From what I remember he was in talks with the Eels. Not sure whether money is/was an issue but I can imagine it would be a lot to pay for someone so unproven in the game, at open age at least. He's a bit of a maverick and the Reds don't play the most orthodox style or RU ie they throw the ball about a lot more in their own end than most. His style does seem suited to RL and would love to see him play in the NRL at some point.

These players would need a lot of work because their core skills are of similar standard to amateur rugby league. Rugby union has become almost like the NFL in that the specialisation of positions makes for very crap basic skills; they simply aren't needed to get by. That's not a slight on either code, just the way in which the games differ and prioritise specialised skills and interests over the basics. If you can handle yourself in a scrum or a line out you really don't need to be particularly good at anything else, a prop that can do the basics isn't the standard, it's optional.

Some of the forwards in rugby union are an absolute joke. Being able to pass, catch, run basic lines, support the ball carrier, these are all worthy of huge applause in rugby union because they're a rare thing, where as in rugby league it's expected of all players to do these things to a decent level, if not excel at them. That's most of what their job is.

I enjoy rugby, it's the first code I was introduced to and became a fan of, but there's no doubt that for all the good athletes they've got most of the players are considerably behind league. You watch a game of rugby at the highest level and count the number of times mammoth overlaps are wasted because the players are too uneducated and thick to see it or, assuming they see that it's on, too incompetent to pass and catch. See how many times passes are thrown at players feet, or overlaps blown because none of these guys seem to realise that it's not necessary to pass to the man who's right next to you. You watch union teams and they throw about 8 passes just to get the ball from one sideline to the other. They'll run nice plays off the back of line-outs, no doubt, but ask them to show attacking prowess and creativity in general play and most can't do it.

That level of incompetence in attack tends to lead to incompetence in defence also because rugby union guys just aren't used to defending against teams that can attack. To compound the issue rugby union has a really outdated and amateur attitude towards tackling in itself, so not only are rugby players unfamiliar with facing opposition that can attack, even in the tackle they're a liability. A lot of them still think it's 1960 and that the best way to tackle is to go down low in any and all situations; sports science, winning the collision, stopping the offload seem to be novelty ideas. I'll go one further and say that there's a huge number of players in rugby union, compared to rugby league, who don't even understand heart. Mentally some of these guys I wouldn't go near with a barge pole; plenty are weak minded to the point of cowardice. A good number of rugby players don't like tackling and will only tackle when there's no other option, as in when somebody is running directly at them. If you put them in a situation where body contact is optional they'll often take the weak option and hug/pull at the arms rather than put their body on the line and lead with the shoulder. You certainly won't see them throwing themselves into tackles. This lack of accountability and competitiveness would need to be worked on, half-d arm tackling has no place in league. I'm not saying it doesn't happen in league, it does, it's just nothing like how common and accepted it is in rugby union. Cowardice is shunned in league, but in rugby union the pundits, players (and presumably the coaches) act like it's just the way it is, running side-on at a guy and hugging/pulling at him is perfectly normal.

George North is great though

Well said

ChrisGS is suddenly one of my favourite posters



There are players in RU with potential but the standard they're playing at is so appallingly low there's just no way of knowing if they could make the step up. At least when clubs take a punt on Championship players they're fairly inexpensive, not the salary cap busting gambles these guys would be.

As much as I agree with most of your post I'd have to argue about the physical contact aspect & also the reference to '1960' type tackling.
In union because forwards rarely offload (either too scared/inability/told not to) the lowdown tackle is still effective as it ever was and commits only one player to that, whereas if you try using 2 or more tacklers you expose yourself numerically should you not stop the ball getting away which as you know is far harder in union than league.
NZ have been committing less players to the tackle area/ruck for years resulting in their ability to defend easily against average teams.
Some of the best copybook tackling can be seen in onion, it's a far cry from the boring wrestle fest we get in league these days where the ability to tackle with the shoulder & around the hips is almost a dying art. This shows up when even from a standing start a forward can make progress with 3 would be tacklers flailing to stop the offload (not always successfully either) but not halting forward progress.
So actually you'll see more shoulder tackles in union than you will in league IMO.

Farrell would be an average club player at best, a bit like Sinfield. Obviously if he stayed at the same club for his whole career, that club's fans would massively overrate him in the end, but he'd still only be an average club player.

By shoulder tackles did you mean namby pamby shirt grabbing?

Disagree. The low tackle isn't as effective in either code these days because just as in league you'll get a quick play the ball from a low tackle, in Union you'll get a quick turnover. They'd be far better off holding up the player and getting hands on the ball to disrupt the attack. You're also highly unlikely to leave your defence exposed numerically due to 2 extra players and the lack of attacking skills in Union. NZ have been committing less players to the ruck not the tackle, they're very different entities.
I would seriously have to question what you've been watching if you think tackling with the shoulder is not happening in League. Virtually every tackle is a shoulder tackle or a break is made past flimsy arm tackling. The offload is more dangerous and energy sapping to a defence than 5m further forward is, that's why so much emphasis is placed on wrapping the ball up compared to tackling round the legs. If there were the same amount of leg tackling in league as there is union there would barely be a play the ball due to constant offloading.

Even Jake White, who famously lambasted rugby league culture and the mentality of our players ("We're fortunate that we don't have a rugby league culture in our team") arrived in Australia and turned to league people for help. Brian Smith is currently the collision coach at the Brumbies, but before that they tried to get Buderus in for some sort of role before the NRL denied it.

Last I heard he said "You have to learn from those (rugby league) guys. If you can share that intellectual property, and the thought processes of coaches and their ideas and so on, geez, you're sitting on a goldmine."

League people are everywhere in rugby coaching, especially for defensive based stuff.

If you need a good laugh go and watch any of the Jonah Lomu highlights on Youtube. One of them is the most viewed rugby video of all time on the internet to my knowledge and it's profound just how bad the defence is. Pretty much most of his tries wouldn't exist if he played against people who were willing to tackle him. I know it was a different era then but you really wouldn't be exaggerating if you said 10 year olds in league have more heart... maybe not the physicality or technicality skill, but they're tougher mentally than those blokes who ran away from Jonah Lomu.

None the less there are some great prospects in rugby, especially in NZ and SA (I think)

Whilst we can debate the merits of each sport, one things for sure. The increase in money for the NRL has the potential to really take its toll on southern hemisphere rugby union.

Surely the increased money in the NRL is becuase th Australian economy is booming......which would imply that the Australian Rugby Union is benefitting too. I don't know as I have no figures for RU in Oz but that seems logical to me.

Possibly, but I get the impression that in Aus, RU is continuing to become the poorer relation to the NRL and ARL. I may be wrong.

Our sport has a rich history of Union players turning to League and making a success of it – the vast majority of these from South Wales and some are among the legends of our sport. That was from an era where they came from an amateur background to succeed in a professional sport. To suggest that the athletic outside backs from the current Welsh team wouldn’t make the grade in League is just silly

If a talented young rugby player walks down the street and turns left into a Union club asking for a game or right into a League club is just a matter of chance – the support and coaching he would get may vary but the talent is not a variable

We should not be shouting that our players are better but our game is better (and allows the best players to showcase their talents)