Michael Cheika must have felt something like a desperate point guard throwing up a Hail Mary shot from halfway as the buzzer sounded when he picked up the phone to try and entice rugby league star Kalyn Ponga to rugby union.
It was a long shot, but no one on his team was going to admonish him for having a crack.
Cheika’s call was mostly lauded inside rugby circles, as many fans and commentators could see Ponga bringing his silky skills and no-fear approach to a Wallabies jersey. The thinking seemed to be that sometimes the long shots pay off the most.
Recently, much of the commentary in rugby union circles has been about trying to recoup the signatures of wayward rugby juniors who are receiving high praise in the NRL.
It mustn’t sit well to see players like Kalyn Ponga, Cameron Murray and Angus Crichton lighting up the State of Origin cauldron and receiving so much exposure while plying their trade for a different code.
In fact, on top of these high-profile names, NRL clubs seem to be securing more and more players that started in rugby union. Players like Joseph Suaalii and Lachlan Ilias went to the South Sydney Rabbitohs this year and there will eventually be a tug of war between the codes for talented female players like Millie Boyle, who did start originally in rugby league.
So far this strategy seems to be paying dividends for the NRL, and their clubs seem to show no signs of abating.
The question becomes whether the focus of Rugby Australia should be on trying to entice these big names back or trying to retain the talented juniors in the rugby pathways who seem to be heading to rugby league in record numbers.
(AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
Historically there has always been an interchange between the two codes, particularly in the backs, and many sports historians are right to point out that without the high-profile defection of rugby union star Dally Messenger in 1908, perhaps we wouldn’t have an NRL today.
In fact, when rugby league became professional and rugby union was still amateur, club administrators and coaches had a field day signing young rugby union prospects to their code on professional contracts, leaving rugby in a weakened position.
I see some parallels to today.
If the game doesn’t seriously look at its retention and professional pathways, rugby could find itself in a similar position again.
Rugby union in Australia is in a precarious position, with off-field controversies, fiscal pressures forcing the culling of professional sides and a lack of on-field success, particularly by the national team. These factors all paint a picture of a code that should be focusing on many other things before considering paying huge sums for rugby league players.
Much fanfare was made recently about the NSW Waratahs, backed by Rugby Australia, signing Parramatta Eels back-rower Tepai Moero in what was labelled a big win for rugby.
Whilst Moeroa is a handy league player and former Australian Rugby Schoolboys rep, is he really the missing piece of a team that failed to even make the Super Rugby finals – especially when he isn’t even starting for the Eels at the moment?
If he is the silver bullet that rugby needs, why was he let go from rugby in the first place?
At a time when bad news seems to come at Rugby Australia like an inevitable king tide towards a sand castle, the good news of signing any rugby league player is welcome.
However, the Junior Wallabies making the final of the Under-20s World Rugby championship should be of a higher note, and serious thought and resources need to be put into how they can keep these players in the game – because it is guaranteed that NRL scouts will be surveying that squad like a lion surveys the savanna.
It is no secret that Cheika loves rugby league players and has no compunction in pursuing their services for his squad. But the strategy of waiting until they become a household name in rugby league circles and then paying overs to lure them back to rugby and spinning it as some kind of coup is just managing failure.
Many rugby pundits have suggested a player like Angus Crichton would be a huge signing for rugby, though the reality is players like him and Cameron Murray may possibly be too far a reach considering that they are making representative teams and demanding big dollars.
Even if they may sometimes long for their blazer-wearing days, they and players like them seem to be doing great things in rugby league, so perhaps rugby needs a new approach as the code chases success… although it doesn’t hurt to pick up the phone every now and then to throw down a long shot.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
True, but our Campo was a turnstile!
Chivas
Roar Rookie
Cooper, can’t kick and his passing is no better than someone like Ricky Stewart’s and is certainly less accurate. Admittedly a league ball’s elongated shape makes it better for passing rather than the fatter hybrid rugby ball. But as I have stated in other places Carlos Spencer is a million miles better than Quade and that would be a far more interesting prospect for a code switch. Not sure what Cooper Cronk would really look like in rugby... maybe a slightly better Phipps.
Chivas
Roar Rookie
Each entitled to his or her opinion, but I think you might be surprised how multi-talented players like Joey Johns and Thurston are. They not only have a wide variety of skills, certainly wider and more accurate than any individual in the Wallabies over the past decade. Many great athletes you find are not just good at one sport. Folau is a limited athlete in my view with a couple of exceptional skills. He may not be the complete rugby player, but still stands head and shoulders above the next most valuable player wearing a Wallaby jersey. Consequently for all the development of Australian rugby players, they still struggle to effectively pass, ruck, scrummage, tackle, create space etc. so maybe a player that can do the majority of those things exceptionally well, might not be such a failure as you may believe. Not that it matters as Joey nor Thurston ever made the switch, but the thought they couldn’t adapt would be woefully ignorant. Many of Australia’s top men’s athletes who play sport aren’t drawn to union as much as AFL, League or even soccer… so it is natural that some of the top athletes from other codes would make more than a decent fist of it but f they switched. However, the money to make the switch happen, I totally agree is better spent in other areas. Not chasing a couple of players from other codes where you are competing in a market you just don’t have the coin to compete in.
norm de plume
Guest
Thorn though deserves a category all his own. To be a first pick for both the Kangaroos and the All Blacks, to stand tall in both Origin and Bledisloe, to be honoured for your contribution to code leading clubs like the Saders and the Broncos... you have to be special. I recall listening to a discussion on him once on some sports radio show years ago, and one of them made the point that in both codes, for forwards in particular, the top players dominate the contact area. However, he said, the contact area in league and union was quite different and it wasn't just differing skills that mattered but differing types of strength. League required the teak hardness to be able to hit and be hit at top pace and to win that initial contact, which is pretty much where the play ends as the ball must be played. Union required the contact, yes, but more important than the initial hit is the capacity to sustain momentum in contact in order to keep the ball in play, to push against 115 kilo monsters pushing back against you - in scrums, rucks, mauls etc. One was sprinting, the other endurance. Thorn is the only player to have mastered the requirements of the top modern forward in both codes. As I said, he is in his own category.
