Matt Toomua isn’t like Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale or James O’Connor. In this era of social interactivity, Matt Toomua is notably silent.
While Quade Cooper has followed other sporting pursuits, Toomua has remained committed to the development of his skills as a world class fly-half through a stint with Western Province in the Currie Cup (as a 19-year-old, where he was so impressive the Stormers made moves to try and sign him).
While Kurtley Beale can’t stay out of the papers, Toomua can’t get in them. James O’Connor’s highly publicised wheeling and dealings with franchises dwarf Toomua’s silent commitment to the Brumbies and the tutelage of Stephen Larkham.
While all these players were schoolboy superstars (Toomua guided Australian Schoolboys to their first win over New Zealand Schoolboys since 1997) it appears that Toomua is at risk of becoming the forgotten man of his generation.
One of two sons to Christian missionaries based in Hawaii, Toomua has faced numerous ups and downs since his recruitment as one of only two players ever to be selected directly from high school to the Brumbies (the other being Julian Salvi in 2004).
At the relatively young age (for a flyhalf) of 19, Toomua was handed his Wallabies debut in a midweek game on the EOYT in 2009, and it was clear that Robbie Deans saw huge potential in the young Canberra flyhalf.
However, Toomua’s elation at selection was tempered when he suffered a broken jaw and was forced to miss the remaining games on the tour.
His accession to the number 10 jersey in 2013 has been a difficult one. He suffered the loss of Brumbies teammate Shawn McKay (Toomua writes McKay’s Brumbies cap 118 on his wristguard to reflect on the opportunities he has been given) in 2009 and missed the majority of 2012 season with a ruptured ACL.
Despite this it appears that Toomua has been making good career decisions to date. His time at the Brumbies under Larkham appears to be paying dividends for the young fly-half who has appeared solid this season for the Brumbies.
While the Brumbies have tapered off in the recent rounds, the effect of being part of a winning culture with expert coaches will further Toomua’s development. It is hard to say the same for Toomua’s schoolboy contemporary James O’Connor (who always seems to play better in Wallabies gold) and his tumultuous time in Melbourne.
Matt Toomua’s brand may not be as loud as the amigos, and his play may not be as full of flair (read mistakes), but he controls the game well, and is as comfortable in attack as in defence.
His kicking is strong, averaging 38.9 metres per kick (compared to Quade’s 33.8 metres – although Quade does grubber/chip a lot), at the start of last round he was fourth in the competition in try assists and third in linebreak assists.
Importantly unlike Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper he does not feature in the top 15 worst defenders (by missed tackles). Further, he does not feature in the top 20 for turnovers conceded (Quade Cooper is third in this metric on 19 turnovers).
He might not be razzle dazzle enough for your liking, but he is a great player, in his own way to watch. He is one of those players, who you tend not to notice because they just control the game so well and make few mistakes.
Sprinkle in occasional linebreaks and freak defence/attack and you are getting part of the way towards why Dan Carter is the greatest flyhalf of our generation. Percentage rugby, error free, well controlled with the occasional spark. In my view, Toomua has all the tools to become this type of player.
This Lions tour may not be Toomua’s time, perhaps Quade and Will G as a combination are too entrenched to be uprooted.
However, Toomua and Lealifano are building something substantial down in Canberra, which will be incapable of being ignored should it provide consistent results as the Super Rugby year grinds on.
Robbie Deans has made statements which show that he is well aware of the talent south of the NSW border, and hopefully with a few more solid performances, punters will become more and more aware of Matt Toomua. I encourage you all to do so, I have a feeling you won’t be disappointed.
John
Guest
Toomua at 10 and JOC at 12 with CL covering both positions.....not a bad combo!!
JDP
Roar Guru
THIS IS EXACTLY THE REASON THAT QUADE COOPER SHOULD NOT MAKE THE LIONS. Also I think that long term, just as a punt, Toomua at 10 (groomed to be ala Dan Carter), and JOC at 12.
