League players and the Comm/Olympic Games

[Parra]

Benji is an exception of course.

Point being that the requirements of the games are different. The versatility required puts those who can do it in rare company.

Benji would be an instant success at 7s. As would Slater in my opinion. Others would have to make adaptions.

Hard to believe that Stannard is so competitive at 27. It really is a young blokes game.

Also, anyone who watched the tournament noticed that the kiwis were on a different level.

 

[Perth Red]

It's been shown in the UK that RL players are more than capable of winning 7's tournaments
eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/2183583.stm
http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/story/96532.html

 

[Te Kaha]

It's been shown in the UK that RL players are more than capable of winning 7's tournaments
eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/2183583.stm
http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/story/96532.html

The middlesex 7's dont have the best 7's players involved... and you will note those articles where written in 1996 and 2002 when the professional 7's series didnt start until 99-00... the top teams are very much more professional now...

I have no doubts that players from the NRL could win in the 7's, given enough time to adapt... but to say they will walk in and dominate is moronic in the least... History has shown that top League players dont often make top Rugby players... and vis versa.

 

[Slackboy72]

Why? Technically I'm correct.

I was referring to the OP suggesting league players should play 7s. It's not all about you.

 

[Cloudsurfer]

And what about the team that won the gold... and has won the gold the previous 3 times that the Comm games have had 7's... the team that is yet to be defeated in the comm games??? the backbone of the team play only 7's internationally.


But then you have shown before your eye for rugby talent isnt that great anyway.



For f**ks sake... fitness is only one part of it... Rugby 7's is a different game to League, differnt rules, different defensive patterns, different skill sets...



In your opinion players from the NRL would dominate... but i have asked already and nobody has answered... how many NRL players who have played Rugby have dominated and were considered the best in their posiion in Rugby... simple answer is ZERO.

I agree with your posts...but answering the question asked - Brad Thorn. And now SBW is starting to crack it. But they would be exceptions rather than the rule.
2 very different games IMO requiring fairly different skill sets for the differences in the games. Requisites for outstanding players in either code are the things you can't teach: agility, speed, athleticism, intelligence. Fitness, strength, technical skills are taught. For any code.
Re 7s - tournaments are also about speed and recovery. Quite a few intense games played over a short period of time. Its why the games are 7 minutes each way.
League to me is 80 mins of non-stop graft with moments of opportunity through brilliance/wearing down the opposition / tactics/etc (take your pick). Union is tactics first, shutting the other team out, creating opportunities through possession & also has moments of brilliance, etc amongst longer periods of positioning. Its a bit like cricket - you watch a whole game to see the highlights.
They're all different - your preference is up to you

 

[Thomas]

It's been shown in the UK that RL players are more than capable of winning 7's tournaments
eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/2183583.stm
http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/story/96532.html

2002? A pre-season competition featuring such great rugby teams as the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment side and a team from the British Army? Come on...

Sure, plenty of NRL players would easily be fit enough for 7's...but do they know how to ruck? How to recycle ball? BTW The NZ team who won the gold medal are basically a full-time pro 7's team.

 

[fourplay]

It is ridiculous to think an NRL players fitness wouldn't be up to a sevens game.

Not just the fitness but surley the skill levels would be superior to most sevens players.

These guys are the fittest, strongest and most skillful of all Rugby players in the world.

I can't believe it's even being debated it's so geniused. It's as dumb as saying Hayne isn't good enough.

"7's fitness is different" :roll: So 7's doesn't use the aerobic or anaerobic endurance systems, but a new form of energy? I watched a few games and it's actually amazingly slow. If the ball is not out of play the ref blows his whistle for something random at almost every breakdown. NRL players would hardly even break a sweat playing 7's.

 

[seaeagle sam]

Getting back to the original topic, why would they consider league players? Maybe our national lawn bowling association should bring in some professional 10 pin bowlers.

Actually, I bet on the 10-pin United forum there is a thread about why 10-pin bowlers should be chosen to represent at the Comm Games as lawn bowlers. They can bowl harder and faster after all.

 

[Canard]

I have no doubts that players from the NRL could win in the 7's, given enough time to adapt... but to say they will walk in and dominate is moronic in the least... History has shown that top League players dont often make top Rugby players... and vis versa.

