Unfortunately for Thomas though he's joined RL in the twighlight of his career so i'll be amazed if he makes a name for himself in this sport.

hhmmm....rugby union tackles are hardly the above, maybe by bigger men but not by more atheltic fitter men

Size isn't anything when compared to fitness, athleticism and general hardness.

I have nothing against the bloke and good luck to him but I'll be surprised if he actually achieves a great deal in RL. Regardless of talent, age is against him along with getting his Body and mind up to speed with RL, Recovery times and time is generally against him full stop.

A nice bit of publicity for The Crusaders though, and good on you for doing so.

agreed he got injured through his own stupidity nothing else however a lomu at his peak was nothing compared to a Morley special.

Took a heavy knock out of habit really. Awful (dangerous) body positioning. I suppose when you've played the "other" code for so long it's conditioned into you. A whole two weeks of RL training in his life probably isn't enough to be running into SL forwards, no matter how athletic he may be. As Grendel says, if he can convert the skills he does have, then he'll be an asset.

Beats Dwayne Chambers.

Like I say, props in Union are fatties who are designed to push. He'll never have met anyone like Ferriol before.

You ARE joking aren't you?

The average Union No 8 or flanker is bigger and harder than Ferriol. All he has is a bit of momentum because of the differing rules of the game. If the structure of the game allows big fellas to run fast, they do.

Hell I could easily pick half a dozen Welsh forwards as big and fast and hard as Ferriol.

You know, I prefer league as a game over Union (even if my team was nicked), but there is nothing, repeat NOTHING for top level union boys to fear from league except some childish "point-proving" dirty tackling from some of the thicker, more spiteful League players.

And this goes the other way too, when League players go to Union.

League is the BETTER game. That's all. It's a DIFFERENT skill set, not a HARDER skill set. League players are not bigger, harder, braver or any of that other bovine excrement. Neither are Union players.

It is probably the thing most likely to put me off League OR Union (cos they say it too) this childish "my cok's bigger than your cok" rubbish.

Thomas getting concussed in his first game proved one thing ONLY. You can't learn a new code in 2 weeks and perform at the very top level (no tedious comments about the NRL please Dally). Nothing else.

Make your mind up.

FWIW, I never suggested that Union does not have big players. But Union props are fatties who's main job is static pushing. Whereas league props have to be a lot more mobile and are designed to make shots and win collisions. If you are trying to deny this, then you clearly know nothing about either sport because it is a simple principle. And if you think league is not a harder game physically to play, you are also deluded, the very nature of the game means that it clearly is going to be so. And I'm not saying that Thomas getting knocked out proves this, that Union does not have some good athletes or anything else, but league has always been tougher to play and always will be due to the rules of the game. I know Wales has good athletes playing Union, I've seen them first hand and it's a damn shame that they are playing a code where they can't properly use their attributes and skills.

wot a nob head..!! im just glad he hasnt got a serious injury.

christ he clashed his head against a hip any player on that field would have the same injury..!!!

tit.!

he was brave enough to carry on for 30 mins.

plenty of game time left in the rest of the season for him

off.!!!

are you real..!!!

lomu was super human.!!

really.?

not all props... gethin jenkins is a prime example would be able to cut it at RL.. not bad for a fattie

There is no contradiction in what I say. I merely mentioned that Union back rowers on average are bigger or harder than Ferriol. There are league players that are too.

Oh and Gethin Jenkins would match any prop in league I've seen so far.

LOL not on match fitness. RU players spend halt the time rolling around on the floor. The rest of the time it's like watching rugby tennis.

I assume you are not familiar with Gethin. He is one of the fittest players in the whole Ospreys and Wales squads let alone just the forwards. According to the fitness guys his stats are unbelievable. He may be a prop but he plays like a flanker.

This thread is hilarious. People actually believe union players in any postion are bigger and harder than RL players!! Brilliant.

Yes it makes me giggle too to think some people think RU players could match RL players

why.?

its obvious there are good players in RL and union, there are fit players in rl and union and hard players in both rl and union.?

they are not better than one or other. the bad and good players in either code.

i just dont get it i like both sports ... yet you league lot keep having a pop at union. yet us dual coders or union fans dont give a flying .!! it really makes me laugh.

it reminds me of small mans syndrome

League players have to be fitter as it's a faster game with the ball in play a lot, lot longer

Yes most League players are fitter than their Union equivalents, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are harder. Nothing that six weeks doing aerobic training in the gym wouldn't even out.

The gym cannot get you ready.....game time with an awesome off season is

I agree.
It's not that the players are different, it's just that the games are different and allow players to show their skills or give benefit for a particular skill (like being tall in line outs).....however, he did pick a particularly big monster to run at and to be fair, he wouldn't normally run staright at a No.8 in Union.

I have to say (as a neutral Wakefield fan) I was gutted for Thomas when he took that tackle and then tried to play the ball. He didn't hide from any work after that either and I'm sure he will be a very good player in future, but I knew there would be a lot of innane "he's not tough enough etc" which is just plainly not true.
It was a tough game to start in and at least he stuck to it.
Seen plenty of RL players get their head in the wrong place in a trackle and get knocked out. It's just a technique thing.

The other converts of the past have had an off season or even reserve games to get used to the game before being thrown in. Thomas is being thrown in at the deep end. The coach obviously thinks he can. I hope he can too. (Not just taking it in as an extra forward)

I hope he plays next week and gets the running chances. One thing I do know as Wakefield fan is that Tony Martin will give him good ball and guide him if needed. He's a good decision making centre. Our wingers always benefited from playing with him rather than the other wing.

Dual coders are just League fans who are trying to keep their friends happy. Im not saying RL players are genetically harder humans! Just harder because they play a far more intense and physically demanding sport than RU players.

If you want to argue that RU players are more mentally astute, or play a more technical game Ill agree with you. Tell me any RU players are tougher than RL players and Ill laugh at you. A lot.

Dont play the inferirority complex card, it makes you sound like John Inverdale.

Nope im a dual coder and prefer union to rl.

And yes there just as tough players in union ..... just to name a few that are based in wales alone tiatia(one hard git there would mix it with any of the RL lot even if he is 38.!), xavier rush, ian evans, ian gough, jamie roberts, andy powell, mike phillips, gethin jenkins and jerry collins.... dont go telling me these are not hard/tough/robust men.>!!

would all get found out playing league....

I would agree with you about ian evans, ian gough and jerry collins getting found out in RL, the point was they are hard/tough players.!!

The rest could easily make it.

But the sport has no chance of getting the calibre of player such as mike phillips, jamie roberts and gethin jenkins who could easily make excellent RL players.... but no way shall they convert the money they are on and the ambitions to win Euro cups, world cups and grand slams.!