The kid is special, has so much time with the ball in his hands. I've seen him play against the England under 16's for our Matthews (where he only scored once), and then a few times in Flegg last year and a couple of reggies games. The thing is he's not just a try scorer, which is what i expected when I first went to watch him play in 2001. His kicking game has the full repertoir, and he has great hands.
He is rep football material BUT as has been mentioned, he has had 2 very injury prone years. He had a should problem in 2002 and then last year had a foot problem silimlar to Mark Gasniers and missed about 2 or 3 months of footy. When he came back he spent about 3 weeks in reserves and then he was thrown into first grade. Then as you all saw he tore his hammy badly and missed the last 4 or 5 rounds.
So I think he can make it, but in the back of my mind I am worried that injuries could ruin his career. I wonder actually why he was left out of the sevens? Has he picked up another injury in pre season, or does Raper rate him so highly he didn't want to risk him? I'm sure its not option 3, that he wasn't good enough.
I also think Simmons could be close to as good. Considering Simmo has only been playing for a few years I think he has so much potential to get better. Mates who saw him play soccer before he took up footy, rate him as the best junior soccer player they've ever seen, so there's no doubt he's blessed with great natural ability.
