He did hit a ripper of a right hook though, Mr Smooth Criminal Koopu. It was a ripper.
Koopu is the go to man. The man who fills the gap. Its players like him, Betham and Guttenbeil who work hard in the defensive line that lets Ali and Sione drift wide and pop those amazing passes from the @ss type balls. They do the nitty gritty.
Vinnie is very much the same. Does the hard yards. Tackles like a goliath all day long. Is strong enough to push through a defender. I really think he's another Wairangi Koopu, a centre moving into the second row, yet still having the speed when called on to do something on attack.
I think Henry slightly suffered through the mid stages of the season playing outside him however. Maybe due to the way the team was structured they knew they could score fruitfully through Webb, Faumuina, Toopi and Meli down that left hand flank and so directed their attacked there. I just remember Toopi putting players through gaps, or stepping through the line more than Vinnie to give an opportunity to a winger. Later on in the season, and Ando was on fire. Not quite as vibrant on attack, but doing the hard yards and making the occasional bust cutting back on an angle. That just further enhanced my opinion that he's a second rower.
In all honesty, Tony Martin is an absolute gem. I was flabbogasted how good he was at the Sevens. He has a huge step, and speed to burn. He was easily leaving Toopi and Webb in his tracks. It was funny watching him run with Feta on his 90 metre try, and when he knew Feta was under the sticks he sort of started to slow down his speed, even when he was slowing down he was travelling the same speed as Feta! Ask Souths and Manly, Feka isn't the slowest prop doing the rounds. His defence was also not too bad. This guy was hugely rated in Queensland, Daniel Anderson genuinely believes he can coach him into Origin. And he's an 80% goal kicker. Ando saying Martin's no certainty at centre is sort of a tongue in cheek type saying, sort of along the lines of Stacey is no certainty. Without a question of a doubt, Martin will be lacing his boots up in the #3 jumper in Brisbane in a few weeks time.
