Favorite Backline Pairings

[Beavers Headgear]

Yeah there’s a lot of blurry memories around Toopi’s ‘purple patch’

His best year was probably 2002 (I think he was top try scorer?) but to a certain extent he flew under the radar that year. It really wasn’t until late 2003 that he started getting huge raps in the media. What people forget is he actually had a mostly shit 2003 season and in fact got dropped for several games mid-season. He had only just got back into first grade when he went on a hot run of maybe 5 or 6 games which included finals games and a test hattrick against Australia, and suddenly he had gone from ‘fringe first grader’ to ‘best centre in the world’.

Likewise, you could best describe his entire career post-2003 as a steaming pile of shit, yet he managed the extraordinary feat of a second hattrick against Australia. It all amounts to a narrative that doesn’t fit what actually happened.

That’s refreshed my memory on exactly the sort of player he was, remember blowing up coz the Kiwis picked him and he got that hat trick lol

 

[Matua]

Yeah there’s a lot of blurry memories around Toopi’s ‘purple patch’

His best year was probably 2002 (I think he was top try scorer?) but to a certain extent he flew under the radar that year. It really wasn’t until late 2003 that he started getting huge raps in the media. What people forget is he actually had a mostly shit 2003 season and in fact got dropped for several games mid-season. He had only just got back into first grade when he went on a hot run of maybe 5 or 6 games which included finals games and a test hattrick against Australia, and suddenly he had gone from ‘fringe first grader’ to ‘best centre in the world’.

Likewise, you could best describe his entire career post-2003 as a steaming pile of shit, yet he managed the extraordinary feat of a second hattrick against Australia. It all amounts to a narrative that doesn’t fit what actually happened.

I don't even remember Toopi getting hattricks against Aussie so that narrative doesn't really fit in my case.