Wallabies 2024

[SouthernX]

He's going to become a better Rugby Union 10 by playing another sport?

yes - because he already has the tools and skill sets (which he won’t suddenly forget) but he’s going to be playing a higher level of footy than super rugby.

 

[Tomthumb]

Except he doesn't have the skill set, kicking is a huge requirement for a 10. Again, how does playing centre in league (for the Titans of all teams) make someone a better 10 in union? All we hear is how players need to play more RUGBY to get better, now they can just play league and improve?

 

[Crashy]

agreed. Cant see how playing mungo is going to make him a better rugby player. He has great hands, good kicker and one of the better tacklers in rugby - A player I rate.
Where he fell down at times was mistakes with key moments such as kickoffs, kicks for touch etc. Time in the saddle is what he needs. The beauty of the International test season is that rugby players ( who have gone to DV rugby) realise what they are missing out on.
And if anyone wants to convince me that summer in the public toilet that is the Gold Coast is a equivalent swap, don't bother.
The Tahs / RA having no cash was the big reason we lost him and I'd like to think he'll be back.

 

[Sword of Justice]

Surely the fact that Gordon and Nawaqanitawase are approaching NRL starts so soon dispels this myth that league is such a higher standard. I’d buy that their cardiovascular fitness will improve but other than that it’s not like the skill demands are extreme.

 

[SouthernX]

has been playing #6 for the seagulls. Unsure where he lands on titans.

rugby and league skills are pretty similar.

and yes I agree rugby players need to play more footy… but do you see a national rugby comp being introduced anytime soon? RA not exactly setting up the building blocks for us to develop players… landscape is actually pretty pathetic

 

[SouthernX]

Surely the fact that Gordon and Nawaqanitawase are approaching NRL starts so soon dispels this myth that league is such a higher standard. I’d buy that their cardiovascular fitness will improve but other than that it’s not like the skill demands are extreme.

there’s a huge talent vacancy incoming in the NRL with the introduction of 3 new teams.

Super rugby is contracting

These guys won’t be the last making the switch

 

[Tomthumb]

rugby and league skills are pretty similar.

No they aren't. Just ask Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Benji Marshall, Will Chambers, Timana Tahu, etc etc etc

 

[Sword of Justice]

All players that found league easier. Modern rugby is just so technical in comparison to league. Chess and checkers stuff.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Did they? They had a decade plus playing league and then a season or two playing union (not always, but often getting test caps almost immediately).

 

[Sword of Justice]

RTS (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck) played a few tests but didn’t look great. Tahu played four tests which I have no recollection of.

 

[Tomthumb]

Will Chambers was so bad he couldn't even make the Reds Squad and then walked straight back into League and was starting state of Origin instantly

But of course, the level is so much higher

 

[KOB1987]

Yeah I’m skeptical about league being a higher standard as well. I think you could make a case that the best league players currently are better than the best rugby players (bearing in mind you can only really compare backs and some backrowers), but I don’t think you can say that across the board the 17 NRL teams are a better standard than the 5/4 Super Rugby teams. A cross code game has proven to be farcical so there isn’t really any way to say with certainty - the professional models are different, Loig is a bottom up code whereas rugby is a top down model.

 

[eastman]

Some players suit rugby better then league and vice versa; remember Tom Wright was basically an outside back squad member for the Eagles.

 

[MarkJ]

My vague memory was that Chambers was actually pretty good in his first season with the Reds but then got injured and wasn’t the same after that

 

[Derpus]

The standard of athlete in League certainly seems higher. Otherwise its basically apples and oranges.

 

[Highlander35]

League Centers and Unions Centers seem like positions which require the same sort of physicality and skillset but have such stark differences in positioning mindset, particularly in defence, that it wouldn't surprise me that one doesn't necessarily translate to another.

 

[KOB1987]

The standard of athlete in League certainly seems higher.

This is why we need a professional third tier, the reason their players seem more athletic overall comes purely down to the fact that there are more of them who are professional players - their club players go home for a sauna or ice bath after the game, ours down a couple of pies and a six pack.

 

[Tomthumb]

Some players suit rugby better then league and vice versa; remember Tom Wright was basically an outside back squad member for the Eagles.

Tom Wright was recruited out of high school by the Sea Eagles and fell victim to Trent Barrett's lunacy around trying to make him a five eighth. He was 21 when he left so it's not as if he was some rugby league journeyman

 

[Strewthcobber]

My vague memory was that Chambers was actually pretty good in his first season with the Reds but then got injured and wasn’t the same after that

Yeah - would have made the Wallabies based on 2010 season but injured his shoulder and was never the same through 2011

 

[SouthernX]

I think If you have a rugby union background the transition to league skills is a lot easier as opposed to the other way.

of course there’s examples like Garrick Morgan who was a highly touted lock for wallabies who struggled with the crushers

but the rugby union schoolboy stars who go to league then come back to Union… seem like it’s not hard of a transition (Berrick Barnes etc)

I’m interested to see Joseph Sua'ali'i transition back to Union… don’t think he is going to struggle