'Major' raid on league coming

[legend]

Wing is declining but Slater would be a major loss IMO. He is a rep level player but pretty small for Union IMO.

 

[Brutus]

Thats why the ARU contnue to put on the field a second rate 15 match after match. They can keep raiding league ranks but all you're going to get is someone who'll put the ball over the line for you. Raiding league raks isn't going to improve the wallaby engine room, they're forwarda are weak and pathetic and that's why they struggle game after game. In other countries juniors are developed and coached extensively, more money, more focus etc. The all blacks are the number one team in world rugby at the moment, when's the last time they actively went league poaching?

The All Blacks also have the luxury of being in a country where union is the be-all.

In Australia union is the fourth-ranked football code and most people couldn't care less about it unless they are sucked into it as an event as they were during the 2003 world cup. Thankfully they have since woken up.

 

[Boatharbour]

Yes Legend I felt I was being a little
too hard on Billy Slater by including him
in with Cross and Wing. But would you
still say he is in the top 3 or 4 outside
backs in our game ? I feel Union is
targetting our second tier of stars rather
than the Greg Inglis' who would certainly
make a mockery of Rugby Union defence.

 

[The Colonel]

Wing is declining but Slater would be a major loss IMO. He is a rep level player but pretty small for Union IMO.

Would he really? Maybe to Melbourne - though they have Inglis and the young fellow Smith Samau. For Queensland he is now probably behind Hunt and Inglis - with Minichiello and Hodgson fit his chances of playing for Australia would diminish again.

He isn't really a winger, would get monstered in the centres and doesn't have much of a kicking game either. He'd be a great pick up for 7's Rugby.

 

[Brutus]

the quality of the players they're poaching is declining every year.
They've recently signed Schifcovske and Cross, next they'll probably get Fitzhenry and Hughes.

Schif plays his first ever game of union for QLD against Japan while Cross plays his first game of union for yonks for a rest of the world side.

Shows you the lack of depth in union when they league players simply walk into rep sides.

 

[Boatharbour]

Well said Brutus,although Clinton has
had a far better year than Cross and I
think he'll fare much better in Rugby Union
than Cross.

 

[jc155776]

Like others have said poaching backline players wont help the Wallaby scrum at all. And that is where union games are won. You need forwards that have played in union for a long time to be decent and poaching forwards from league wont work.

All very sad for the young players coming through.

Im a union fan and can recognise the pathetic attempt that this is.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

The all blacks are the number one team in world rugby at the moment, when's the last time they actively went league poaching?

Half the team would have grown up playing both sports and the rest have been poached from the Pacific Islands, yeah the All Blacks don't need to poach anyone :roll:

Just how many true Kiwi's are actually playing for them?

 

[dubby]

This whole subject is getting boring.
Sooner or later people will stop reading newspaper articles about Union poaching League players as it will be a common practise.
It also serves notice that the ARU are running out of stocks in their own country. If they have to buy League players every year, then sooner or later the public will come to realise that there is little talent around in Aust. for Union players. Does this not represent desperation from the ARU only a few years after a "highly successful world cup" that "promised to turn RU into the number 1 footy code in Aust"?
Also, like its been said here, players will want to play League first because it guarentees them a rep spot in Union! (and a higher salary than a union junior would get if they went through the union system)
Just keep trying to buy our players, ARU. You are beggining to look desperate, old and pathetic in the eyes of the Aust public. The sensation that was created when you signed Dell, Lote and Rogers is unlikely to be repeated. You only served greater interest in RL when you tried to get Johns and Gaz (people now know which code has the better players). Keep signing players that are past their best, and know that no matter how much you pay for their services; their true love always was and always will be RL.
It must hurt you, ARU , to see Rogers come back. To know Lote wants to return (it will cost you millions for a guy who is not interested primarily in your code), and to know you havent got the best players to win your own game.
You need ours.

 

[aussies1st]

Silly idiots, why don't they look at how they got two very promising 5/8s and continue with that instead of raiding league.

