Greg 'Brandy' Alexander. How good was he?

[richie8u]

he is the reason i am a panthers boy,

 

[RB30DETT]

He was a great player, I remember going to Penrith park a few times to watch him play.

And just on Paul Hauff, his downfall was his inability to deal with a grubber or and think which was low to the ground. As soon as teams started to target him in this matter he fell to pieces.

 

[dubby]

Brandy was amazing. The catalyst for all of Penriths attack for so long. Fast, graceful, skillful and a true athlete. He could kick, pass, step, jink, run.
He had it all. A great player who was a major factor in the early success of Penrith.

 

[nqboy]

Brandy is one of the few commentators I have any time for as well.

 

[Mr Saab]

Gould says in his book tha Brandy is the most gifted player he has ever coached by a long long long way.

 

[OVP]

Yep Tommy, Brandy truly was a damn fine player. His problem, like the problem of Kevin Horrie Hastings, was that Sterling and Mortimer was around in the same era and could rarely crack it for a gig in rep games. Id compare him to Horrie for that ... completely different styles of player ... Alexander was a freakish talent with everything but Hastings was a workhorse who never gave in (like Tommy Raudonikis) ... but they both were unlucky in the Rep arena,which is very unfortunate.

 

[Palms]

I have a video called 100 top tries volume one from '90 and ;91 seasons and the way he orchestrated the backline for the Panthers back then was truely amazing to watch. Some of the tries he set up, I could watch all day.He could create a gap, always had so much time with the ball in his hands and his long passing game was always awesome too watch.

Shame that his brother passed away at such a young age for Brandy..

 

[dontmakemeangry]

I have a video called 100 top tries volume one from '90 and ;91 seasons and the way he orchestrated the backline for the Panthers back then was truely amazing to watch. Some of the tries he set up, I could watch all day.He could create a gap, always had so much time with the ball in his hands and his long passing game was always awesome too watch.

Shame that his brother passed away at such a young age for Brandy..

YOU"RE NOT WRONG THERE!

 

[Caged Panther]

As someone mentioned Phil Gould has said on several occassions that Brandy was the most naturally gifted player his ever seen or coached and I believe (though I haven't read it myself) Fittler says something similar in his book.

The guy was just freakish, the way he could setup the players around him, he could pull off chip kick & regathers like Bowen did last weekend end at Newcastle on a regular basis. And the way he continuosly sliced through the line when he played at fullback. Outstanding.

Never forget the 91 preliminary final against Norths severely concussed from memory but still kicking goals from the sideline.

Alexander by the length of the straight when it comes to him vs gower. Though gower is alot Tougher.

And I actually think the 1997 superleague year would have been his best year in the top grade ever if he hadn't got a season ending injury.

Your right about him being one of the least biased commentators out there too. Even when commentating penrith.

 

[Whats Doing]

Exceptionally gifted footballer and amazing pace. The area where I felt he let hilself down was that he did not involve himself as much. He would drift in and out of matches quite often which is why Sterlo and Mortimer had the edge as they were more consistent, not necessarily better.

 

[Enoughsaid]

The story goes something like this

Tim sheens was the penrith coach when Brandy joined the panthers after leaving school..
Brandy was going to play reserve grade,Sheens wanted the kid to find his feet etc etc....
Penrith lost there first match of that season,Brandy killed them in reserves and sheens seen he was way too good for reserve grade and got elevevated to first grade the next week..

The rest is history

Ps. i think royce wanted him in firsts from week one,but sheens did'nt want to expose the kid..

 

[Raiders Plight]

My 2nd favourite player of all-time. He really tore us to shreads in the 1990 semi. I remember i cried after that game (i was only 9) because i thought we would never beat penrith if we played them in the GF, thankfully we did. As a rabid supporter of the green machine brandy was really a thorn in our side during that time.

 

[melon....]

No comparison there. Brandy is the best ever to pull on a Penrith jersey.

NAh...Terry Wickey was.

 

[Big Mick]

My favourite Panther of all time.

I remember when I was six, sitting in the lounge room of my old house watching the 91' Grand Final with my dad....then watching the Field Goal...then the kick from the sideline to seal it...it was just beautiful.

Since then I had found footage of games Brandy played at Fullback and Half for Penrith and in Rep games...and his ability with the football just amazed me. I have never had as much respect for a footballer than I had for Brandy. He was a gentlemen, he was a beautiful football player, it was like watching poetry in motion when seeing him run and jig and pass. He was a complete footballer. If he was in any other era he probably would have played a lot more rep games.

I remember in 1997, I went out to Penrith in Round 1 when we played Perth Reds. Brandy was wearing the #99 jersey. Scrum about 50 out....went off the scrum base, jigged inside Mackay, straight through the gap great pace through the middle of the field, stepped past the fullback...and ran the last 30 metres untouched and I just remembered thinking "Thank God he is back".

