With the Queensland Maroons winning their seventh straight Origin title, many have argued that they are the best rugby league team of all time.
Across the ditch, the World Champion All Blacks have shown no World Cup hangover and look ominous heading into this year’s Bledisloe Cup.
The main reason for Queensland’s success is their hugely talented individuals, some of whom will be remembered as the best ever in their positions, all playing at the same time. Similarly, in Rugby Union, New Zealand has a history of producing an unparalleled level of outstanding players that no other nation can match.
Not only is the talent being produced higher for both the All Blacks and the Maroons than their rivals, but they have maintained solid groups of experienced players that have carried their teams through difficult games.
A core of players such as Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Darren Lockyer, Greg Inglis and Petero Civoniceva have been the defining factor in Queensland’s success for the past seven years.
Equally, players such as Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith and Kevin Mealamu for the All Blacks, have ensured that the team maintains consistency.
Conversely, both the Wallabies in union and the Blues in league have been continuously experimenting with different players, having not stuck with and developed a core group over the past ten years.
This has lead to players constantly having to adapt to new tactics and has created to a lack of consistency across the park. Although the availability of quality players is not as great for the Wallabies and the Blues, this is not to say that the talent is not there. Rather, the selection process itself can be questioned, with a number of dubious decisions made by both teams over the years.
It seems that both the All Blacks and Maroons selectors have faith in their senior players, even if their form has not been ideal, where experience has come to provide the tipping point in big games.
Another issue present is that these teams, particularly the Wallabies, are constantly looking towards ‘the future’. Now although it is vital for teams to give young players a go so that they gain experience for future seasons, the issues of here and now are of the utmost importance and must be addressed before looking forward to future games.
In saying this, both the Blues and Wallabies seem to be closing the gap. Their previously inexperienced young players are growing in experience and confidence, whereas the All Blacks’ and Queensland’s senior player groups are winding down, which could turn the tide in coming years.
That said, the dominance of the two teams over the past decade is undeniable, and is unlikely to be matched in the future.
Despite highlighting the similarities of these two winning streaks, the All Blacks must still be considered a greater team all round, with an overall winning percentage of 75.36 percent. This would have to put the All Blacks as one of the greatest professional sporting teams of all time.
Queensland and New Zealand have dominated their respective sports over the past decade. It is impossible to predict how long their streaks will continue, but whenever they do end, they will be remembered throughout history.
Jake
Guest
Rugby rah rah? Are u f#*ked in the head? It's rugby union d#%kface
Curious
Guest
perhaps it's the time of day BUT what is going on in the League page of THE ROAR. If you want to talk/write about the All Blecks then get outta the LEAGUE Page/Space and carry on under their heading Rugby. definitely not a rah rah man. Thornie did mention on more than one occasion that he felt League was a much much tougher, faster and demanding game. Known him personally for about 20 years, a good bloke, gifted athlete and fitness fanatic who played both forms of rugby rah rah and league with much determination, vigour and excelled at both. A good all-round chap.
League_coach101
Roar Pro
Great article - have been thinking about this comparison recently. The All Blacks are a good match with the Maroons... if the Maroons were to maintain their winning record for another 90 years :) Ok so it's not that bad but in truth the Maroons aren't quite up there with the All Blacks. The Maroons may have a culture of winning for the past 7 years but the All Blacks have had a culture of winning for 100 years. The frustration NZ'ers felt about the World Cup wasn't that we couldn't quite get there (like the Blues) but that we were clearly the worlds best team for most of those years yet still couldn't take home the damn trophy! It would be the same as the Storm coming top of the ladder in the NRL every season yet never managing to win a Grand Final.... And the Wallabies.... well.... I like to think NSW aren't that bad.... :)
allblackfan
Guest
oikee, you want venom? Turn up at a South African stadium when the Boks are playing the ABs!! Especially if the ABs had wiped the floor with the Boks the week before!! Until recently, I enjoyed watching Origin but even at its peak, the atmosphere, passion and physical intensity of Origin can't match an ABs-Boks game especially on the high veldt where oxygen becomes a rarity! That's my view gained from watching/comparing both codes/games! Feel free to disagree!!:-) Even Brad Thorn has rated games against the Boks as the most physically intense football of either code that he has played. And then there's the fans ...!!!
oikee
Guest
Brad Thorn, Matt Rogers, Lotti Tiquiri, Wendal Sailor. All great xxxx maroon origin players. When you look at the boys we have running around now in the Maroons, i would question your statement the all-blacks are the better team. We have Billy Slater, alreay classed as Australias best athlete. Cameron Smith, rated the best dummy half to ever have played the game, GI, Inglis is something special, this bloke terrorises everyone. Thurston is like a drovers dog, he goes all day and never stops,. This Queensland team is reverved because we have never seen the likes of them. Having said that, i think we are still only scrapping the surface of this team, Mal Meninga is about to take it up another notch over the next 5 years, becoming coaching director of this god almighty team. Origin is the toughest arena in the world, bar none. Is why it is followed religously by 2 states of over 11 million people, all of who deep down care. You only have to look at the venom, the spite in our states by the hosting of the G20 in 2014. The hatred, the spite even at government level is now taking on new highs. Its healthy, its exciting, it down right war. The allblacks can never have this same effect on us. We dont hate you. :)
Ken
Guest
Do you think these teams developed their core, stuck with it and then were successful? Or were they successful and then decided to stick with those players? I'm not an expert on the AB's but I know they've had very few prolonged bad spells in their history - sticking with winning players isn't much of a risk. The Maroons has been fairly stable recently but they were quite happy to chop and change when they lost a bunch of series in a row just before this run - that's how they got a bunch of blokes like Smith, Slater, Thurston, Thaiday, Inglis etc to all start within a year or two of each other. If they'd been 'sticking' with their team some of those blokes would still be waiting for retirements to get their turn.