Re: Did the All blacks Miss Lomu ?

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 21:49:25 +0000, John Williams
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 19:36:31 +0000, Greig Blanchett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>>If Z Brooke had grown up in a fully pro environment, he would never
>>have played for the All Blacks - he would have been off to Japan or
>>the UK as soon as he was capable. Brooke was one of Packer's bully
>>boys trying to sign up the elite of world rugby immediately after the
>>'95 RWC for Packer's rugby circus more or less forcing the hand of the
>>SH unions to go pro. He's never been shy about admitting he's only in
>>it for the money. So now NH club players benefit from playing
>>alongside these guys on a weekly basis where once this was the
>>preserve of test players or New Zealand club and provincial players.
>
>I take your point, but Brooke was an unmitigated disaster as an
>ex-pat, both as a player and as a coach. I didn't realise he was so
>money oriented, and that surprises me a bit - although I knew he was
>keen on the Packer thing. Perhaps that explains slightly why he did so
>poorly over here.
>
Actually, given Brooke's piss poor form in the UK (which I have posted
on before) he was probably the worst example of somebody increasing
the local skills base. But he was certainly the most money oriented.
How about Blowers, Kronfeld, Randall - all players whose skills are
now lost to up and comers in New Zealand but who are strengthening the
potential candidates for future England squads? Blowers on current
form would be a shoe-in as blindside for the All Blacks.

>>Personally, I think the NZRU should open the floodgates completely and
>>let NZ players playing abroad be eligible for the All Blacks - since
>>things went pro, these are the guys who are being exposed to higher
>>levels of skill for longer periods of time, not the guys back home
>>duking it out in the S12 and NPC.
>
>I think you are exaggerating just a little here!

Probably - the skills on display in the S12 and NPC aren't that bad,
once you blow the froth off, but the point still stands that we could
have done with some of the talent that had gone offshore during the
RWC campaign.

>
>The big problem would be squad training etc if that happens. Getting
>selected would be a big problem when NZ is still following the
>principle of getting 'em in early and kicking 'em out young. Assuming
>there's no contractual difficulty, just the playing time will kill
>them off. Argentina suffered as much from overplaying of their key men
>as anything during the WC I thought. Pichot was a shadow of his former
>self for example, and I suspect just too much rugby was a big factor.

Yeah, I hadn't considered that. But then again the NZ rugby league
team seems to be vaguely competitive and they have half their squad
only flying in from the UK for tests.