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Cameron Smith - greatest NRL era player?

POPEYE

Coach
Messages
11,397
The fact his career has overlapped perfectly with the wrestle/grapple era on top of the worst period of spineless refereeing in league history has helped him immensely.

If he was playing in the 90s into the early 2000s he would have struggled IMO given his Ritchie McCaw level cheating would have been called out a fair bit more

You'll need a wheelbarrow to carry that load of shit ol' mate
 

WaznTheGreat

Referee
Messages
24,416
The fact his career has overlapped perfectly with the wrestle/grapple era on top of the worst period of spineless refereeing in league history has helped him immensely.

If he was playing in the 90s into the early 2000s he would have struggled IMO given his Ritchie McCaw level cheating would have been called out a fair bit more

+1 worst player ever
 

Pete Cash

Post Whore
Messages
62,165
The fact his career has overlapped perfectly with the wrestle/grapple era on top of the worst period of spineless refereeing in league history has helped him immensely.

If he was playing in the 90s into the early 2000s he would have struggled IMO given his Ritchie McCaw level cheating would have been called out a fair bit more

I dont know about that. He plays the refs like a fiddle and has always done so. Plenty of players were good cheats in the 90s. Being able to get away with a bit of cheating is a very important skill for a hooker.
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
32,019
I dont know about that. He plays the refs like a fiddle and has always done so. Plenty of players were good cheats in the 90s. Being able to get away with a bit of cheating is a very important skill for a hooker.

Sure, but I can't imagine a Harrigan being controlled by Smith the way weak sauce refs are today. He'd probably have been sin binned/sent off for dissent on more than a few occasions.

The grappling, Achilles rolls, etc would have been dealt with more on the field by opposing players as opposed to refs.

Best hooker in the comp over the last 10 years, and fittingly it's been a pretty ugly 10 years of footy
 

Pete Cash

Post Whore
Messages
62,165
I dont know if you can blame smith. Players are physically larger, stronger and faster across the park. Defensive lines are about 100 percent quicker now than they were in the 90s.

The wrestle has been an issue but even early on melbourne was able to look after themselves on the field. One of the stripped premiership against manly they bashed them to pieces. I remember crocker just obliterated Stewart and manly just put their heads down. They have never been shrinking violets on the field if a bit of violence comes there way.
 
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Usain Bolt

Bench
Messages
3,739
Him and Gallen are 1a and 1b. I think most head to head stats will show they're evenly distributed. Smith will lead the tackles, kick metres, points but Gallen will be ahead on the offloads, metres gained and tackle busts. 2 of the greats
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
32,019
I dont know if you can blame smith. Players are physically larger, stronger and faster across the park. Defensive lines are about 100 percent quicker now than they were in the 90s.

The wrestle has been an issue but even early on melbourne was able to look after themselves on the field. One of the stripped premiership against manly they bashed them to pieces. I remember crocker just obliterated Stewart and manly just put their heads down. They have never been shrinking violets on the field if a bit of violence comes there way.


Not a question of toughness. It's a question of playing style. His suits today's one out wrestling fest down to the ground. In an era that required more creativity (seriously, he cannot pass left to right) and enforced a more open style of footy he likely would have struggled.

Not his fault the game is the way it is right now
 

Penrose Warrior

First Grade
Messages
9,464
Him and Gallen are 1a and 1b. I think most head to head stats will show they're evenly distributed. Smith will lead the tackles, kick metres, points but Gallen will be ahead on the offloads, metres gained and tackle busts. 2 of the greats

I dislike Smith as a person but that's not relevant here. He is one of the greatest players of my time and certainly heads, shoulders and any other appendage above Gallen. Stats overblow what Gallen offers to the teams he plays in (at least in terms of his direct influence on play, I'm not talking as a leader psychologically). Smith is infinitely smarter, a better leader, has a more well-rounded game..I just fail to see how they appear in the same conversation.
 

POPEYE

Coach
Messages
11,397
I think Usain dislikes Smith that much that the comparison was necessary . . . pisstaking at it's most obvious
 

Penrose Warrior

First Grade
Messages
9,464
Right e o. I dislike Smith too but I know it would look ridiculous to say he's not one of the greatest, if not the greatest of my time on level of performance and consistency. In fact on those criteria he's first, and no one's second.
 
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