 

[Kurt Angle]

Union can't afford our best... what they end up doing is paying Mark Gansier money for Ryan Cross.

Their first arid bought Kangaroos winger Lote, ROgers and Wendell.

Their next raid has bought them fringe Qld or City/country players like Schif, Cross and Harris returning.

They'll be close to penniless after a failed world cup and 2 years of a 'national' club comp that no one will watch.

 

[ocko]

Just how many true Kiwi's are actually playing for them?

lol, same with the kiwi rl team

 

[ocko]

interesting point made re: the fact that they need forwards and not backs. Don't follow union closely enough to know the source of the wallabies' current problems, but it sounds interesting.

 

[tye]

Yep poor rugby union, how could anybody play THAT game? They throw heaps of cash at players, constantly travelling the world, quality world cups and oppoortunity's to play in world 15's. I know I would much rather play at campbelltown or penrith on a satuday night. If union keep this sort of thing up the future is very gloomy indeed!

 

[aqua_duck]

Half the team would have grown up playing both sports and the rest have been poached from the Pacific Islands, yeah the All Blacks don't need to poach anyone :roll:

Just how many true Kiwi's are actually playing for them?

Lets see

team from the 2nd test against france

15.Leon Macdonald-born in Blenheim, NZ
14.Joe Rokocoko-born in Fiji, immigrated to NZ with his family at the ripe old age of 5
13.Ma'a Nonu-born in Wellington
12.Mils Muliaina-born in Samoa, moved to NZ with family at the ripe old age of 2
11.Sitiveni Sivivatu-born in Fiji, moved in NZ in his teens
10.Dan Carter-born in Christchurch
9.Byron Kelleher-born in Dunedin
8.Rodney So'oialo-born in Samoa, raised in NZ, came through NZ schools system
7.Richie McCaw-born in Oamaru, NZ
6.Jerry Collins-born in Samoa, raised in NZ, represented various NZ aged teams and NZ schools teams
5.Ali Williams-born in Auckland
4.Chris Jack-born in Christchurch
3.Carl Hayman-born in Opunake, NZ
2.Keven Mealamu-born in Waikato
1.Tony Woodcock-born in Helensville, NZ

16.ANdrew Hore-born in Dunedin
17.Neemia Tialata-born in Lower Hutt
18.Jason Eaton-born in palmerston North, NZ
19.Chris Masoe-born in Samoa, grew up in NZ
20.Andrew Ellis-born in Christchurch
21.Nick Evans-born in auckland
22.Luke McAlister-born in Taranaki

now out of that 22, 16 were born in NZ, and 5 were born overseas but have spent the majority of heir lives in NZ, only 1 was poached from Fiji as a teenager on a high school rugby scholarship

I'm sure many have played league at some point but how is it poaching when they grow up playing league on a saturday and union on a sunday or vice versa? I mean Carl Webb was a junior boxer, does that mean league poached him from boxing? Again how is it poaching when a player is born in Samoa and migrates with his family at the age of 2?

I hope this helps to better inform you

 

[JW]

quality world cups

:lol:

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

The problem is that Union needs a Mark Ella and we have 30 of them....

Who'd want to be a Union junior?

 

[aqua_duck]

Uniuon need more than a mark ella, they need junior infrustructure, it doesn't matter if they have a backline with

15.Minicheillo
14.Tuqiri
13.Gasnier
12.Lockyer
11.Inglis
10.Johns
9.Giteau

even with that backline they'd still be 2nd rate because none of their players would see any ball with nuffies like AL Baxter, Matt DUnning, and Tai McIssacs anchorinhg the scrum

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

That backline wouldn't need forwards if it played against Union teams. But you wouldn't have Giteau there, he's sh*t, insert Thurston or any one of 10 others in his place and you're on the right track.

So why are they trying to buy another Mark Ella via League instead of spending $s to improve the quality of their forwards?

Oh that's right, they're stupid.

 

[aqua_duck]

The ARU are about as intelligent as a tin of paint