Waratahs Tom Carter is tackled by Crusaders. AAP Image/NZPA, Wayne Drought
Tom Carter. The name strikes fear into the hearts of opposing back-lines this year. No, not quite, but some people think he’s been particularly good this year. That wouldn’t be hard – he hadn’t exactly set the benchmark remarkably high.
Other people think he is just the same ol’ Tommy Carter: just a slow, slightly chubby inside centre who tackles a bit and isn’t afraid to be a battering ram.
Hardly a high quality professional rugby player, is he?
You see, Tom Carter is one of those players that people love to Crusaderise* to the nth degree. Some people love him, but most people hate him and therefore love to barrack AGAINST him.
See I like the Waratahs and cheer for them to win on the weekend – but at the same time I want Carter to get smashed, throw a few errant passes and get chased down on a break to the try-line.
I’d be willing to bet that I’m not the only rugby follower in this boat. It actually gets tricky sometimes, wishing the Waratahs home, while not wanting Carter to be apart of the good!
I can admire his selfless ability to throw himself into a defensive line at top speed – well his top speed – just to set up a quality ruck. I can see he makes a good tackle or two, but still I love to hate him.
Someone on The Roar raised Carter in a discussion the other day, said he had performed quite well this year. This was after round 2. After round 3, and a loss to the Crusaders, Spiro Zavos wrote a piece and included criticism of Carter.
A few people jumped on board the bagging bandwagon, including me.
Before long there was an annoying contrary individual who wanted to point out that, in fact, Carter was probably one of our better players because he scored a try and actually made a lot of tackles, missing none.
Well, we can’t let anyone cheer on the guy we love to hate can we? No, sir! So all of us Crusaderisers (wow, the vocabulary on here is spectacular!) thought of a number of reasons why those facts don’t count:
“I didn’t see his tackles, therefore they weren’t important.”
“He is still remarkably slow.”
“No, that try was basically a walk over because of Tatafu Polota-Nau’s great run and off-load.”
“Even after the great set up he still made the try seem in doubt enough to warrant a TMO looking at it.”
“Was Tom Carter on the field? Oh, sorry I didn’t even realise.”
“It’s the players around him, they make him look better. See what happens when he doesn’t have world class Berrick Barnes inside him and Kurtley Beale outside him sometime.”
Ok, I’ll admit that some of those responses were just me and were never written on a message board, but everyone was thinking along the same lines. Spiro even came back on to emphasise his point again.
I say all that to say this – people love to hate big Tommy Carter. It’s never going to change.
He could be the last man picked for the Wallabies World Cup squad, have four inside centres play and get injured before him, run on for the final, score 3 tries, make 20 tackles and kick the winning field goal, but we would still find a reason to say he’s not really that good.
Of course, that will never happen, because he’s not that good. But you get the point.
There is more evidence, look at the man himself. Watch his celebrations when he scores a try, or sets one up. He goes off his nut!
But not in a Drew Mitchell I-do-this-all-the-time-it-shows-how-good-I’ve-become way, its much more than that. He celebrates like he knows everyone watching him didn’t think he could do it.
If only I could not Crusaderise him for a few minutes.
I’d probably be able to admire a man that has risen to what is really quite a high level of professional athleticism. I might be able to consider the fact he has done this with what is probably considered less talent than others in the game.
He isn’t as naturally as silky smooth Kurtley Beale or Quade Cooper. He wasn’t created as powerfully as Digby Ioane. I might really applaud him because he is still making the most of what he has. But I can’t NOT Crusaderise.
At one point here I was considering using a bit of a statistical table to analyse how he ranks among the other Super 15 regular inside centres so far.
But that isn’t the point, is it?
It’s not about statistics. We can twist them, turn them round and still want to cheer against him and that’s ok, its sport.
Even if the stats were to clearly point out that, so far this season (I have to put qualifiers on the slightest possible compliment!), he has been one of the best in his position I would still call him things like useless, slow, the worst Waratah ever signed and one-dimensional when he plays.
