Some players are lighting fast, some are as strong as an ox and some lucky ones are both.
Others have no god-given talents but can still lift trophies and pick up awards (Dan Carter and Richie McCaw come to mind).
As humans we admire fine athletic specimens. There is something hypnotic about a player with blistering pace or a giant hulk of a man running over blokes like a steam train.
This is not to say you can’t be both. David Pocock and Ardie Savea both have super human strength but with a good eye for the game too. But if you had to choose, who is more important to winning? The perfect physical specimen or the fella with a bit of a spare tire but who manages to somehow come up with the right plays?
Heard an interview last year with Lachie McCaffrey of the Brumbies where he pointed out there is too much of a emphasis in Oz rugby on weight lifting stats, sprint times or body fat percentage than actually footy skills.
Personally, I would choose a team of footy players over a team of athletes every day.
Here is some evidence for my theory of footy players over athletes. Look at the line up for the Crusaders when they won their third Super Rugby final in a row last year.
1. Joe Moody
2. Codie Taylor
3. Owen Franks
4. Mitchell Dunshea
5. Samuel Whitelock
6. Whetukamokamo Douglas
7. Matt Todd
8. Kieran Read
9. Bryn Hall
10. Richie Mo’unga
11. George Bridge
12. Jack Goodhue
13. Braydon Ennor
14. Sevu Reece
15. David Havili
I don’t see any player who is remarkably physically gifted for their position (even Reece and Bridge for example are quick but nothing special for a winger). Yet the Crusaders have won three in a row. That’s a team of footy players who make the right decisions and do the little things right. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Richie Mo’unga of the Crusaders looks to kick. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
On the flip side is the Fijian national team for last year’s World Cup. Semi Radradra, Josua Tuisova, Peceli Yato, Leone Nakarawa and Viliame Mata. Big, fast, strong, and exciting. In fact, I read a story of how they have to limit Tuisova’s gym sessions so he didn’t put on too much muscle!
We all wish we had that problem.
There was big hope for this team but the result was one solitary win against Georgia and three losses (including to a team of Uruguayan amateurs who they outweighed by almost 10kg per man). In stark contrast to the Crusaders, the whole was less than the parts. A team of stars instead of a star team.
If the Crusaders came up against the Fijian team, I know who would be winning that game nine times out of ten. The Crusaders have been so dominant in Super Rugby that they have remarkably won 10 out of 24 tournaments and been in the final another four times.
Amazing. The Crusaders are almost as dominant in Super Rugby (even over their Kiwi rivals) as the All Blacks are internationally.
There is nothing magical in the Canterbury water that has made the Crusaders a team of 10 foot tall monsters with the speed of Usain Bolt and the strength of a mountain. They don’t have a threee-code athletic superstar like Izzy Folau leaping high at fullback, or a 130kg freakishly lightfooted prop like Taniela Toupou, or a player who can boot the ball into the atmosphere like Reece Hodge.
They are just a team of footy players who focus on the important skills of rugby. They are one of the most popular provincial teams in the world. Their stadium is always packed and you see random Crusaders jerseys wherever you go.
The Crusaders celebrate a try. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
Don’t get me wrong. You need to be a strong and fast as you can. But not at the expense of skills. Rugby Australia has been far too focused on athletes of recent and have been making horrible investments in players where the risk/reward just doesn’t pay off.
The $900,000 a year the Reds have spent on pulling another athletic winger from league with the hope they can develop rugby skills is a great example. Signing up promising young athletic players on massive four-year deals who are only one twist or tear away from losing their edge is another risky investment.
Rugby is not a pure athletic discipline like the 100m sprint or weightlighting. It is a highly tactical, skills-based team sport.
At the elite level, once you meet the standard physical requirements for your position (i.e. fast enough to be a winger, tall enough to be a lock) skills, decision making, and combinations with teammates are gonna take you to the top.
So please Rugby Australia and Ozzie Super Rugby teams/coaches, bring back the footy player!
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
Not really, all three of them have proven time after time that they won’t learn and they won’t work on their deficiencies so all three would have been let go
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
Well written mate and 100% bang on. Crusaders are so good because they have good skills, a great team work culture and because they value teamwork and effort over super star status. Almost the complete opposite of what is normal here.
Brian
Guest
“They don’t have a threee-code athletic superstar like Izzy Folau leaping high at fullback, or a 130kg freakishly lightfooted prop like Taniela Toupou, or a player who can boot the ball into the atmosphere like Reece Hodge” Maybe yes, maybe no. But for sure if they did, those players would be playing a damn site better than where they are now.
