How good was Offiah?

[Mr Fourex]

I already have earlier in the thread.........

 

[anjado]

I already have earlier in the thread.........

Let's see you agreed with Hazem despite the fact if he couldn't kick goals he wouldn't be in anyone's list. It would be the equivalent of saying Luke Burt was better.

Ettingshausen was a centre.

Matt Sing was a centre for a major part of his career. Great player but was as much a centre as anything else.

Steve Morris played a major part of his career at halfback.

Folau was around for 5 seconds and didn't offer much apart from catching bombs.


My point is you rag on and crap on about how bad a defender he was. Then explain how all the great players who played against Offiah never exposed him. You are saying these guys couldn't expose weaknesses ?

If Offiah couldn't defend he would never of been chosen 30+ times in international football. Australia would of racked up 50+ every time they played them.

first it was he only scored 10 tries because English players can't tackle even though he once managed 4 tries in 15 minutes against Brisbane once. I guess that Brisbane side of that era must of been well sh*t. He scored 20 tries in 26 games in Rugby League here. Basically it combines to a season and he scored 20 tries.

It's really ridiculous that a guy can dominate in every level of the game yet. You rate him less then guys like El Masri. 3rd leading tryscorer of all time by the way.


Basically what you are saying is a shocking defender can play 30 times for his country. Play against some of the greatest players of all time and not get constantly exposed ? what does this say for the likes of Langer and Stuart and Sterling ?

 

[LeagueXIII]

On the Barefoot RL show this week they were comparing wing play from the past to today. Tony Currie mentioned the best winger he played against was Offiah, saying give him an inch of space and he was gone.

Look at some of the space Offiah had to work in and he really was the master finisher, which is what wing play is about.

Classic try by Offiah v NZ in 1st Test of 1989 series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TsCBgCp4M

 

[Mr Fourex]

Look.....I'm not trying to tear down your Martin Offiah poster off your bedroom wall.

My opinion of him is that whilst being extremely fast ...... and agile

he could be found out regularly under the high ball and in defence.

There have been a few links here of "chariots" in action........he WAS thrilling to watch

against for the most part ........wanting defence.

Watching him against some of that UK "defence" reminded me of just how deplorable it actually was.

 

[anjado]

Look.....I'm not trying to tear down your Martin Offiah poster off your bedroom wall.

My opinion of him is that whilst being extremely fast ...... and agile

he could be found out regularly under the high ball and in defence.

There have been a few links here of "chariots" in action........he WAS thrilling to watch

against for the most part ........wanting defence.

Watching him against some of that UK "defence" reminded me of just how deplorable it actually was.

Well i posted him scoring 4 tries against Brisbane he carved up Australia a few times also. It wasn't deplorable defence it was a talented and gifted player and one of the best the game has seen.

If you actually watched the clips there were tries against Australia and Australian sides. He did it against Australia and in Australia so for you to criticize such defence is completely contradictory. Since he could do this against anyone and proved so out here maybe not 10 tries in a game but 20 tries in a season easily.

When was he found out in defence and under the high ball. Why did Australia make it difficult for themselves in many tests when all the had to do according to you is either bomb or run at Offiah. You don't think this plan may have passed through some of the greatest minds in the history of the game ?

Fact is people knew he was not a great defender yet the results don't really show this do they ? Australia struggled to beat Great Britain in 1990 and 1992. Yet you seem to think there was this clear and obvious weak link Australia failed to exploit ? Why did they make it so difficult for themselves ? Maybe just maybe he wasn't that bad in defence after all.

 

[Mr Fourex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TsCBgCp4M

Some of those set plays by GB are magnificent.

Watched all of this twice........ 2 clips against the Aussies. The rest between Kiwi sides and UK sides.

A lot of the clips had him stolling/catch and fall over the try line to score.

I don't want that to detract from the fact he was an exciting player to watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLNH05nNnc0&feature=related

just wanted to place that on here. It's the world sevens final in 1992.

Wondering what you kept going on about with your "4 tries in 15mins against Brisbane" .......

FFS it was the SEVENS......it's equivalent to touch football.

 

[anjado]

Watched all of this twice........ 2 clips against the Aussies. The rest between Kiwi sides and UK sides.

A lot of the clips had him stolling/catch and fall over the try line to score.

I don't want that to detract from the fact he was an exciting player to watch



Wondering what you kept going on about with your "4 tries in 15mins against Brisbane" .......

FFS it was the SEVENS......it's equivalent to touch football.

