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Owen Farrell to sign for Wigan?


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4 hours ago, del capo said:

His assessment of him as a player even today  cannot be far off the mark.

I was wondering how old he is when I saw the articles about an RL star assessing someon who played RL over a decade and more ago and has played a completely different sport with very different demands. Superficially interesting though this is the superficial resemblance between the two games break down to the shape of the ball and the posts and things like a sideline and halfway etc etc. Yet these interminable discussions about anyone from union can only be useful and of value if they are young enough to have the time to develop.

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40 minutes ago, Oxford said:

I was wondering how old he is when I saw the articles about an RL star assessing someon who played RL over a decade and more ago and has played a completely different sport with very different demands. Superficially interesting though this is the superficial resemblance between the two games break down to the shape of the ball and the posts and things like a sideline and halfway etc etc. Yet these interminable discussions about anyone from union can only be useful and of value if they are young enough to have the time to develop.

I thought this was a thread about one particular player acknowledged as one of the best RU backs in the world. Even at 31 he would make most SL squads after a  decent pre season , especially one with his back pages......

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5 hours ago, del capo said:

Owen Farrell played his last RL game for Wigan St Patricks in the U16s National Cup Final and within a year or so appeared  in the Saracens RU first team as a 17 year old. That may  say something about his skill sets prior to his unionisation.

I know little about genes but do believe that the best racehorses are only bred from quality stock. In RL terms  the Farrell / O'loughlin dynasties are probably as good as any.

Owen Farrell was a much sought after Wigan  prodigy on the level of an Edwards or a Welsby. He was always going to be a star. Tomkins pre dated him by a year at St John Fisher HS. and saw a lot of him on the park. His assessment of him as a player even today  cannot be far off the mark.

 

His kicking and passing will be spot on. He will still be well accustomed to choosing the correct option and creating line breaks with his running and passing game.

I think there are many positions other than fullbacks and wingers that have potential to convert in either direction. The sharks made a great signing of RU 7s Lachlan Miller at age 27. He played league until age 22 but not at NRL standard. Spent 5 yrs on the 7s circuit. Now he finds himself on the verge of pushing out Will Kennedy from FB after injury gave Miller his opportunity.

A union scrum half should have some good transferable skills to wear the 9 jersey in league. The fly half should be transferable to 6. As chief’s on the RU pitch, any talent comes with a hefty price tag. I also think the lesser paid stars of the 7s circuit should transfer across well into league as well. As a moneyball signing, I would be scouting union 7s players for future cross code NRL stars.

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1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

The sharks made a great signing of RU 7s Lachlan Miller at age 27. He played league until age 22 but not at NRL standard. Spent 5 yrs on the 7s circuit. Now he finds himself on the verge of pushing out Will Kennedy from FB after injury gave Miller his opportunity.

I would have liked the Dolphins to have made a play for Miller as I think his game time in first grade for the Sharks will always be limited. He certainly showed a lot of energy when he did appear and the Dolphins are light on halves and it`s where Miller said he wants to play. I did see him get run over in defence a couple of times, though that can probably be fixed.

I suppose the other thing is, he is an exciting player and I`d like to see more of him, not much chance of that if he is languishing in the Shark`s reserve grade.

p.s. the raids on union 7`s have begun, the Cowboy`s have three Fijian 7`s players and the Storm at least one in the highly rated youngster Will Warbrick.

Edited by The Rocket
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15 hours ago, del capo said:

I thought this was a thread about one particular player acknowledged as one of the best RU backs in the world. Even at 31 he would make most SL squads after a  decent pre season , especially one with his back pages......

del capo .... Any suggestion that certain players can swap sports is bound to involve wider ideas and consequences.

Being acknowledged in one sport is no guarantee of success in another. If he'd make most SL aquads that would be due to all sorts of things but the least of these would be assured or certainty  of the outcomes. I'm afraid it was initially other peole who brought up other palyers so you might be advised to read where this began and reply.

As I've said there have been far more failures than successes of people coming from Union to League, and even League to union back to League and so the probability and likelihood of reward matching the risk is high.

Your argument that his success in his chosen sport is enough is illogical when faced with the reality.

If he did come over and was a success I'd wish him well except when he plays against my team.

Do you really expect a "decent pre season" to equip him for what it takes?

Having said all that I'd hate my team to lay out what it would take out of the salary clap trap!

 

 

Edited by Oxford

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14 hours ago, The Rocket said:

p.s. the raids on union 7`s have begun, the Cowboy`s have three Fijian 7`s players and the Storm at least one in the highly rated youngster Will Warbrick

There's a lad playing for 7s for Australia, Maurice Longbottom. Apparently he was released by South Sydney as a teen because he's too small.