Old Greybeard
Roar Rookie
No they had to sack him, as would any organisation in RA's position (see what happened to his cousin who tried in on at St Gregory's?). That does not make the last part of your comment untrue though and I agree completely
Old Greybeard
Roar Rookie
Especially when the boss was a failure as a League CEO where the club is still putting itself back together.
Old Greybeard
Roar Rookie
Certainly the case in my home town. Not that Rugby ever shows up in schools here.
Old Greybeard
Roar Rookie
None of the above would do well in rugby, where there is a contest for the ball all the time. I am struggling to think of many who came to the Wallabies from league and made a good contribution. I include Folau in this, he is a great athlete, but not in my view a top rugby player. Mind you it would be good if we had the same back line 2 weeks running at Wallaby or Waratah level. In any case it is good forwards we need and there are few of them to be found in league. Develop the ones that can play, get those U20s.
Old Greybeard
Roar Rookie
Because most of them are not that good at it. The positional play is nearly always rubbish especially if they began in league. Example Wendell Sailor was a great ball runner, but his wing leaked tries.
rebel
Roar Guru
Ponga was born in Western Australia, moved to Mt Isa, then Palmerston North, then Mackay, Brisbane, Townsville and finally Newcastle. Played many sports and excelled at most. Gifted athlete that many like to hang their hat on.
riddler
Roar Rookie
add to your list there ej, andy farrell. a couple of years earlier minus the accident and he could have been amazing in union.
Dominic Brady
Guest
Being a Forward in League is distinctly different than being a Forward in Union. Hear, hear - well said. As I stated, I agree with much of what has been said; however, I found the original comment, which had more than a hint of good old Union-chauvinist truculence, reductive and dismissive. As for players cross-coding: It would have been intriguing to see C. Cronk for the Wallabies, or Q. Cooper for the Kangaroos! Inglis? Now, he did had offers. I wonder if Latrell will fancy a little Union adventure at some point...
Chivas
Roar Rookie
Totally agree and for me this was the real travesty of ditching the Force from Super rugby. In WA they were making real headway and the had the rug pulled beneath them. If not for Twiggy Forest intervening, it would have ended union in WA and that to me has to be among the dumbest things RA has done after all the work and effort to expand the competition into WA, which was genuinely growing and there were many green tendrils reaching the smaller towns… to then abandon it, sheer madness and for me, this is when I lost all confidence in RA actually being able to grow or develop the sport here. These types of discussions I am sure will continue and RA will still do nothing. I’d like to know the last good idea they had and drove that grew rugby in Australia. They are absolutely hopeless.
Chivas
Roar Rookie
Not so sure. No rucking, mauling, lineout, scrummaging skills… so you are right, not going to make the cut in the forwards, even though currently the Wallabies set a relatively low bar for forwards, still not low enough. They can offload and crash the ball up well, but there is a little more to centre than that. So when we talk centre I am not imagining 13, as even centres from league who have converted have not been particularly successful in union in that position. So we are talking 12, aka Samu Kerevi type player. On that front I tend to agree that they could make quite a good fist of that position if they have the speed. But they are not going to make an ALB type 12 and for me I think Australia really needs to develop multi-dimensional players as I feel that will provide a greater return than converting league players. Personally, I enjoyed playing league more than union, even though I fully converted late (mid 20’s) although I still prefer to watch the latter. In my view the front on style of league is quite different to the more lateral style of union. Due to the way the ball is contested in union versus not at all in League means that players have quite different skill sets, where the league player hones in on the basic skills (running, stepping, breaking tackles, making tackles, passing), they struggle much more with the multitude of other skills required by union players to secure the ball and go phase after phase. As an aside as much as I wished I could have seen a healthy and fit Jonah in league, I would have equally loved to see Joey Johns, Thurston, Lockyer, Inglis in union.
adastra32
Roar Rookie
In response to the headline - no. Next?
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
Well I think the issues are much more complex than just travel. Exposure and opportunities would be NRLs to biggest draw cards Free to air coverage and 15 teams to play for as opposed to 4 in union
rebel
Roar Guru
And nothing to do with my comment.
Craigo
Guest
Then why isn't it working?
Tipene Roar
Roar Rookie
a rubbish artical
Dominic Brady
Guest
Indeed, hence why he plays Centre in union. Forgive me but what's happened is a subtle change of form in the argument: My adverse reaction was to a comment laced with classist Union-chauvinism, in my opinion, that said they (League forwards) had "limited passing and offloading skills", which is untrue; now, if we are only to address the fact that they have no scrummaging or lineout skills ... then yes, obviously, there is no scrummaging or sideline throws in League. Their skill-set, and their weight, dictates that they play Centre in Union - simple. Even Crichton, who knows his way around scrummaging, will not play as a forward in Union, he'll play as a centre