Waratahs Kurtley Beale is taken in a Hurricanes tackle in the Super 14 rugby match at Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009. (AAP Images/NZPA, Ross Setford)
When Bob Dwyer was asked what he thought of the five-eighth of the 2005 Australian Schoolboys rugby team, he quipped “that backup five-eighth looks pretty good.” Dwyer was talking about Quade Cooper. The player he was asked about was Kurtley Beale.
The arrival of Beale, the Aboriginal Wunderkind from Sydney’s western suburbs, via St Joseph’s College, Hunter’s Hill, had been long heralded. Given the observation of Dwyer and others, could it be that Australian rugby was about to get two saviours for the price of one?
The reality hasn’t been straightforward.
There is no doubt that both Beale and Cooper are prodigiously talented and remain considerably interesting prospects. However, I like to say that Cooper is a reincarnation of Carlos Spencer, except that where King Carlos was inconsistent from match to match, Cooper seems to be inconsistent from moment to moment within the one match. Quite literally, he can be dazzlingly brilliant one instant and then awful the next.
Beale also has consistency problems, but his bigger issues are his defence and his lack of physical presence.
Despite these differences, the end result is really much the same: both players struggle to fulfill the classic five-eighth’s role of being able to control a game.
It was therefore a pleasant surprise to see a young kid step out of the shadows and do just this for the Brumbies last weekend.
Of course, those who follow these things closely knew of Matt Toomua before his quality performance against the Blues. It’s not just any player who goes straight from school into the squad of the Brumbies, and then onto their bench (as he did in 2008).
And one should point out that Toomua’s Australian Schoolboys achieved something in 2007 that Beale and Cooper were not able to: they beat New Zealand Schoolboys for the first time since 1997, when a certain Craig Wing and Ryan Cross were the stars of the show.
Indeed, scouts were adamant that the 2007 crop were the best batch of Australian schoolboy rugby union players to emerge in the past decade, with one NRL scout saying of the outside back prospects: “There’s half a dozen who can’t miss.”
One of these, Joseph Tomane, is already a starting player for the Melbourne Storm. But the rest seem to have stayed in rugby, with players like Rob Horne (Waratahs), James O’Connor (Force) and Afusipa Taumoepeau (Brumbies) already having made marks at the top level.
Now we welcome Toomua.
One may contrast the quiet way he has been brought along with all the fanfare surrounding Beale and Cooper. It seems clear to me that their development has suffered from all the attention and weight of expectation.
Of course, it’s very early days yet for Toomua.
But there was a maturity and all-round quality about his performance that we have yet to see from Beale and Cooper. Take Toomua’s dropped goal, for example.
Johnny Wilkinson could hardly have bettered the deliberate planning and clinical execution. As we all know, Wilkinson wasn’t bad at controlling a game.
But perhaps one might better compare Toomua’s understated arrival and composed performance against the Blues with the young Dan Carter. It’s worth remembering that the player who has gone on to become the world’s best rugby player was not considered good enough to make the New Zealand Schoolboys team (trivia question: who kept him out?).
Carter progressed straight to senior ranks in Canterbury, and no matter where he was positioned or whom he came up against, observers kept being struck by the fact that he got the job done, that he didn’t make mistakes, and that he had no weaknesses.
Already one can say that Toomua is more along these lines than Beale or Cooper ever will be.
What are the lessons in all this?
That schoolboy acclaim is far from a sure guide of adult success? That with Toomua at the helm, the Brumbies will beat the Chiefs this weekend?
That with so much young talent coming through, Robbie Deans has picked a great time to become Wallaby coach?
That Queensland are the authors of their own demise by not being able to hang onto their prodigiously talented schoolboy stars (O’Connor, Toomua and David Pocock)?
That there is even more to come from the 2008 Australian Schoolboys, who went one better than the 2007 crop by becoming the first ever team to win on Kiwi soil? That Australian rugby is on the threshold of another era like the early 1980s, when the quality of the backs far exceeds that of the forwards? (notice that almost all of these emerging stars are backs).
I don’t know.
But what I can do is agree with the rest of what Dywer said in 2005: “Things look fantastic.”
