the Real Deal Kurtley Beale!!!!!!

[Reddy!]

His defence is very assured as well. If Kurtley can improve his once poor defense, surely Cooper can too?

 

[en_force_er]

His defence is very assured as well. If Kurtley can improve his once poor defense, surely Cooper can too?

I always felt KB (Kurtley Beale) was a good tackler but a bad defender. He has improved his defense which allows hit to apply his tackling skills better, does that make sense?

Cooper on the other have doesn't appear to have much tackling ability at this stage. I'd love to be proved wrong though.

 

[Lee Grant]

Not too long ago I chipped a few folks who said KB (Kurtley Beale) was fast. I had seen him since he was 13, and even when he was skinny after that, and believe it or not he wasn't that quick notwithstanding that he won an age group GPS 100M race when some contemporaries were running in opens or were born later in the year. Let's not go there again though.

He looked pretty fast at Gosford playing flyhalf against the Pom dirt-trackers chasing a couple of his own kicks a few months ago but the way he left Conrad Smith running for the ball last night on his kick through gobsmacked me. No wonder he has taken the outside break on him a few times.

Then there was the revelation by Marto that Oz trainer McDonald said KB (Kurtley Beale) and Davies were the equal fastest in the squad over 30 metres. Wow.

His revelation earlier that he go up to 100kgs at one point and lost about 10kgs to help his speed and agility says two things to me:

- The Tahs and the Wallabies have jointly and severally failed in their due diligence on KB (Kurtley Beale) and should have reacted sooner.

- The weights listed in prorammes and websites are bunk. I knew he had ballooned out last year and looked big at the start of the 2010 S15 but his weight from both years was listed at 94/95 kgs. What will the Wallabies and Tahs do to ensure that the blowout doesn't happen again?

 

[disco]

- The weights listed in prorammes and websites are bunk. I knew he had ballooned out last year and looked big at the start of the 2010 S15 but his weight from both years was listed at 94/95 kgs. What will the Wallabies and Tahs do to ensure that the blowout doesn't happen again?

I think Kurtley himself has shouldered a lot of responsibility in getting himself in to great shape & from what he said at the John Eales medal he's surrounded himself with better people also.

The way he's playing I can't really see him dropping his bundle now.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I read an interview with him where he said that he'd cut down on the piss, the junk food and sharpened up his attitude. The results speak for themselves.

 

[qwerty51]

The thing I also like about him at FB is his massive boot. Some of those kicks out of our 22 were awesome, especially under pressure

 

[TOCC]

I have been highly impressed with his composure and decision making over the last few tests, they were traits which seemed to be lacking from him in the past but are definitely there now.

 

[Lee Grant]

disco and THB

True but it misses the point that the Tahs and Wallabies should be tracking all players weights during the year. I can't imagine that an NFL would have allowed him to get to 100kgs - or was it more?

 

[waratahjesus]

disco and THB

True but it misses the point that the Tahs and Wallabies should be tracking all players weights during the year. I can't imagine that an NFL would have allowed him to get to 100kgs - or was it more?

its a code battle for islander and indeginous athletes thats ive heard about at nrl/aru/afl level all over. there are body types that struggle to maintain a regulated weight. look at the ella brothers, cliffy lyons in the nrl for many years and im sure there has been others but i cant think of names right now. Im sure Kurtley is managed at every level and the fact he spent a fair bit of time on the reserves bench that was linked to "attitude" probably shows this a bit but its hardly the first time its happened in competitive sport history.

 

[jason]

disco and THB

True but it misses the point that the Tahs and Wallabies should be tracking all players weights during the year. I can't imagine that an NFL would have allowed him to get to 100kgs - or was it more?

The Buffalo Bills (NFL Team from upstate NY) have a fine system where for every pound a player is overweight, he pays $400 a day. Effective, I'd think.

 

[disco]

The Buffalo Bills (NFL Team from upstate NY) have a fine system where for every pound a player is overweight, he pays $400 a day. Effective, I'd think.

Considering the wages they're on we'd probably only dish out fines of $4 a day for each pound over.

 

[dobduff11]

Jason i Guess that that is during the season though,

In the NFL they have all sorts of minicamps and preseason drills to get the players back into shape. Jamarcus Russell ex raiders QB came back to camp at around 300lbs last year

 

[tucker]

Interesting that the All Blacks didn't bombard him with high balls, he has shown a bit of a weakness with those, must mean his attacking feats are worrying other teams quite a bit

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Right now he'd be worrying me if I were an opposition coach. Several times on the weekend he completely dusted defenders on the counter, including three (I think) guys on the way to setting up that last try. His run into the line for Mitchell's try was brilliant too. Great pace, great line and most importantly, great pass to go with it.

 

[RugbyReg]

I've said it before and I will say it again, he is Latham-esque at the moment. Brilliant.

 

[Running Rugby]

I think part of the reason for KB (Kurtley Beale)'s recent success is the fact that he is enjoying his rugby. Now more than ever you see him smiling on the rugby field and he seems at ease playing at fullback and having that extra space and time to read the game. How good is it to finally see a fullback hitting the backline at pace and changing the angles with his footwork and acceleration. Really hope he can build on this form and learn the slightly different requirements of playing fullback in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

[Bullrush]

Said it before and I'll say it again.....

I'd be looking to play him more at 10....even if QC (Quade Cooper) does nail that spot, he'd make a pretty good back-up for him.

As a kiwi I don't want to see this but if I was a Wallaby supporter, the more Beale gets the ball in his hands - the better.

 

[tucker]

Outside backs seem to suit him more than the inside backs, i think 15 is a better place for him then 10. At 15 he has more room to use his potent running game, he easily our best counter attacking fullback, putting him into 10 would stifle his ability to 1. counter attack, and 2. run off quades offloads

 

[Richo]

Not a great idea. Post-RWC he might be looked at to make the switch to 10, but for now we have a guy who has just cemented the fullback position and is in stunning form. We also have an equally gifted attacking player at 10 already.

 

[I like to watch]

My recollection of Gilbert at 5/8 was that he didn't do much for those outside him.
He did made a stack of line breaks & scored tries that no one else could, but setting up for those outside of him was not a feature of his game.
I am happy to concede this might have been due to his lack of maturity/experience at that stage of his career, but why change him from fullback? Even his critics (I certainly have been in the past) must concede he is playing great at 15.
If it's not broken, don't fix it.