Exactly if Offiah's defence was so bad surely it would be really exposed in this form of the game against a quality side like the Broncos with Carne and Langer and Hancock and Renouf all running through him at will ?

Brisbane scored one try in the game despite all the space and despite Wigan having a horrible English defence he also ran straight through Hancock and Renouf.

Where is there superior defending ? You have answered my point perfectly if they were superior defenders and Offiah so bad how come they couldn't score on Offiah and Offiah managed to score on them 4 times in 15 minutes ?

You can claim it is only 7's but if Offiah was so shocking defensively he would surely be found out worse with the wide open spaces.

 

[taxidriver]

mr forex, are you trying to compete with fein and bunniesman?

 

[LeagueXIII]

Offiah scored from the his first touch in his debut game in Australian football, in total he scored 20 tries in 27 games.

All throughout his career at whatever level his achievements speak for themselves. As for scoring 4 tries in the sevens, I didn't see many other players do this against the Broncos.

 

[Loudstrat]

And fourex - you only posted 5. You pinched 5 from Johnsy!

 

[Mr Fourex]

You can claim it is only 7's but if Offiah was so shocking defensively he would surely be found out worse with the wide open spaces.

The room to move that one has when playing sevens suits Offiahs game to a tee.......even more so in defence. He can let the opposition run past him and simply run them down from behind

mr forex, are you trying to compete with fein and bunniesman?

Because I don't rate Martin Offiah as highly as others?

Sorry mate.......I'll stop sharing an opinion on this topic if it puts me in the same league as bunniesman.

And fourex - you only posted 5. You pinched 5 from Johnsy!

Cause I agreed with 'em..... champ.

 

[taxidriver]

no, because you post tripe

 

[Mr Fourex]

easily in the top 5 wingers I've seen in the game.

:lol: .........OK.

 

[manoj p]

This thread has nearly become as painful as the troll filled Manchester thread...

 

[Loudstrat]

My top 5 would be (started watching RL in 1980 and mostly in UK, Unfortuntely I only got to watch Clive Sullivan in his last year and I was too young to appreciate it!) based on enjoying watching them play as much as talent.
1. Offiah
2. Robinson
3. Sailor
4. Vainikolo
5. Blacklock

Pity you never saw Eric Grothe.

Cause I agreed with 'em..... champ.

Then you are as f*cking loopy as him. Larry Corowa - means you remember players from 1978. Hazem - means you have been stoned or lobotomised since 1998.

Grothe aside - there has been no freakish attacking back better than Great Balls, and just on attack he was more damaging than Guru. Grothe was a phenomenal defender. Offiah didnt have to be. That's why Grothe is generally acknowledged as the best winger since Ken Irvine.

 

[Charles Bronson]

he was super quick, but I remember he didn't want to tackle

 

[Bullseye]

How good was Offiah?

He was the best winger I've seen including Grothe, Ettingshausen, Sailor, Carne, Boustead etc.

What Offiah had that eclipsed those others was simple try scoring ability. He scored more than anyone else and did in the ARL, Tests and in GB. Grothe, ET and Boustead never got near to scoring as many tries in GB as Offiah when they played for English clubs. In Australia Offiah showed he could score against better defences and he did this too in tests.

He was quicker than 99% of players at the time but to those who say he only had pace I say what about his ability to read the game. The Lee Oudenryns of the game may have been quicker but what are their try scoring records? Offiah's support play was superb and got him into positions where he could score.

As for his defence, it wasn't great but the bloke did well enough not to be exposed and played well when tests between GB and Aus were a genuine contest. He took some terrible cheap shots in the UK yet still carried on and this was when the game was far dirtier than it is now.

People have always been quick to criticise Offiah for his defence or his showmanship. But it's stupid to nit pick with a great player like that. It's like saying Wally Lewis wasn't the quickest or something.

I remember one angry opposition fan shouting at Offiah after he completed a hattrick against his team back in the early 90s, he yelled "You're crap Offiah! All you do is score tries!"

He certainly did.

 

[Saint 60]

excellent in attack...excellent...

but very very average in defence...

 

[LeagueXIII]

Who cares, I want a winger who can score a try from anywhere, and this is what Offiah could do.

Besides I don't think his defence was that bad, I can't recall it costing his team a game.

 

[Auckland4ever]

What always impressed me about him was the way he could elude opposing players by reacting to what they were doing, or were about to do. With defensive patterns being as regimented as they are today, there's less latitude for wingers to play with the same degree of intelligence and creativity. The best wingers today tend to be those that outpower as opposed to outsmart.