Although, in actual fact, there are many worse Waratahs and some of them have even less dimensions than him. Dean Mumm for example, I don’t think he even has ONE dimension. But Carter is the one I choose to Crusaderise.
I think it’s healthy, it’s what makes being a fan special; we can decide we don’t like a team/person. We don’t have to hate them as people but on a sports field it’s different, I can actually respect them as a team and acknowledge their abilities but still want to cheer heavily against them. It goes further than that. There is the constant dissecting of the game.
When we Crusaderise someone, or a team, we can’t believe that they were really that good even when they were. Sure the Crusaders beat the Waratahs, but the ref was on their side, and besides, it was only an intercept try that got them going. See? It’s easy.
It’s fun.
*To Crusaderise is the fans ability to cheer or barrack against a team or person just for the sake of it. Clearly the Crusaders have been a great rugby team for a number or years, have had some quality success and play some quality football. But there are thousands of rugby fans out there who look past all that just to cheer against a successful team they love to hate.
Sarah
Guest
Tom's a mad player. He's such a hard worker and it pays off. Plus he is SOOOOOOOOOO hot
Snowman
Guest
I know this is an off the field comment, but my kid was sick with Leukemia last year and Tom Carter and other Waratahs came to visit all the sick kids at Sydney Childrens hospital regularly. Tom was really good about it. Infact as far as I could evaluate it, The Waratahs put all the other codes to shame - never saw any NRL,AFL the soccer guys did make it once. Special thanks to - Tom Carter, Lockie Turner, Daniel Helengahu, Tatafu, Ben Mowen and the others whose names I can't remember.
Elisha Pearce
Expert
Haha that is a great example CM! Love it. And the point of it is, its true, its prevalent and its FUN! Sometimes its great to love to hate a team! And I think some of the people that do it to Carter do it purely because its fun. Sorry to all the people that didn't get it, didnt think it was funny or thought it was too long. Ill make sure my next article has some more centred analysis and cracks out a few tables of stats to make life even more exciting! :P
cm
Guest
EP, the article was spot on. Ignore the humourless throng. When I was a kid, everyone in Sydney supported two rugby league teams: their own, and whoever was playing Manly that week. (Manly supporters excepted, of course.) It wasn't a fibros/silvertails thing as Roy Masters liked to paint it - after ll, genuine silvertails were at the rugby or the polo. People from all walks of life followed that policy, and often bet blindly against Manly irrespective of who they were playing. Me? I just hated their horrible maroon and white-striped jerseys. And I've never been fond of sportsmen with died blond hair. There, I've said it!
JohnB
Guest
Here I think it would go "Ahhh kick chase - shut up!" to continue the parallel and not in any way an actual response to your comment! To be marginally serious, it's gilding the lily to say I never would have seen him play, but I don't see many Waratahs games and have never specifically watched him so I can't really say anything sensible about him. However, it's obvious he's not the least bit flashy and that he must play the old style in centre crash ball game. Playing within your limitations is not such a bad thing though, and it's not his fault if that's what he's good at and that he's not so good at playing in a different way. Fact is that must be what he's picked to do, and if he wasn't doing what he's told to do, he wouldn't be getting picked. A fair bit of truth to EP's basic premise regarding perceptions of players and how difficult they are to change (and how unfair/unreasonable they can be).
Who Needs Melon
Guest
The kick chase?
bjornthor
Guest
Chester, Agree he's not a bad player. But he does carry on like a twit, even his team mates think so: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/reality-show-meets-sitcom-in-waratahs-super-gym--and-the-camera-is-candid-20100213-nyfe.html Just one of those guys people like to put crap on.
dunc
Guest
There must be a young lad somewhere in big old NSW that could do better, surely, surely!
g-rad
Guest
Every paragraph in the incredibly long article essentially says the same thing just phrased in a different way.
