On Saturday, June 6, 1998, Steven Larkham punctuated an unlikely switch from fullback to five-eighth with a hat trick of tries in the Wallabies 76-0 rout of England in Brisbane.
Larkham’s conversion from fullback to five-eighth proved to be a stroke of genius on Rod McQueen’s part, which contributed to one of the great periods in modern Australian rugby.
By most accounts, Larkham was not an obvious candidate for five-eighth – certainly not in any classic sense of pass and kick. However, breaking the mold worked out rather nicely. See this article for more.
Included in the several persistent headaches confronting the Australian selectors today, are the lack of ‘grab it by the scruff of the neck’ candidates for scrum half and fullback.
We have a handful of candidates for both positions that are competent. None, however, seem capable of putting the issue to rest. Perhaps it is time to pull a McQueen-Monty Python and try something completely different.
My initial suggestion along these lines is to consider someone like Quade Cooper as a scrumhalf. Certainly not because he plays like one now, but because he is one of the few players I can think of who can really throw a long, flat, hard pass.
He, as much as several others, appears to have a promising future as a five-eighth or center. However, on reflection, Cooper also seems to be slipping behind Matt Toomua on an already longish list of ‘promising’ five-eighth’s.
Please note, since several recent posts have gone wildly off topic, this is:
- NOT about Steven Larkham – his legacy is secure.
- NOT starting a case for Cooper as a scrumhalf.
- About suggesting some creative position switching to use the talent we have to build better, more robust Super 14 and Wallabies teams.
So, what do you think?
Recommend this story.
May 30th 2009 @ 9:26pm
Nird99 said | May 30th 2009 @ 9:26pm | Report comment
I’ll have to admit that when Bernie was moved to 5/8 my initial thought was that he was a stop-gap measure. This is currently what I am feeling about some of the other suggestions as well. Cooper at scrum half???? does anybody know how he is as an organiser.
When I think of scrum halves i think of players that are able to organise their forwards and backs to work in unison. arrange the forwards so that we can use gits and barnes effectively as ball runners and delivery men for the likes of mortlock and tiquri. I cannot think of anybody in Australian S14 sides that has shown any of that organisational ability. We seem to have a whole stack of players at the moment relying on pure talent and are yet to develop their rugby brains fully.
ozxile, good thought provoking article. I am now going to go back and watch all of the replays of the last couple of years of S14 to see if I can find anything that sparks an interest for me.
May 31st 2009 @ 12:53am
westy said | May 31st 2009 @ 12:53am | Report comment
Sheek I have now watched Tahu’s last three Waratahs games. He played with real merit in all three but he is definitely a No13 outside a No 12 with some ball playin ability. At 13 tahu seems much more comfortable in reading his defensive responsibilities.
With good service he has that uncanny league knack of getting on the outside of a player ( rather than through ). He does use his winger.
He is not ready yet but he has definitely improved.as a 13 not 12. It is a pity it took most of the year to find his position. He is better than a bench player at 13. acting as a second fly half or a younger Mortlock style No 12 are not his thing. He has also stopped trying to do “to much ” with the ball and isolating himself from available support.
definitely a work in progress with real potential.
May 31st 2009 @ 11:51pm
Ed said | May 31st 2009 @ 11:51pm | Report comment
Mclinden at 9??? I watched the last reds game and I saw him step in there a couple of times. He had a good clean pass, yelled about organising people and had a couple of runs that showed some good vision. He was a half-back for the raiders, which is admittedly more like a fly-half, but he has the skills and I’m not convinced he doesn’t have the rugby knowledge. You all have to admit he has picked the game up remarkably quickly. I did not think much of the reds picking him up initially, but every game he has played he has impressed me.
The guy really looks the part, small, quick footed, great pass (with a good ofload and flick).
I would suggest that playing halfback is not to dissimilar to playing hooker in league, which i’m sure he has played as well. Very similar roles…
Well it is a little left field, is it not?