Luckiest first grade career of all time

[bazza]

Phil Bailey playing for Australia

 

[bazza]

do coaches count?

Ricky stuart had a premiership squad assembled and gift wrapped for him by graham murray and has been riding off it ever since doing very little except whinge

Ricky seems to have lasted longer than Michael Hagan

 

[Walpole]

Ross Conlon. 150+ games and played for NSW and Australia, based mainly on his penchant for place kicking the ball in all situations.

 

[Perth Tiger]

Watching last couple of games nofaulomo must have been unluckiest. Clearly got a tonne of talent but never even payed a finals game!

luckiest id say David fafita, being paid a superstars wage when he’s mostly just a plodder. Oh and Matt lodge. Sht stain of a human being but still earns ten times what your avg hard working jo gets.

Wait until the Storm play any games where they have to defend before you judge Nofa

 

[King hit]

don't know how Mark Hughes played so many origin games
seemed to be popular off the field

related - David Peachy - unlucky

Peachey was a bit of a hit and a miss from what I remember. Could do equally dumb things as well as spectacular things.

 

[bazza]

Peachey was a bit of a hit and a miss from what I remember. Could do equally dumb things as well as spectacular things.

from memory was set to be first pick fullback for NSW at one stage, but missed out due to injury/suspension. Mark Hughes got the spot and NSW won easily (on the back of Andrew Johns) so Hughes stayed in for the next 2 games

 

[bazza]

Ross Conlon. 150+ games and played for NSW and Australia, based mainly on his penchant for place kicking the ball in all situations.

plenty of good goal kickers/average players have had long careers. Daryl Halligan would be the most famous

 

[Vee]

Peachey was a bit of a hit and a miss from what I remember. Could do equally dumb things as well as spectacular things.

I don't remember that at all. Really good player with a wonderfully high ceiling.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Greg Bird coming back after his court case in 2008.

Good answer.

Adam Blair

How the hell the guy got 6 years of first grade contracts after the Tigers debacle is beyond belief. He had multiple games where he had 1 or 2 hit ups in 80 minutes and never got dropped. His game V Fiji in the World Cup where NZ lost 4-2 is the most pea hearted Ive ever seen in an International.

And how did I miss giving this a like and a thorough 'f**k YES'. But to answer your question, he got all of those years because Warriors. We picked him up off the back of that Fiji game, when he was captain of a campaign where we went out at the quarters to Fiji (we'd just drawn with Scotland months earlier, too) then said in the press conference 'it wasn't a negative for us' and basically didn't give a shit. That excited us as Warriors fans...when we already knew we were getting 'cashing cheques' Adam, not 'early Melbourne days' Adam.

Fun fact - he is even more useless as a TV analyst than he was in the second half of his career. Get your head around that.

 

[myrrh ken]

Shaun berrigan was once first choice Kangaroo centre.

Although i think it was a sheens team to be fair

 

[Smug Panther]

Shaun berrigan was once first choice Kangaroo centre.

Although i think it was a sheens team to be fair

One of the most versatile and underrated players I've seen.

 

[nick87]

Glenn Buttriss

Did not have a lick of talent, managed to carve out 119 game across 8 seasons of paid professional football, largely thanks to the fact the Raiders tried to recruit and develop better hookers and failed.

I put it to this forum that Glenn Buttriss is the least talented player to play 100 FG games.

 

[myrrh ken]

One of the most versatile and underrated players I've seen.

a "pure footballer" ala Kurt Gidley, Kurt Mann, Moses Mbye

 

[Smug Panther]

a "pure footballer" ala Kurt Gidley, Kurt Mann, Moses Mbye

Far better than those players

 

[Rhino_NQ]

Shaun berrigan was once first choice Kangaroo centre.

Although i think it was a sheens team to be fair

anything prior to raiders berrigan was a pretty awesome utility. Isn't many centre/hookers that did as well as him. Can't remember what the injury status for the roos was like the rest of the centres but he would have been my first choice #14 and not 3/4. Remember an old junior trainer that ended up working with the maroons telling me that when it came to the olympic style lifts, pound for pound shaun was a freak of nature.

If it was Tim Sheens i'd have a guess and say that was after the broncos last GF win over the storm. Tim loved gifting a GF winner a test spot at the end of the year that if their side didn't make it wouldn't make a 22 man origin squad. Not that shaun wasn't worthy of a utlity spot.

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

There was one first grader that I shagged a few times a decade ago. He was definitely the luckiest

 

[myrrh ken]

anything prior to raiders berrigan was a pretty awesome utility. Isn't many centre/hookers that did as well as him. Can't remember what the injury status for the roos was like the rest of the centres but he would have been my first choice #14 and not 3/4. Remember an old junior trainer that ended up working with the maroons telling me that when it came to the olympic style lifts, pound for pound shaun was a freak of nature.

If it was Tim Sheens i'd have a guess and say that was after the broncos last GF win over the storm. Tim loved gifting a GF winner a test spot at the end of the year that if their side didn't make it wouldn't make a 22 man origin squad. Not that shaun wasn't worthy of a utlity spot.

2004 and 2005. Uncle wayne was the coach

 

[Sphagnum]

There was one first grader that I shagged a few times a decade ago. He was definitely the luckiest

 

[MrBlack]

David Nofoaluma would be feeling pretty lucky this morning.

Will be the first player in 10 years to play semi final footy and play for the Wests Tigers in the same year

 

[MKCS]

For me in terms of big contract players it has to be Luke Brooks, he's a bloke that will play 200+ NRL games, has had a career for almost a decade, makes a million bucks a year but has never really delivered. I remember after a big debut in 2013 they called him the next Joey Johns but he's simply a solid first grader who shows a few flashes of brilliance a year. Ash Taylor could probably be thrown in here also.

If we look at the big picture though there has been some very average footballers who play 2-3 seasons of NRL and then go off to Super League or hang around in the top 30 of a shit NRL team making a living for life despite not being very good.