John
Guest
As of today - the offload stats for Cooper is 37 but turover is also 37. Further Cooper kick the ball away twice as much (102) as Toomua (66) but Toomua's kicking average is 37 to 34. Both stats are very important. Kicking possession away against SA or the All Blacks is risky particularly given possession, pressure and points go hand in hand. Secondly turnover is a key stat. Any turn over against top quality teams are always fatal. You cant unlearn how to not turn over ball when you get to the big stage. They are habits that are hard to change and Cooper's persoanlity is such that he will always over play his hand as he likes to be the centre of attention. Larkam and Carter are not the same and their 'team first attitude' always evident in the manner in which they took less riskier options and chose plays that are more about the team than themselves. Finally Marc brings SBW's off load to the discussion, but SBW rarely turns the ball over. Cooper tops the turnover table by a mile and their is no other 5/8 in the top 20. Think about it....when your 5/8 who controls possession for your backline is the worst turnover offender...what hope the rest of your backline have?
John
Guest
Marc you are from Adelaide and you should stick to analysing AFL stats. Attacking stats should always be seen in the context of defensive stats. Cooper could have all the attacking flair in the world but his defense and error rate is the worst of any wallaby 5/8. Oh i forgot....he does'nt defend at 5/8. The offload to turnover ratio is appalling and if Cooper was playing for any of the major countries like the All Blacks or SA, he wont even make the reserve bench. In Oz we go on and on about players with the x factors, but the Bledisloe cup has been sitting in a NZ trophy cabinet since the day of the so called x factors. All Blacks dont pick on attacking flair alone which is why the likes of Carlos Spencer (and Coooper) will not make the current NZ team nor their reserve team. Carter is not a Cooper at all. He doesn't have Cooper's flair but has everything else that Cooper doesnt have. Carter didnt become the best 5/8 in the world by accident and flair.....its his overall game. Toomua is the closest to Carter than any Aussie 5/8. Wallaby will continue to have inconistent results if Deans and co continue to pick 5/8 players with flair and no substance.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Read above, for every offload Quade does he throws away possession just as often.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
"I had heard that larkham was grooming mogg to make the switch from 15 to 10" Great. Just what Australia need, another player who doesn't know if he is Arthur or Martha.
Marc David
Guest
let me guess? you guys are brumbies fans? I'm from Adelaide so i pledge no allegiance to anyone. Quade has his hand on the ball more and is twice the attacking player Toomua is...so common sense says more turnovers. Your babbling on about his stats over Quades...when you just said yourself he has only 1 more linebreak assist than Cooper. And the website i quoted said they both have 2. If your gonna provide a balanced article provide a comparison. Don't just eschew the virtues of 2 of his talents without providing competitive comparision. Id have Sio, Lealifano at 12 and Mogg at 15 in my team. How am i 1 eyed? Cooper is 24 years old. Of course he's gonna make mistakes. Oh yeah for comparison....Toomua is 23. Of course Cooper is gonna make mistakes but he has more experience than Toomua the boring, safe, kick the ball away, provide no attack threat so the defence can stand back player. Amazing how everyone goes on about Sonny Bill and now Israels "offload" talents. Yet you disregard that Quade is leading he competition. You base your whole analysis on "linebreak assists" and "try assists" yet you failed in the article to mention that Quade has the same numbers. I want Ewan as next Wallabies coach too. I must be one eyed.
JDP
Roar Guru
Thanks Dave - appreciate it. Will definitely keep an eye on the style as the rounds go on. Although must admit my gf is not too happy with me watching over 5 hours of rugby each weekend!