PeterK
Roar Guru
Good article thanks, just a bit long winded to make the point. Personally I try really hard to avoid the preconceptions. I was not a fan of Carters. He has 2 big faults , he is to slow and he doesnt pass, he dies with the ball often. Then I noted that he had improved that this year by offloading and or passing the ball. So I was willing to judge what was in front of me. Then in the Crusaders game he showed up just how slow he was , actually slower than a lot of loose forwards. He really is a Nathan Grey wannabe. His admirable traits are his big heart, he is willing to truck it to gain the advantage line, and he tackles well. This really got me to thinking. IF we want a player like that at 12, and one who can offload in the tackle, I agree we dont have a backline player to replace him. BUT! Why dont we use a loose forward? IMO Dennis could do everything Carter does but better, and he is just as quick. When Palu comes back , move Mowen to 6 and Dennis to 12. A better harder tackler. Can offload the ball. Also is willing to truck it up.
James Mc Gregor
Guest
Did anyone else find it funny when Carter is made to stand out on the sideline in set piece attack (almost on the bench), presumably to get him as far away from the ball as possible. Not exactly what you want in 12. On the plus side, Carter is in my top 3 kick-chase players in the comp, great accolade to have.
vaguely
Roar Pro
I think Burgess falls into this category, too. He was average in last years Super IV but when he got his chance at Wallabies level he really shone. Genia came back and was a bit under-done, I surprised myself in wanting Burgess to start. This year he has started well, I would say the best 9 in Australia, he was the best 'Tah vs the Crusaders, yet Genia has struggled more behind a beaten pack. When I told my brother that Burgess was playing well, I received the response 'Meh'. Just about sums up the point of the article for me.
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
Really harsh Big Steve. I'll be waiting with bated breath for your attempt
Big Steve
Guest
I think you are the worst writer I have seen post on the roar since i started reading here.
Elisha Pearce
Expert
Sorry, I realised it's not everyones cup of tea. I like to have a different slant on things every now and then. Apparently a few others are in your chair of thinking it was a waste of time and a few thought it was funny/insightful in a weird way. Maybe Ill just put the heading - "Concrete Sequentials avoid this" in other articles that are more vague and full of feely ideas like this one.
captain nemo
Roar Guru
the 5 minutes I have spent reading this, I want it back!!!
stu
Guest
I love the article - it's a great observational piece.Nice work I used to love watching Percy Montgomery stuff things in the late 90's - then i ended up liking his persistance
Elisha Pearce
Expert
BAHAHAAA. Those were two classic role-plays. And are exactly what sports fans are like. Love it. Sorry my piece wasn't that succinct!
JohnB
Guest
If I'd ever actually seen him play, it would be tempting to do a "what have the Romans ever done for us" thing on him. As it is, I'll guess how it might go: "What has Carter ever done for the Waratahs?:" Pause. "Made his tackles?" "Oh well that yes sure obviously. But what else?" Pause "Got them over the advantage line from first phase?" "Set the ball up strongly for second phase?" "Played to the pattern the coaches set?" "Always made the dummy run hard?" "Always backed up and worked hard off the ball?" "Used all of the ability he has?" "Never stopped trying?" "Ok, ok, but apart from tackling, taking the ball up, not losing it in contact, getting the team moving forward, playing the role he's been assigned, doing all the off-the-ball things, and trying hs guts out, what has Carter ever done for the Waratahs?"
jameswm
Guest
Sam You said: "It’s similar to when a commentator starts to highlight a players particular weakness in their game eg. defence. Suddenly every man and his dog starts to hone in on this one particular facet and every missed tackle is given higher prominence than anything else and the perception becomes reality". This is dead right and the perfect example is Polota-Nau's supposedly weak lineout throwing. It has taken him 2-3 years to shake off this label. He and Moore would play a test, we'd lose more (excuse the pun) with Moore throwing, and TPN does one ordinary throw, and perpetuates the reputation.