Lindommer
Guest
Terry Kidd: "Jerry and Jameswn are getting close. It was Greg Cornelson in a NSW City v NSW Country match in 1978." I don't know what game your were at Terry, but it wasn't NSW City v NSW Country, that was at Orange last week. Rugby used to play Sydney v NSW Country (which in those days included ACT). The game in question was at T G Millner Field in 1975, well before Cornelsen moved to Queensland. Country repeated the ruse against a visiting England later that year leading to the Poms compainig to the IRFU and a ban on "up-the-jumper" plays.
Terry Kidd
Guest
DaniE you are quite correct. The game was a cracker. I watched it on ABC TV at the time with I think Trevor Allen calling it. At the time I was playing League and the next year joined the Army, from there I have played rugby and loved it. That game was the catalyst that got me thinking about and watching rugby .... maybe why it sticks in my mind.
DaniE
Guest
Terry, Country came away with the game 22-20 over City... the game would have been a cracker - thankfullly there is great footage of the up the jumper try!
Greg Russell
Roar Guru
Backing up Matt's point about the influence of NRL, here's another snippet from the 2005 article from which I took the quote by Dwyer (remember this is Beale talking as a schoolboy): "[Beale] said his big left- and right-foot steps were moves taken from his rugby league heroes. "I like a lot of guys from rugby league," said Beale, naming Matt Bowen, Benji Marshall and Sonny Bill Williams."
Frank O'Keeffe
Guest
I forgot to add, there was a shocking statistic that existed mid-season this year. The Waratah's, from about 70-80 set pieces, hadn't gotten the ball out to their wings once!
Frank O'Keeffe
Guest
I never understood the Mark Ella v Curtley Beale comparison. Mark Ella was all about working without space, sucking in defenders, and most importantly providing his outside backs with opportunities. Curtley Beale, to me, isn't a constructive five-eighth. He enjoys attacking the advantage line with the ball in hand, like Mark Ella, but quite often he has a go himself way too often. Some of Rod Kafer's delightful analysis has revealed several instances this season where Beale could have, and should have, offloaded the ball in many instances where better scoring possibilities were available out wide. Beale just isn't a constructive player. Kafer did a great job at showing how Beale is also struggling with long passes, which is a worry since Beale's been around for a few seasons now. Cooper, while he's been inconsistent, doesn't have the same problem. I remember thinking last year that Beale would improve and then maybe one day challenge for the wallaby no. 10. I have to say he's pretty far from it right now.
Matt
Guest
Being a rep coach at Under 20's level I get to see the impact/influence the NRL has on many young players. The fact that it is so readily available on prime time, free to air TV means young players are exposed to NRL style play and habits much more than they are to rugby. It's not hard to see where Beale and Cooper get alot of their influences from, the extravagant sidesteps, cute kicks, overplaying their hands and poor options. Whilst they are both obviously talented I agree that they both were rushed prematurely into playmaking roles with their respective provinces before they had proven their mettle. As for the crop of Wallabies and the makeup of the side I agree Barnes should take the #10 shirt with Guiteau outside him in #12. Guiteau, fantastic player he is, still made some odd choices at first reciever last season...choices that a composed flyhalf like Barnes would never have made. For what it is worth I don't think Stirling Mortlock will make the side at #13...Ryan Cross with his beautiful running lines and ability to find the tryline is in better form and will only get better. Cross and Mortlock play the same position in remarkably different ways...Mortlock is the more direct, hard in contact type while Cross proves the addage that "rugby is a contact game made all the easier when you don't make contact" every time he runs those wonderful outside lines and cruises into open space. Personally, I can't wait for the international series to start...It's a very exciting time for Australian rugby, plenty of talent to choose from and a great coach who will be better for having his first year out of the way.
Dan the Main Man
Guest
All this talk of over-hyped schoolboy players reminds me of the mid 90s when Elton Flatley started being picked in the Nudgee 1st XV in grade 9 (he must have only been about 14!!). That a 14yo could be picked at five-eighth in what was, at the time, the strongest schoolboy team in australia, was amazing. Yet, Flatley was never quite able to live up to the expectations. Sure, he was picked for QLD straight out of school, and was in the Australian team within 2-3 yrs but he never really dominated as the "14yo wunderkind" tag might have implied. Perhaps its because he got stuck behind Larkham or perhaps the constant niggling inuries never allowed him to get his game on properly.
katzilla
Roar Guru
'As a footballer, why would you give up a beach life for a cold and bitter Winter in the Nations Capital……??????' Frank, probably for two reasons, Australias most successful team so the best chance of winning a title. And also because people in the ACT actually give a damn about the rugby. Best ground i've watched super 14 at, AND THE BAR STAYED OPEN AFTER THE GAME!!!!