Lightning quick and great footwork, a joy to watch.

I'd love a Super League club to take a chance on him. He wouldn't cost a fortune either.

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36 minutes ago, Welshleaguelover said:

There's a lad playing for 7s for Australia, Maurice Longbottom. Apparently he was released by South Sydney as a teen because he's too small.

Lightning quick and great footwork, a joy to watch.

I'd love a Super League club to take a chance on him. He wouldn't cost a fortune either.

I think Luther Burrell has put paid to anyone taking a chance on a Union player any time soon. Far better a good young Champ player (like Ritson at Saints) or an Ozzy youngun that has lost his way - like Hastings 

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4 hours ago, Oxford said:

 

Having said all that I'd hate my team to lay out what it would take out of the salary clap trap!

 

 

It wouldn't take any salary cap space, as a union convert there is a sliding scale starting at outside the cap. So as a gamble if you can afford it its a free shot. 

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On 23/11/2022 at 03:19, eal said:

Owen Farrell would go pretty well I think. That being said, it is often hard to pick. Vunivalu was one of the best wingers in the NRL but nothing special in Super Rugby whereas Tom Wright has done quite well for the Brumbies and Wallabies.

VUNIVALU was playing for a world class sporting club in the storm 

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10 minutes ago, The storm said:

VUNIVALU was playing for a world class sporting club in the storm 

 Maybe he was a product of the system and less natural talent then? The Queensland Reds are a well run and well coached team.

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30 minutes ago, The storm said:

VUNIVALU was playing for a world class sporting club in the storm 

Very few players have done better over the years after leaving Melbourne. Many have looked very average away from that environment and when not playing in a champion team.

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He isn't moving from the Saracens, his pay check and international exposure will never be threatened by RL, we can hope to maybe turn the head of the new Owen Farrell 5 or 10 years from now. Though idk how RL will do that.

Edited by The Lad
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7 hours ago, ELBOWSEYE said:

It wouldn't take any salary cap space, as a union convert there is a sliding scale starting at outside the cap. So as a gamble if you can afford it its a free shot. 

It is not a free shot as there are costs involved, they don't disappear because there's space under the claptrap.

 

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5 hours ago, Oxford said:

It is not a free shot as there are costs involved, they don't disappear because there's space under the claptrap.

 

Its a free shot in terms of space under the cap, of course there is a cost and I don't particularly care if they sign him or not but the WDL have stated that cost will not be a problem because they have one of sports richest co owner (even though they can't afford to pay a women's coach). And your post stated the cost to the salary cap. 

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1 hour ago, ELBOWSEYE said:

Its a free shot in terms of space under the cap, of course there is a cost and I don't particularly care if they sign him or not but the WDL have stated that cost will not be a problem because they have one of sports richest co owner (even though they can't afford to pay a women's coach). And your post stated the cost to the salary cap. 

I don't care if they sign him or not either Elbows.

My whole point, which included a well wish for him if he does, was that the assumption he'll be okay is frought with issues, the idea he'll be fantastic is overloaded with ridiculous parallels, and the claptrap was really an aside.

There is a huge myth that even RU players in their prime could simply swap and this is not bourne out by the facts or experience.

There will never be any kind of statistical analysis of the failure rate of kick & clap players in League and I think that's largely because people love the myth and adorded the successes so much.  And let's face it some of the reasoning on here, like he's someone's son or he played up until sixteen, stretches the limits of suspension of disbelief to breaking point.

Whenever we have a discussion on this topic there's more rubbish posted than over any other issue and when you think of the history of RL with players like Lewis Jones and Dai Watkins this is not surpirising but shouldn't cloud judgement the way it clearly does.

 

Edited by Oxford

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42 minutes ago, MatthewWoody said:

Calling a sport "kick and clap" says it all about the prejudice.

Give over MWoody when those in Fleet Street stop I will. I'm not holding my breath!

 

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On 23/11/2022 at 05:53, GUBRATS said:

Strange that because as a junior he was nothing special 

Beg to differ according to everything I've read, he was a loss to rugby league at the time, would he cut it back in league, probably yes but has he been left behind to much to become a major star, who knows and I can't see you finding out.

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Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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1 hour ago, Marauder said:

Beg to differ according to everything I've read, he was a loss to rugby league at the time, would he cut it back in league, probably yes but has he been left behind to much to become a major star, who knows and I can't see you finding out.

He was the same age group as my son , didn't see a huge amount of him , but nothing stand out 

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