Dave
Guest
Haha yea you both used different stats sites yet the stats on each are the same as John stated. It seems that Marc has trouble seeing out of his one eye. All in all a great article. One thing u guys need to keep in mind when evaluating certain things like taking the ball into contact / the amount of kicking / whether or not they throw long balls etc is that a lot of this has to do with the game plan instilled by the coaches and should not be taken into account too heavily. This is especially apparent looking at the brumbies round by round stats as they have changed their game plan to suit the opposition and will become more evident when they play the nz teams
Post
Guest
I'm as big a Toomua fan as anyone, but Cooper works good with playmaker 12s. Taps is his regular 12 along with Harris. Even the Giteau example is a poor one, as the WBs beat the ABs in Hong Kong with the Cooper/Giteau combo.
JDP
Roar Guru
Try assists Toomua has 2, Quade Cooper has 2. http://www.rugbystats.com.au/rugby/super15/player-stats.html This was referenced in paragraph 12 of my article above. Linebreak assists, Toomua 3, Quade Cooper 2. http://www.rugbystats.com.au/rugby/super15/player-stats.html?refresh=1365540067968 See also paragraph 12 of the article above. While Quade Cooper does lead the competition in offloads (17) from Rene Ranger (12) - I think the more telling statistic is Cooper's turnover statistics (or error rate) which is often the result of risky plays like trying to offload in a tackle. In this statistic Cooper is 4th in the competition with 19 turnovers. That is 1.1 turnovers for every offload. Put more simply for every offload Quade makes he turns the possession over to the other team. I think it is this 'riskiness' to Quade's game which makes him hit and miss. The fact that Toomua is not in the top 15 for turnovers or missed tackles, says a lot about his game, and also alot about Quade. So, Quade does not beat Toomua in every stat. He beats him in offloads, which I have shown is more than compensated by another statistic where Quade beats Toomua - errors/turnovers. Toomua has more line break assists than Quade, and also equal try assists. I recognise that we may be using different statistics websites, so no hard feelings at all.
mania
Guest
everyone would want another larkham, but mogg isnt larkham
Billy Bob
Guest
Mania, maybe the Brumbies don't need another 10, but who would not want another Larkham?
Marc David
Guest
John Phillipson wrote "Also he is towards the top of linebreak assists and try assists (as mentioned in the article)" - regarding Toomua. Try assists? Cooper has 2, Toomua has NONE. linebreak assists? Yeah Toomua has 2...and Cooper has 2 Cooper is also at the TOP of offloads with 13 in the whole competition. Toomua don't rank at all. Quade beats him in every stat mate. You didn't write that in your article http://livescores.smh.com.au/rugby/super15/player-stats.html
Malo
Guest
We would smash them with either Ella or Larkham playing far classier players than the three amigo options. Give Toomua a crack he deserves it and is less of a risk.
ScrumJunkie
Guest
Like I've said to you before PK, I can barely remember last week. One thing I can remember is the Brumbies attack against the kings was too narrow all night. Obviously this wasn't all CL's fault, but he must take his share of the blame. The sum of Toomua and CL is much greater than it's parts. Toomua is the 10 and CL is the 12. I fear we will never agree on this, but isn't this the joy of the Roar.
PeterK
Guest
CL's is better exhibit 2012 games and all of Toomua's games. How many passes have you see Toomua throw wide to the winger bypassing 2 players? None because he cant.
PeterK
Guest
Cooper links very well with Taps who is a ball playing 12. How many times did Cooper play 10 with Gits 12? I honestly cannot remember once. Gits was a failed 10 for a long time. At the end of his career he was moved back to 12. However I believe Cooper surplanted Barnes as 10 not Gits.
Bakkies
Guest
Ben Lucas is one player who should be starting every week in his best position. He is going to be another James Hanson a bench filler behind a test player. It's their fault for not looking elsewhere.
dahl
Guest
Cooper has had runs with ball playing 12s. Think giteau. It didn't work. He doesn't link well with other play makers. Toomua is a different story. Calmer. Uses other play makers. Less selfish. On the selfish front. The selectors need to make some examples of what is and what is not wanted. Team first. Can anyone seriously suggest that is th qc mould?