Brian
Guest
Isn’t there a quote somewhere from McCaw saying there were players better than him as he came through the grades but that he just wanted it more?
ajhreds
It's not just the focus on Skills - it's focusing on the Skills for the position; and respecting a specific set of skills that each position has. eg. 7s hard on the ball and at the breakdown, being a ball runner is a secondary skill, Fullback can take the highball, has a good boot, covers well in defence always being in position and can chime into the backline in attack. Front rowers great scrummagers first and foremost, etc etc etc 40 years ago when i was at secondary school, 10s were being taught to be able to kick with both feet and this is at schoolboy level. The big problem with professional level it is assumed that the players have the basic skills at the top level and as this article points out there is too much focus on the athletic ability of each player. Even at the selection table, the focus is not on the best player in the position (and assuming they have the specific skills for the position) it's about finding room for the 'star' player regardless of Form, Positonal role (and also associated skills) and combinations. Reason - we are paying massive salary for that player - so we better pick them.
Nick
Guest
This is bang on. New Zealand is great at producing technical footballers who don't make many mistakes, can make space with a 2 foot pass and have good technique. It has made up for the physical limitations of their teams. They have often been smaller than their opposition.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Decades of reluctantly watching the best team in the world beat up my Wallaby (on top of frustratingly watching junior teams not be alert) has taught me something, perhaps.
piru
Roar Rookie
Couldn't have put it better
RobC
Roar Guru
Thanks! Also Saders as a team are excellent in the BD. This is hard to quantify for the casual observer. But this is key skill needed by Rugby players in terms of combinations of players, its link to attack defenses and other aspects of the game
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Yes, Piru, alertness and accuracy of thought are the non-physical additions to athletic ability that create crucial advantages.
Alex
Roar Rookie
Dan Carter 94 kg Richie McCaw 107 kg, hardly small, Carter in his prime super quick, McCaw very mobile and athletic. If you think the Crusaders are an average physical team you need your eyes read. I'm sorry this stuff isn't correct at all. I have seen them up close at airport several times,there is nobody small.
piru
Roar Rookie
I don’t agree with this article at all, Dan Carter is a hugely talented player and so for that matter is Ritchie McCaw, I find it very disrespectful to these players mentioned. The point is that they're not the strongest, or fastest, or highest jumpers, but are still the two best players of at least the last generation, and arguably of all time. Carter makes defenders look slow, but it's not because he's faster than they are (although he is deceptively fast), it's because he's 3 steps ahead if them in terms of what is going to happen next. McCaw makes a clear out look slow, but it's not because he's so incredibly fast (although, he too is quicker than many give him credit for) it's because he saw the opportunity that would be presented two or three phases before anyone else did.
Alex
Roar Rookie
I don't agree with this article at all, Dan Carter is a hugely talented player and so for that matter is Ritchie McCaw, I find it very disrespectful to these players mentioned. And I don't think many rugby experts would agree, it's Union not league, most of these so called league converts have ended in disaster for the Wallabies.
piru
Roar Rookie
Crusaders aren't built in gyms, they're forged on local pitches the length of the South Island on frozen mornings every winter.
piru
Roar Rookie
Lately? I think Hooper falls into that category, the three amigos of Beale, O'Connor and Cooper. Hodgson and Nathan Charles are Force players who spring to mind. Historically I'd say Giteau was a good example, AAC and Chris Latham too. Mortlock, Horan etc You can argue their relative merits, but their strengths are in the reading and playing of football over their bench press or pass accuracy stats.
Terry Tavita
Roar Pro
You also need special players with a specific skillset to break the tight matches..eg. Kolby, nonu
Peter Evans
Roar Rookie
One might argue back in amateur days you had to make a choice. But with a professional sport who isn't extremely fit? Thats the minimum a man brings to work every day. The rest is coaching. The successful sides have great coaches who make their players work with each other. Fiji is the classic example of a team with so much quality that refuses to play with each other. Time and time again they take the ball into one too many contacts and make desperate choices. Yet these individuals turn into decent team players when in a good coaching environment. All of the great teams use every man. Sarries, Exeter, Saders to name a few. Exeter is still the classic example. They had so many no-namers. Very few selected for national team yet they worked so well together and won so much.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Love that quote too. So many players show ‘talent’ then never truely deliver to their full potential. Can think of a long list of those players, so won’t pick on any in particularly.
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
" think what the Wallabies would’ve been with a Cronk and Smith duo"........don't forget Thurston either....he was, imo, the best of all. Jeez, if only they had played Union...Billy Slater too ! I would actually be tempted to put Thurston as No 1 in a list of best backs I have seen in either Union or League.
piru
Roar Rookie
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard