Quote: underground "I have just finished my first season watching the NRL live.. and I have come to the conculusion that there are two types of Aussie player
the first is a player who is absolutely rock steady.. does everything the coach says, works hard at improving the little bits of his game, the attention to detail.. strives to become a master of his game... the ham and eggs Aussie players can all do this and this is an area of the game that english players neglect. Very few English players spring to mind that have the right work ethic and attitude... and mostly these players are never considered for representational selection but just to the hard stuff week in week out!
Ryan Tandy falls into that category! A Ham and Egger who worked had and got his reward.
then there are those players that have a special talent, size, speed, ball handling, off load etc... their skill does not absolve them of having to do the little things well and practice their skills constantly... they just have something special.
The aussies look for these special things in overseas players as they have thousands of grafters playing the game every week throughout NSW and Queensland. Funnily the UK league takes many of the first type of player expecting them to be the second type.
Of the players who offer something different from the UK and possibly have the right attitude and basic skill level to get a first grade start...
Rob Burrow, Leon Pryce, James Graham, Danny Brough, Ben Westwood, maybe Sam Tompkins (if he is protected), maybe Eorl Crabtree (if used as an impact player), maybe Danny McGuire (if his reputaion is not too tarnished here in Aus)'"
Good post, though I'd class Westwood as a grafter meself, thus why would they want him?
