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Eight weeks ago, there was a brief press announcement that Kurtley Beale, the NSW prodigy since his school days, was leaving the Waratahs at the end of the 2011 season and heading for the Melbourne Rebels.
In retrospect, this was and is an earth shattering event for the NSW Waratahs on and off the field.
It was briefly reported as such but quickly disappeared into the background and was forgotten.
Today, James O’Connor will sign with the Melbourne Rebels.
Beale is one of a handful of mercurial players. O’Connor is another.
In other environments or walks of life, each would be considered a genius.
There are really only five of these mercurial players in the southern hemisphere. They are Beale, Cooper, O’Connor and Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) from rugby union and Benji Marshall from rugby league.
Mark Ella and Russell Fairfax were also in this category.
They possess the “Royal Routine” of football skills.
They combine extraordinary vision, sublime skill both from hand and foot, ice cold blood in their veins making them high percentage goalkickers (excepting SBW), freaky evasiveness, preposterous self belief and incredible courage.
Dan Carter, Danny Cipriani, Pat Lambie, Jonathon Sexton, Stephen Larkham, Cooper Cronk, Todd Carney, Darren Lockyer, Jamie Soward and others are gifted and highly successful players.
They turn games singlehandedly but, in my view don’t have that X factor, the sublime talent of the other group.
Players like Beale captivate and build supporter bases and memberships.
They fill stadia. They command headlines. They need to be given the support to work their magic.
They need conducive playing strategies and coaching techniques. They need to be surrounded by players who will support but won’t get in the way.
In the 2005 NRL Grand Final, Pat Richards was such a player. He had come out of a well earned retirement. His instinct told him that he needed to be ready for the unexpected.
He came off his wing, took the magical Benji Marshall flick pass, iced the game and instantly added thousands of new members to the Tigers 2006 membership drive.
It is not dissimilar to music bands that have a musical genius in their line up. The other musicians, play important supporting roles but are easily replaceable if they ever get ahead of themselves.
The players like Beale and O’Connor, play at the bleeding edge. They make mistakes. But they all seem almost psychopathically impervious to the effect of these mistakes. This too makes them special.
So now we hear that two of these extraordinary players will be playing for the Melbourne Rebels next season.
Firstly, how did NSW let Beale go? Secondly, how did the Rebels, a first year franchise, trump the NSW offer?
One thing is for sure. Rugby has just entered the real world of entertainment where supply, demand and performance determine value.
When the Hollywood Studio contract system that tied actors to one studio, collapsed in 1948, actors became free agents and their earnings rose to reflect their box office power.
So too in rugby. The most valuable players are signing one year agreements so that they can test their market value annually and play for the highest bidders.
Beware. As Kevin Costner,John Travolta and more recently rugby’s Jonah Lomu and Berrick Barnes found out to their cost, the reality of market testing can be a double edged sword.
In rugby, injury is a constant, career ending threat. If the English Premier League is anything to go by, the players will earn more, bring more people to the games’ sources of revenue (TV audiences, merchandise, sponsorships and gate takings), and the overall game will grow.
The Reds have shown that entertaining, winning rugby is a very commercially viable proposition, no matter what they other codes offer.
The audaciousness of Melbourne Rebels’ attempt to build a professional rugby club in the AFL heartland, has been repeated with the coup of signing these two hot rugby properties.
Ably led by their savvy Impresario Chairman, Harold Mitchell, the Rebels stole them from right under the noses of their present employers.
The Force have a sick note. Their pitch is not as enticing as other organisations.
The NSW Waratahs don’t have any excuses, and can only blame themselves. The new Board has dropped the proverbial ball.
Once again, the Waratahs find themselves without a playmaker or an X factor player to attract back their 25,000 lost supporters. They are also missing a confirmed coach and captain for 2012.
The Rebels have momentum. Expect more signings. Meanwhile, in the words of the co-authors of “Money for Nothing” Dire Straits’ genius Mark Knoppfler and Sting, Beale and O’Connor can sing:
“We gotta install microwave ovens, Custom kitchen deliveries, We gotta move these refrigerators, We gotta move these colour TV’s”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.