Is Liam Gill the new David Croft?

Week one of the Super Rugby trials is already done and dusted. Anyone reading into the form of teams in trials surely must realize that this is only marginally better at reading the form off the back of a charity match – somewhat futile.

A bunch of players being blooded for the first time, substitutions galore and new combinations being forged means that any sort of rhythm in the game is scarce.

So when trying to analyze a team’s chances for the upcoming competition, one must compare it to judging the performance of a Formula 1 car by listening to sound the key makes when entering the ignition.

The headlines and main talking points read the all same – Izzy did this, Quade did that, James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale unite etc.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to hear about these guys, and it’s particularly refreshing to hear the positivity of many of the comments, however it leaves little to no limelight for the 50 other odd players.

You’d think, being a former prop, I’d be use to this sort of treatment, but someone needs to stand up for the unsung heroes forwards in this day and age.

And no, these forwards I speak of aren’t just props.

One of the few comments that did come to my attention from the Reds match was the impressive form the young Reds flanker Liam Gill when playing the Blues over the weekend.

After only being brought on after the half time break, he featured prominently across the park in both attack and defence.

While point scoring is not the sole indicator of performance, he managed to snare two of the seven tries scored by the Reds in an open game of end-to-end action.

His continued development over the past couple of years has reinforced to me that this kid is going to be something great, and a Wallaby for years to come. The bloke has got talent oozing from his pores.

But in thinking that I came upon the realisation that he’s an open-side flanker… in a country where talent is richer a good deal of other positions.

A good mate of mine highlighted to me that he’s barely scraping the ripe old age of 20; he’s still got room to grow and bulk to build.

He could be a second rower or number 8 yet. While this is by all means possible (and praying it to be true for Gill’s sake), I fear he might become the next David Croft.

Being a Queenslander and fellow Terrace boy back in the 90s, I was brought up in school being told that David Croft was the next big thing in Australia Rugby.

When he graced the field for the first XV at school and then subsequently for the Reds, he was a game changer in every sense of the word.

Coming through the junior representative levels, he had Wallaby written all over him. This was further backed up by him winning Australian Super Rugby Rookie of the Year Award in 2001 playing for the Reds.

While neither flashy nor starry in his performances, he consistently carried more than his weight in a Reds team that was plagued with mediocrity in the 2000s.

His performances weren’t a stellar year here or there and ordinary in the others – he was consistently one of, if not the strongest Reds performer, week in, week out.

He was primed for greater honours, however he happened to come through at a time where Australia was blessed with the talents of George Smith and Phil Waugh.

As a Reds fan, I myself am acutely aware that I am biased in my assessment of Crofty.

With all the above being said, I’m fully conscious of the fact that George Smith was certainly in a class of his own during this period.

Modern day pundits of the game struggle to think of any comparisons for Richie McCaw, with Smith usually being mentioned as the closest.

Phil Waugh was also a terrific breakaway, and while perhaps not up to George Smith’s ability, he certainly wasn’t out of place in a Wallabies outfit.

His talent far exceeded his 5’9” stature.

But I always felt for Crofty – toiling endlessly at the woeful Reds during this period seemed a thankless task.

While the Eales’, Herberts and Lathams rotated out of the Red and into the Gold in the twilight years of their career, there Crofty remained at Ballymore, left to wonder what could have been.

Perhaps if we kept it at 20 side as they did pre-1877 then perhaps we could accommodate George, Phil and David, but in reality there is only room for two in the line-up (at most).

Ironically, or perhaps eerily, Gill just graduated from the same school as Crofty a couple of years back and many predicted he was being fast tracked for Wallaby greatness.

I fear history may be repeating.

The current Wallaby set-up is clearly built around Pocock and Hooper featuring as the premier open-side flankers in Australian Rugby.

Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I saying that the pecking order as it currently stands, Pocock-Hooper-Gill, is inaccurate.

One only has to remember the influence Pocock had on the Springboks last World Cup or look back at performances Hooper churned out time and again in most recent European tour in order to validate their standings. These two are both freakishly talented.

While comparisons over different time periods are difficult, I feel it’s not outrageous to think that had Crofty hit his prime a different time, he may very well have made it as a consistent member of the Wallabies.

As it was, he hung up the boots with just five Wallabies caps.

Interesting to note, Gill has already racked up eight caps so there is still hope yet.

I’ve heard it all before, “the depth in Australian Rugby isn’t there”, “things aren’t like back at the turn of the century”, and the every assortment of comment about the ‘Wobblies’.

While every position on the rugby field can be categorized as ‘important’, having a world-class flanker has been a feature of the majority of champion teams.

Time will tell as to how the three-way duel will pan out.

Who knows – one of them might head to the greener (no pun intended) pastures overseas, leaving the others behind and thus solving the problem (ala George Smith’s move in 2009).

For the time being though, with the 3 current top-tier open-sides being 24, 21, and 20 there are certainly many more chapters to this saga.

One thing is for sure – it’s certainly a good problem to have.