Ok, some folk have suggested there are too many ‘givens’ in this series. Larkham. Gregan. Kefu. So what about this one? I reckon it’s pretty damn difficult to come up with the best hooker of the decade. I tell you what, it was hard enough to come up with the top three. And I know I will cop some flak for some of the decisions made. Well one of them.
Looking past that for the time being, there is some very decent quality in this list. The four at the top of the caps list all have strong claims for the title, but there is quality further down as well. Adam Freier’s career would have benefited from a prolonged run in the starting team enabling him to feel comfortable with his position, as opposed to the once off tests which must have put him under immense pressure. Meanwhile Tatafu Polota-Nau has shown in his limited starts that he is odds on favourite to take this title in ten years time.
So to the list, in which we have only seven names. Seven players who have started at hooker for Australia this decade. They were:
Stephen Moore (34), Jeremy Paul (28), Brendan Cannon (25), Michael Foley (20), Adam Freier (6), Tai McIsaacs (6),Tatafu Polota-Nau (4).
As we have all series, G&GR have come up with a top three. There is probably one glaring omission, but that’s likely when you have a quality top four. The top three are:
Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore has been identified as a future Wallaby hooker ever since his Reds debut back in 2003. The 110 kg plus hooker, with impressive mobility and skills, was seen as the heir apparent to Phil Kearns, one of our greatest Wallaby hookers of all time.
It wasn’t until 2005 that Moore would break into the Wallabies team, debuting alongside the likes of Hugh McMeniman and Rocky Elsom in a 74-7 smashing of Samoa. He spent the year in an out of the Wallaby squad, mostly playing behind Jeremy Paul and Brendan Cannon, or sharing bench duties with Adam Freier and Tatafu Polota-Nau.
Moore’s run on debut would not come to the very last test of 2006, when he stared, and scored a try, against Scotland at Murrayfield. The next year, a World Cup year, he would become the Wallabies’ first choice hooker starting in all but a few tests. His career reached its pinnacle, so far at least, in 2008 when he lead a dominant scrum performance against Australia’s arch nemisis, England. Moore would be named Man of the Match and started to receive the acclaim that he was the premier hooker in the game!
This year, Moore has not been of the same level for Moore. He shared the hooking position with Polota-Nau, in fact giving up his starting jersey to Tatafu at the end of the Tri-Nations. But come the Spring tour Moore reclaimed the 2 jersey and wouldn’t relinquish it again. In top form Moore is a strong scrummager, a damaging runner and a legitimate team leader.
Brendan Cannon
Brendan Cannon is as tough a player as they come. Surviving a being hit by a truck is proof of this, but watching his play was all the evidence you need. Cannon was yet another tight forward to debut in the 2001 Lions Series, coming into the squad after Jeremy Paul was injured in the first test. A few more appearances off the bench that year, behind the experienced Michael Foley, was a great breeding ground for the relatively inexperienced rake. In fact his form on the Spring Tour at the end of that 2001 season was exceptional and he was unlucky not to get a test start.
That opportunity would come early the next season in the second test against France, again after Paul was injured in the first test. His next appearance on the field though would be a few tests later when, as a replacement, he shadowed an amazing George Smith break down field to grab the final pass and score in the corner to seemingly secure the Wallabies a rare, late, victory against the Springboks at Ellis Park. Perhaps the Wallabies lost focus, because just a minute or two later, Bok fullback Werner Greef would charge over to score to win the game for the Boks.
But 2003 would be some sort of watershed for Cannon. His Super 12 form for the Waratahs was tremendous. Paul would still have the two jersey for the first few tests, before Cannon forced his way into the starting jersey against South Africa in the Republic. And, other than one test against Namibia, Cannon would remain in the jersey for the year. Cannon brought a style of play the Wallabies hadn’t seen in the 2 jersey for some time. Full of aggressive and uncompromising running, physicality at the break down and set piece solidarity. Come the end of the World Cup he was considered alongside his hero, Keith Wood, as the best hookers in the game.
The next few years would be a battle on the field for Cannon as he and Jeremy Paul competed for the starting jersey. This would continue up until his retirement from the game due to spinal injury, going out in relative anonymity against Italy in Rome in 2006.
Michael Foley
Michael Foley was an unfashionable player who never seemed to get the acclaim he deserved. He started the 99 World Cup as, supposedly, third choice hooker. But when Phil Kearns went home injured, Foley leapt over Jeremy Paul and became an integral part of the winning side.
In 2000 he managed to hold on to both his form and jersey starting in every test, but come 2001 things had changed. Jeremy Paul was back in the starter’s jersey, but an injury in the first Lions test would see Foley called up for the rest of the year. He would retire in the last game of the year, against Wales in Cardiff, having received his 50th cap.
Foley was old school. I don’t know if he ever touched the ball in his Wallaby career outside of having to throw it into the lineout. Well, he scored a try against Spain in 2001, so he must have touched it at least once. For it was his set piece that he was acclaimed. His lineout throwing was impeccable and he led a scrum succeeded both with experienced props (Harry and Blades in 99) and rookies (Stiles and Moore in 01).
Axel has been one of those players, alongside Matt Cockbain, who never really got the recognition he deserved whilst playing, but once he left we struggled to find a suitable replacement. In Foley we had someone who would get his job done. He wouldn’t be standing out wide ready for the flashy runs, nor was he likely to ever put his boot to ball. He was a hardnosed pack leader who liked the fire and brimstone side of rugby. For him it was about getting a physical advantage over your opposition. If you did that, and if each of your team mates did it, then you were likely to end up ahead on the scoreboard as well.
*****
Ok. They are our hookers. There is an elephant in the room which I guess I should refer to. Jeremy Paul. He is mentioned constantly in this article, yet not as a leading candidate. In my eye, he never produced consistently at Wallaby level. 72 caps is an amazing statistic, but he only started in 34 tests. In my opinion, despite his constant chances, he never made the Wallaby jersey his own either. He had a great year in 2005, but again most of his acclaim was for his play in the loose, which was brilliant. If he was able to combine this with the more traditional roles of the hooker, more often, he probably would have featured.
So what do you think? Am I made to exclude Paul? If so, who does he replace? Has Moore done enough at this level yet to have made the grade? Was Cannon just a flash in the pan? Does Foley’s short span work against him? Let us know in the poll and in the comments who the best hooker of the decade was.
[poll id=”57″]
