Burgess is good, but Gregan was better
Roar Guru By Gatesy, 20 Jun 2008 gatesy is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Adam Ashley-Cooper, Brumbies, Clyde Rathbone, George Gregan, Joe Roff, Luke Burgess, Owen Finegan, Rugby Union, Waratahs
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Why is everyone suddenly down on George Gregan? Luke Burgess has come along and suddenly we’re all comparing the two of them.
Yes, I will agree that if Gregan and Burgess both started the same year, then Burgess may well have gotten the nod. But they are from two different eras.
Luke Burgess is potentially great half-back, in the Farr-Jones mould, which no doubt excites all the Waratahs’ people. But he is yet to prove himself on the big stage.
He has not yet played the All Blacks or the Boks and already his forwards are talking about how they didn’t protect him. Is there an inherent weakness there?
Let’s not forget that George Gregan was the first Australian halfback of the professional era from 1995 until 2007. Twelve years! If he was so ordinary, why was he always the first pick?
So what if he ran sideways? More often than not, he had a runner (such as Owen Finegan, or Joe Roff, or Graeme Bond, or Craig Wells, or Rod Kafer, or Clyde Rathbone, or Adam Ashley-Cooper, or Mark Bartholomeusz or … you get my drift) coming on the angle.
He was a patient half who recycled the ball in an era when the Brumbies played multiple phases, and he got his runners away.
To my mind, that is still the way to play the game, no matter what developments have taken place, and Patrick Phibbs does it as well as Gregan did.
With No 8′s like Hoiles running off him, the Brumbies style is alive and well.
Welcome Luke Burgess. But let’s never forget George.
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June 20th 2008 @ 10:47am
stillmissit said | June 20th 2008 @ 10:47am | Report comment
Link you are right. There is always a feeling that rugby selections are based on ‘we have nobody but x’. They should just say x isnt good enough, lets give him a rest and try y and see if he stands up.
No selection guts, No performance glory.
June 20th 2008 @ 10:51am
Peter K said | June 20th 2008 @ 10:51am | Report comment
The issue is the professional game is run by amateurs, the administration, with the exception of O’Neil, and selectors have remained amateurs.
This means favourites, jobs for the boys, and state parochialism.
When they get professional then like the Cricket team they too will be ruthless.
June 20th 2008 @ 11:07am
eric said | June 20th 2008 @ 11:07am | Report comment
I think I generally agree with the comments about Gregans career. He stopped taking on the defence and doing the hard tackling, and ran Eddies style of programmed rugby. What I do take issue with is criticism of his passing. I believe firmly that when he chose to get the ball out quickly his pass was long and accurate. I saw him on numerous occasions live, in Tests and S14, and was amazed at the length of his pass. Sure, at times he took too long to pick up the ball, that was frustrating, but be fair, ALL halfbacks take a step or two backwards often to clear the bodies. I think the SMH did a survey of speed of halfbacks passes, from pick up to delivery, and found Gregan the quickest.
Take Du Preez for example, often called the World’s NO. 1, he usually takes steps towards his support, rarely passes from the ground. So did Weepu. So does former Golden Boy Josh Holmes, so does Phibbs.
June 20th 2008 @ 11:19am
Jameswm said | June 20th 2008 @ 11:19am | Report comment
eric
To his left, yes, Gregan had a good pass. But then so does any right hander. My U9s can throw a long torpedo to their left (except oddly my son. who throws a better pass to his theoretical bad side).
But to the right, where the left hand dominates, it’s a different matter. Gregan struggled to throw a long, hard pass to the right with any consstency, which is why he reverted to harbour bridge passes, as they are more consistent.
June 20th 2008 @ 11:29am
Peter K said | June 20th 2008 @ 11:29am | Report comment
I just realised this is all a joke that Gatesy was having on all of us. I bet he can’t believe that so many fell for it and took the talking up of Gregan seriously, he must be chuckly to himself. Good one Gatesy.
Next you will be telling us how Roff was an alltime great.
June 20th 2008 @ 1:35pm
sheek said | June 20th 2008 @ 1:35pm | Report comment
Joke or no joke by Gatesy, it was worth it for Jacko’s very clever pearler!
June 20th 2008 @ 10:11pm
jools-usa said | June 20th 2008 @ 10:11pm | Report comment
Jacko,
You’ve made my day with your quip.
Been here so long I’d forgotten the great OZ irreverant humor.
Keep it up.
Jools-USA
June 20th 2008 @ 10:38pm
runit said | June 20th 2008 @ 10:38pm | Report comment
gregan looked after gregan and that was the most important thin in his life.
June 20th 2008 @ 11:26pm
westy said | June 20th 2008 @ 11:26pm | Report comment
Greegan’s continued career post 2004 says more about Australian rugby’s lack of depth than anything else. oh …I forgot their was Chris Whittiker or whoever. Not to provide regular “starting” GAMES to aspirants in tests or super12/14 to develop such talent but leave them floundering in club rugby was also an indictment of Australian rugby management…and when the time came for change we had a player as old and past it as Greegan himself.. Great management.
June 21st 2008 @ 2:31pm
sheek said | June 21st 2008 @ 2:31pm | Report comment
I guess we’re wearing this to death, but Gregan’s successor plan was very poorly handled. No other player (Whitaker, Cordingley) was given any significant game time to see if they might be a worthy successor.
Was there a deliberate plan by Eddie Jones for example, to kill off any competition? And why did John Connolly simply adopt the same line as Jones?
Back in 1957 the Australian selectors sensationally dumped incumbent captain Dick Tooth from the Wallabies touring team to Britain, Ireland & France. The Wallabies of the mid-1950s, like the Wallabies of the mid-200s, were an underachieving lot, & the captain was made a sacrificial lamb. Yet it wasn’t Tooth’s fault, but a lack of overall depth of quality in Australian rugby.
The Wallabies of 1957-58 were largely young, inexperienced & lacking quality across the board, although there was at least one very good player in each position. They lost all 5 internationals, the only Wallaby touring side to do so (to UK, Ireland, France).
With the benefit of hindsight, the Wallabies of 1957-58 could have used Tooth’s experience & ability in the midfield, even as a non-captain player, surrounded by untried players. He would have given them direction & confidence. A shame the selectors of 1957 weren’t as accommodating to Tooth as those of 2003-07 were to Gregan.
In 1992, the Australian cricket selectors cut off Dean Jones’ test career right there & then at age 31, even though he topped the batting averages in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Mark Waugh’s test career was allowed to meander along for several more years after it was obvious he had lost interest at the highest level.
I’m more a Waugh fan than A Jones fan, but it’s interesting how some players in all sports, are seen as protected species, & others are not. Gregan was a protected species. Although exactly why remains a bit of a mystery.