Terry Kidd
Guest
Jerry and Jameswn are getting close. It was Greg Cornelson in a NSW City v NSW Country match in 1978. It was Greg Cornelsen who scored 4 tries in a Bledisloe test. The final answer is needed .... what was the final score in that City v Country game? A hint ... it was close, the ball up the jumper trick and the try made the difference .... any takers?
Frank
Guest
Toomua is something special, the next Dan Carter no doubt……never over plays his hand…..a true 5/8……Tip, Gitz to go back to inside centre next year…. The brumbies are looking hot next year, what are the odds????, it would sure be a better bet than Firepower…….also what are they to do with all the emerging talent + veterans + O’Connor……( James is definitely going to leave the Force, the Brumbies will be his first pick no doubt and why not) With Gitz, Leafano, Toomua, Smith, Mortlock, Cooper, and potentially O’connor....... shit hot…..and the forward pack aren’t bad either So, why does the Brumbies program attract and keep so many high profile players??? As a footballer, why would you give up a beach life for a cold and bitter Winter in the Nations Capital……?????? Further, all brumbies players seem so loyal to the program and there fellow players…..no one seems to want to run away to another team…..Why????? I can only think of 2 second rowers who have turned there back and fled to NSW is it the coach..... Is it because they bread more wallabies than any other province……??? Is there less internal politics and media scrutiny????? Please tell me the secret ingredient, it might save mighty Western force from an impending death…
Jameswm
Guest
Wasn't it when playing for a country team?
Jerry
Guest
Based on your last question, I'm gonna guess it was Greg Cornelson who of course scored 4 tries for the Wallabies in 78. No idea when he may have done the up the jumper move though.
Terry Kidd
Guest
Here are another couple of great trivia questions: Who stuck the 'ball up the jumper' in a great move that lead to a try? What game was it and when? What was the final score? How many tries did that player later score in a Bledisloe test?
Jerry
Guest
I'm not saying Luke didn't play 10 for the Secondary Schools team, I'm saying he played for that team after Carter would have already left school. Luke may have kept Dan on the bench for the Colts though. Gopperth was the 10 for the Secondary Schools in 2001 (even though he's only a couple of months older than Luke) and is probably the guy who was ahead of Carter.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
In 2002, McAlister made the following rep teams: New Zealand Colts New Zealand Under 19 New Zealand Secondary Schools North Harbour RFU
katzilla
Roar Guru
Jerry - They were both in 20s in 2002 i think. But both would have hit End of School at the same time, and McAlister definately was a School boy rep first five. If im wrong then it is by a year at most. I know that Carter had to bench it for a bit in the 20s for McAlister
Knives Out
Guest
'It is a truly golden era that we are entering. Bring it and the 5th Aust. Super rugby team……….' I don't know what you mean, Ohtani. I think you're perpetuating an inaccurate stereotype.
True Tah
Guest
Jets the problem with the QRU development program is that it is working for the Brumbies and Force, and sadly not the Reds. What is wrong with the Reds recruitment - they lose these sort of players, and have to recruit a bunch of Kiwi and NSW hasbeens???
Jets
Guest
It should be mentioned that at the 2006 Australian Schoolboy championships Queensland II took out the title. NSW I had Beale at 5/8, QLD I had Cooper and QLD II had a grade 11 kid named Matt Toomua who organised his team with great skill. I watched a fair bit of Cooper and Toomua as schoolboy players and they were both wonderful to watch. Cooper was brilliant and could win a game on his own while Toomua would always get the best out of the players around him. I hope that Toomua is not looked at as a player who must be rushed in before the next RWC but given time to grow and develop with the U20's for the next 2 years and with the Brumbies after that he could be added to an extended Wallaby squad if he is developing well. I also think Cooper and Beale will be Wallabies. I have always thought Cooper would be best played at 15 while Beale is growing into a 12. I must say that Qld GPS rugby over the last few years has been blessed with some great talent. Cooper, Toomua and O'Connor just to name a few. While the Reds have not been doing great on the scoreboard the QRU development programs have been working.