I really feel sorry for Brandy. We were going really well in 1992 up until his brothers tragic death. After that both he and Geyer could not conjur up any real strength or motivation up till their departures. We were not the same time for many years up until Brandy and MG's return.

I feel if that incident hadn't have happened...92,93,94,95,96 were his years to shine. Unfortunately after the incident he rarely showed much....the club was too much for him to bare with memories. We never really got to see the best of Brandy, but by god he was a damn fine footballer.

 

[Kurt Angle]

Jeez some rose coloured glasses here.

I remember him being touted prior to even playing the NSWRL in his time at Fairfield Pats. Had a lot of playing ability.

But to offset it was he was one of the most mentally feeble players in the history of professoinal rugby league.

His inconsistency was due to the fact you could smash him in one tackle, and give him a gob full in the ear getting up, and that we see him cower away for the rest of the game.

He did very well against teams like France and GB on Kangaroos tours where they couldn't walk the walk.

But at SOO level he was always seen wanting if you look at a game in it's entirety.

Many a players is gifted with physical skills, a champion is someone who has the mental side to back it up.

That is why Brandy will be remembered as a great talent, but not a champion.

 

[pantherz9103]

Quite simply Brandy was my favourite player and an idol for young panthers supporters like me, I was fortunate enough to see the last 10 years of Brandy's career. He was so important in Penrith's rise from perennial strugglers when he started in '84 to premiers in '91.

A major part in his decline post '91, apart from injuries was the tragic death of brother and rising Penrith star Ben Alexander, in a car accident. It really hit him hard and he went to the Greek Isles to get away from football for a couple of weeks. Then in 1994 he decided to leave us to sign for the Warriors, having been pushed out of halfback by Gary Freeman and having to play fullback. Although after returning to Penrith in '97, he played little football in his final three seasons due to foot and knee injuries. He still showed his class at age 32 by orchestrating NSW's 38-10 thrashing of QLD in Super League Tri Series Game 1.

He was simply a gifted footballer with great vision, acceleration, chip and chase and smart option taking. Also a brave cover defender. An inspirational leader. His critics used to say he choked when the pressure was on, but his ice cool 37 metre field goal and superb second half in the 1991 GF win silenced his critics. It really is sad that injuries and the death of his brother and close friend Ben contributed to a unfulfilling second half of his career. He is now on the 2UE Sports Today show and also FOX SPORTS and certainly has my respect. More so than the gibberers on the Footy Show.

 

[Ferocious Dogs]

He was magic. Could do anything on the field.

 

[pantherz9103]

Jeez some rose coloured glasses here.

I remember him being touted prior to even playing the NSWRL in his time at Fairfield Pats. Had a lot of playing ability.

But to offset it was he was one of the most mentally feeble players in the history of professoinal rugby league.

His inconsistency was due to the fact you could smash him in one tackle, and give him a gob full in the ear getting up, and that we see him cower away for the rest of the game.

He did very well against teams like France and GB on Kangaroos tours where they couldn't walk the walk.

But at SOO level he was always seen wanting if you look at a game in it's entirety.

Many a players is gifted with physical skills, a champion is someone who has the mental side to back it up.

That is why Brandy will be remembered as a great talent, but not a champion.

Yes he did have some bad games and cop stick for it.

But he was our first really gifted playmaker and played a huge role in our best ever period in the club's history 1988-1991 where we finished 6th, 4th, 2nd and then 1st. The forward pack was instrumental, but so was Brandy's class to give us the spark needed to win a comp. It was really a tale of woe what happened post '91. Why we went so poorly for most of the years before the next comp in '03 had much to do with the death of Ben Alexander and the woeful mismanagement of the situation. The MG drugs saga, Brandy leaving, the club didn't recruit well and got worse. Then we were similar to Chocolate Soldiers again. A team that had talented players but consistently underachieved due to not being mentally strong enough.

Brandy's brilliant start to the 97 SL season, even though he only played 6 games, set us up for a morale boosting finals finish, to atleast give us something to cheer about.

So sure he didn't achieve as much as she should have in rep games or even penrith for that matter. But for the success of a team that were easybeats before he arrived, he was absolutely vital.

 

[Briza]

A very good halfback, but IMO not as good as some in this thread think.

 

[pantherz9103]

A very good halfback, but IMO not as good as some in this thread think.

Yeah maybe so. But on his day he could be as good as anyone. At one stage just like it is now: 'No Joey, No Knights', 'No Benji, No Tigers' people could have said 'No Brandy, No Panthers', atleast in the mid to late 80's