I was objecting to one of the Rah-Rah brigade (not you) claiming that no-one in Rugby League was big enough??, fast enough or skillful enough to compete at 7's. If thats not claiming its a game played by "super atheletes" I dont know what is.

 

[rabbitohs]

Sevens is a different sport. I am sure many league players would be very successful. These days it is not shortened union but a specialised game with it's own professionals.

 

[rabbitohs]

2002? A pre-season competition featuring such great rugby teams as the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment side and a team from the British Army? Come on...

Sure, plenty of NRL players would easily be fit enough for 7's...but do they know how to ruck? How to recycle ball? BTW The NZ team who won the gold medal are basically a full-time pro 7's team.

The Middlesex Sevens is actually one of the top Sevens tournaments and back then was second only to Hong Kong.

 

[Thomas]

"Back then" being the key phrase here.

7's is a completely different beast now with professional 7's players playing in a worldwide competition. Back then it was treated as a bit of a pre-season lark.

But yeah, plenty of players in the NRL would be good at 7's if they trained for it. Someone suggested Thaiday? Perhaps if they used a pie instead of a ball.

 

[Te Kaha]

I agree with your posts...but answering the question asked - Brad Thorn. And now SBW is starting to crack it. But they would be exceptions rather than the rule.
2 very different games IMO requiring fairly different skill sets for the differences in the games. Requisites for outstanding players in either code are the things you can't teach: agility, speed, athleticism, intelligence. Fitness, strength, technical skills are taught. For any code.
Re 7s - tournaments are also about speed and recovery. Quite a few intense games played over a short period of time. Its why the games are 7 minutes each way.
League to me is 80 mins of non-stop graft with moments of opportunity through brilliance/wearing down the opposition / tactics/etc (take your pick). Union is tactics first, shutting the other team out, creating opportunities through possession & also has moments of brilliance, etc amongst longer periods of positioning. Its a bit like cricket - you watch a whole game to see the highlights.
They're all different - your preference is up to you

While Thorn is an outstanding lock he is far from being the best in the world in his position, its the one position that NZ doesnt have great depth, and SBW, while promising, isnt even the best 2nd 5/8 in NZ let alone the world.... There simply has not been an NRL player who has dominated his position in Rugby.

I can't believe it's even being debated it's so geniused. It's as dumb as saying Hayne isn't good enough.

"7's fitness is different" :roll: So 7's doesn't use the aerobic or anaerobic endurance systems, but a new form of energy? I watched a few games and it's actually amazingly slow. If the ball is not out of play the ref blows his whistle for something random at almost every breakdown. NRL players would hardly even break a sweat playing 7's.

Hayne isnt good enough to switch and immediately dominate... given time he might... but not straight away... to say otherwise is stupid.

I was objecting to one of the Rah-Rah brigade (not you) claiming that no-one in Rugby League was big enough??, fast enough or skillful enough to compete at 7's. If thats not claiming its a game played by "super atheletes" I dont know what is.

I believe that was against a claim that a team of NRL players would have won the gold easily and would have "dominated" not mearly "competed"... which is simply not true...

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

History has shown that top League players dont often make top Rugby players

:?

History has shown that good league players can routinely become international standard union players within a short space of time.

 

[Te Kaha]

:?

History has shown that good league players can routinely become international standard union players within a short space of time.

As history also shows that good Rugby players also become international standard League players in a short space of time... you selectively quoted only part of my post removing the context, which was that no NRL player has "dominated" and become the best in the world in is position.

 

[hellteam]

And what about the team that won the gold... and has won the gold the previous 3 times that the Comm games have had 7's... the team that is yet to be defeated in the comm games??? the backbone of the team play only 7's internationally.


But then you have shown before your eye for rugby talent isnt that great anyway.



For f**ks sake... fitness is only one part of it... Rugby 7's is a different game to League, differnt rules, different defensive patterns, different skill sets...

In your opinion players from the NRL would dominate... but i have asked already and nobody has answered... how many NRL players who have played Rugby have dominated and were considered the best in their posiion in Rugby... simple answer is ZERO.

We're talking about Australia. And, we were talking about their fitness levels. I never said they would dominate a game straight up.

