrummaging hooker in Oz, though I forget by who, and looking through who the other hookers are, the comment is probably right. Even Paul Ackford gave him a wrap in the article where he criticised Baxter before the England game, when he said: " .... loose-head Benn Robinson and hooker Stephen Moore are the best scrummagers they have had for some time."

And Stephen Jones even said at that time: ".......... Stephen Moore, the hooker who looks as large and combative as the great Phil Kearns, the last world-class hooker for Australia."

No bad cut outs for the scrapbook those.

 

[Moses]

Puff piece from Growden..

It didn't take long for Stephen Moore to realise he would not achieve his boyhood ambition. His body and his mind just couldn't agree.

Until he was 12, the Wallabies hooker wanted to be a champion jockey like Darren Beadman, Shane Dye or Mick Dittman.

His parents hail from the west coast of Ireland, and his mother's family is heavily involved in jumps racing. Not even living in Saudi Arabia, where he was born, and then, when he was five, heading to the Queensland gold mining town of Mount Morgan, where his father was the GP, could suppress his equine fervour.

Each Saturday afternoon, he would turn on the television, bring out a wooden horse, hop on and take his part in the sport of kings.

''It was something I loved watching as a young bloke,'' Moore said yesterday. ''The Wide World of Sports program would show the feature races every Saturday, and I would sit there and watch it. A lot of my mother's family are big in racing back in Ireland. So I developed a love for it, and becoming a jockey was all I wanted to be.

''When I was really young, I used to have a wooden horse that I would jump onto. I soon figured out when I was about 11 or 12 I wouldn't fit the required physique … so drifted into other things.''

His fascination with racing remains, and Moore was at head of the queue when the Wallabies went to Hong Kong late last year and had a chance to meet Beadman before a night at Sha Tin.

''I have a punt here or there, but I'm not a mad gambler,'' the 26-year-old said. ''But I still love watching the races. The family in Ireland are still very much into it.''

As he filled out as a teenager, Moore got into swimming, where he competed at a high level in central Queensland, cricket, and rugby, where he had started as a five-year-old running around in bare feet on the Mount Morgan fields.

Rugby became a serious pursuit when he became a boarder and a prop at Brisbane Grammar School, before he tried hooking for the first time at University Colts, where his teammates included Drew Mitchell, Richard Brown, Hugh McMeniman and Mitchell Chapman.

From there, Moore has developed into Australia's premier hooker and following his successful end-of-season Wallabies tour is now considered by some as the world's best. His man-of-the-match performance against England at Twickenham last November convinced the hard-to-please British media Moore was something special.

Northern-hemisphere tours are where Australian forwards are either exposed or grow up, and in Moore's case the experience has turned him into the complete hooker. But there are other pressures on these tours.

His extended Irish family soon circled, bombarding him for Australia-Ireland Test tickets.

''I got over there last year and had everyone on the phone, asking me if I 'could spare two,' Moore said. ''I did my best. I just went around to all the boys and asked if I could get their spare tickets. I ended up getting around 25 or 26 tickets, so was able to keep most of my relatives happy. With the other half, I'll try to keep them happy this time around when I'm over there.''

The pressure will be enormous because this November the Wallabies will play for the first time at Croke Park - the heart and soul of Dublin sport.

Last Sunday, one of Moore's cousins, Patrick O'Rourke, played on the ground in the All Ireland Gaelic football quarter-final.

The demands continue, but Moore remains relaxed. That is his nature. He is hardly a hot-headed hooker. ''From experience, I have found the more relaxed I can be when I'm thinking about a game, the better I prepare,'' he said.

''It's a bit different when you get out there, because then you have to balance the aggression with keeping your head, such as when you're involved in lineout throwing or trying to organise a scrum.

''It's important that you concentrate and the crowd doesn't become a factor. Once you block that out, you can focus on the specifics.''

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/...-the-right-rein/2009/08/12/1249756352236.html

 

[Gagger]

Moore has a shocker.
Growdy gives him a reach around.
Nice

 

[Pfitzy]

Yeah that was fairly shit from our lineout. Scrum was good though.

 

[Blue]

I would put Moore and Bismarck about on par with daylight between them and the rest.

 

[RugbyReg]

can't find it but just read an article stating that Alexander, TPN, Mumm and Elsom all trained in the 'first team' set piece instead of Baxter, Moore, Sharpe and Brown.

 

[Moses]

WALLABIES coach Robbie Deans is set to revamp the Australian forward pack for the must-win Test against the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday week, if yesterday's training session at Coogee Oval is any guide.

Not surprisingly, after their disastrous performance in the lineout in their 27-19 loss to the Springboks in Cape Town last Saturday, the Wallabies spent significant time on the set piece at training.

But there were several new faces in what appeared to be the starting eight with blindside flanker Rocky Elsom, second rower Dean Mumm, tighthead prop Ben Alexander and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau seemingly preferred to Richard Brown, Nathan Sharpe, Al Baxter and Stephen Moore.

It was the Wallabies' first session since they returned from South Africa on Monday, so it is probably too early to conclude that that is how they will start against the All Blacks, but if Deans was planning to overhaul the pack, he would want it to have as much time together at training as possible, particularly in the lineout.

The forward pack that trained yesterday gives Deans the best footballers rather than technicians.

At the very least, Deans obviously wanted to have a good look at that combination, which in itself is a hint that he is looking to make changes.

Deans all but confirmed Elsom will be recalled at blindside flanker, as long as he does not suffer any setback to the knee injury that has sidelined him since he played for the Barbarians against England at the end of May.

"He (Elsom) was a big part of our game last year when he was fit," Deans said. "It won't be easy for him because it has been a while since he last played. To expect him to come back and have an immediate, and too significant, effect would be unrealistic.

"He is a good forward. He is smart. He is good on the organisational detail. He's got a presence, which the players around him enjoy. He enjoys mixing it and that is a good thing in Test match rugby."

Elsom came through yesterday's session without any ill effects.

"It feels fine at the moment," Elsom said. "I'm pretty happy with it. I didn't have any problems. It was frustrating when I wasn't able to train, but the last few weeks I've been able to train a fair bit. It keeps your mind occupied while your body heals."

Asked what he thought of the Wallabies' performance against the Springboks, Elsom said: "I thought there were some definite negatives in the game that everyone would have noticed".

"It's going to be a challenge to get them out of our performance. There are a couple of things that are lingering. They have cost us in the last two games. It has made it very hard for us in the tournament. If we don't get them out of the game, it is going to be hard going forward."

One of the "negatives" in the Wallabies' play in their losses to the All Blacks and the Springboks has been their ill-discipline.

Openside flanker George Smith, who was sinbinned in Cape Town for a repeated ruck infringement while acting as captain in the absence of the injured Stirling Mortlock, agreed it was an area the Wallabies had to improve.

"Our discipline wasn't great," said Smith, who is likely to lead the Wallabies against the All Blacks. "It's something that we want to rectify in the coming match against the Kiwis.

"We didn't perform well in that area in Auckland. It's definitely an area we want to clean up."

While the Wallabies want to improve their discipline, they also want to increase their physicality, particularly at the contact zone.

This aggressive mindset resulted in an altercation between veteran flanker Phil Waugh and rookie fullback James O'Connor at training.

Waugh and O'Connor held each other by the scruff of the neck with their fists cocked while scrum coach Patricio Noriega screamed "No punches, no punches" before backrower Matt Hodgson separated them.

"We are training how we want to play, with a bit more mongrel," O'Connor explained. "It's all good niggle. I don't think either of us wanted to back down, but it was all in good fun. Our approach is we have to bring a bit more mongrel to the game and step up the physicality so that's what we brought to training. It was pretty intense."

O'Connor is expected to start at fullback against the All Blacks following his impressive performance off the bench against the Springboks, which was a confidence booster following his less assured effort in Auckland.

"I've got a bit of confidence at the moment," O'Connor said. "I'm pretty happy with my game. I'm not expecting anything, but if I get the opportunity, I'll take it with both hands."

Five-eighth Matt Giteau did not train because of a corked leg, but he is expected to be fit for the All Blacks.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25925630-2722,00.html

 

[Moses]

He is a good forward. He is smart. He is good on the organisational detail. He's got a presence, which the players around him enjoy. He enjoys mixing it and that is a good thing in Test match rugby."

So intelligent, organised, present, charismatic and mixable are what Robbie looks for in a foward? I'd have thought big, strong, fit, experienced and disciplined could count for something too.

 

[cyclopath]

He is a good forward. He is smart. He is good on the organisational detail. He's got a presence, which the players around him enjoy. He enjoys mixing it and that is a good thing in Test match rugby."

Sounds like a good cocktail bartender!

 

[Moses]

Robbie's ideal forward?

 

[cyclopath]

Quality, Moses! :thumb