Quote: Pemps "When this was first announced a few people on here were expecting them to win the main event at a canter. They didn't make the final of the over 35s. Just shows how different it is as a sport. I'm sure those lads who've retired enjoyed the team spirit again though.
Well done though to the lads who went over.'"
I never really knew why people thought they would necessarily win it. They were good/great players back in the day but a lot can change when a player retires. How good someone used to be as absolutely no bearing on how good they are now and even if they still have the skills it means nothing if they are not fast enough or fit enough anymore. I have played 9s with and against ex GB players and some of them were fairly awful, one to the extent that no one actually wanted him to play as the tournament went on because he was that awful. Some of them werent that old either. I have also played with ex professionals and sometimes they havent exactly been good either.
A lot of the ex players that play in these vets Union tournaments do so fairly regularly and some teams travel all over the place playing in them and if they were fitter, especially allied with their more technical nouse, there wouldnt be a great deal that the Joining Jack lads could do about it.