Also, note, i am NOT saying they would beat the best Australia has at 7's. The simple fact is, this was NOT a true representative side, it was a side made up of mostly FRINGE super 14 players, who ARE NOT sevens specialists.

Just because they have a 2 week camp a few times a year between club rugby appearances it doesn't make them sevens specialists. At the end of the day, professional rugby league players who would train up to 10 times a week would easily be as fit as them.

RU Sevens skills could, of course, be learned by RL players, but they would need to play a full season to justify selection in a national RU Sevens side. That is the way representative sport works.

No one plays a full season of rugby 7's. They are 15 a side players who get chosen 7 times a year or so to play in tournaments. There is no domestic sevens season.

 

[Te Kaha]

We're talking about Australia.

No YOU are talking about Australia.. others were talking about NRL players walking up and winning a 7's comp e.g the Comm games... this is not true as there are proffesional 7's players who are better.

And, we were talking about their fitness levels. I never said they would dominate a game straight up.

Again.. you didnt, others did...

No one plays a full season of rugby 7's. They are 15 a side players who get chosen 7 times a year or so to play in tournaments. There is no domestic sevens season.

That maybe true for Aussie.. but then how many 7's World series or 7's gold medals or 7's world cups have the Aussies won... easy answer... its less than 1.

 

[WireMan]

As history also shows that good Rugby players also become international standard League players in a short space of time... you selectively quoted only part of my post removing the context, which was that no NRL player has "dominated" and become the best in the world in is position.

Some guys are just good sportsmen. The very best at League will and have made good Union players, and the reverse is true.

In the UK J. Robinson went alright in Union, Ashton from Wigan to Northampton was top scorer in the league last year.

But then Offiah, Davies, Batemen were very good league players from Union and i'm sure some of the other guys would go alright.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

you selectively quoted only part of my post removing the context, which was that no NRL player has "dominated" and become the best in the world in is position.

Well, I'm really arguing against this notion that top league players (and top rugby players for that matter) somehow "couldn't compete" in 7s. I wouldn't expect them to dominate, but to suggest they couldn't compete is completely ridiculous.

Even as recently as this year's Commonwealth Games we've seen Guildford included in the NZ squad because he's a good 15s player.

 

[Loudstrat]

Ad

Hayne isnt good enough to switch and immediately dominate... given time he might... but not straight away... to say otherwise is stupid.

You stupid gimp. There is about 5 people on the planet that could tackle Hayne one on one with the space availale on the 7's field. Ditto Inglis. Besides you wouldn't need 7 NRL players, in fact you'd only need 3. A bloke to catch it and pass it to Fui Fui, and a decoy. So in theory you could do it with Luke Burt (catcher) and Brett Finch (decoy). Burt, Moi Moi and Finch would smash them in attack. Add Hindy and Michael Luck for defence. Sorry, that makes 5!

I could easily name 100 league players who could make up a winning Olympic Union 7's side, but seriously any League player that needs 3 players to nullify him (ie almost half the opposition 7's team) would kill it.

Mateo and his offload.
Pritchard
Hayne
Fui
Manu
Benji and his kangaroo hop
Petero
Hindy
Burgess
Preston
Anyone running off Thurston, Prince or Heather
M Mini in his prelim final form
Jennings and Gordon
Taylor
Gaz and his shimmy shimmy shake
Slater
Carney (before or after the pub)
Idris
Watmough
etc etc etc


All you need to do is break a tackle. Or draw 2 and offload. And regardless of what training one needs to do, the NRL/ESL guys could eat it. Why? Because of the QUALITY of the opposition. Face it, if these guys are sevens players and sevens players only, they must be crap. Why? Because they can't even get a gig in a Super 12! Plenty of NRL reserve graders have forged great Super 12 carers. If you can't get in the Super 12, what's the choice? QLD Cup or Union 7's.

The Cowboys pack would be undefeated 7's champions as sure as Greg Inglis has a beer gut. Therefore, a DECENT selection from the NRL would be murderous.

:?

History has shown that good league players can routinely become international standard union players within a short space of time.

History has shown SG Ball level players an be wallabies in 18 months - courtesy of Mr. D Macrae and Mr B Barnes. And fat low old Andy Farrell can rise from whinging pommy slob to a Union great without much disturbance of his waist line.

The Union trolls make me laugh at their conviction of their stupidity :lol::lol: