Phil Blake?

[madunit]

Phil Blake and Scott Gale were very off-the-cuff type attackers, I guess their impact on the game would have been similar to when Benji Marshall started.

Blake was a utility back in the time that Mal Meninga, Steve Renouf, Andrew Ettingshausen, Mark McGaw, Michael O'Connor, Gary Belcher, Garry Jack, Greg Alexander, Wally Lewis, Laurie Daley, Allan Langer, Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny et al were all playing rep footy, which explains why he didn't get a gig on the rep scene (other than a City v Country game in the late 80's from memory)

 

[TheDalek079]

interesting thoughts everyone!

had never heard of Scott Gale. He played for Easts so i'm surprised I've never heard of him before. His RLP profile suggests he was a great attacker who never really reached his potential after leaving the Tigs. And sad to hear about his early death

 

[eozsmiles]

Barba has Slater and Inglis in front of him. Pretty unlucky.

Phil Blake would easily make the current NSW side though, i would hope.

Barba probably has Boyd in front of him too, since Darbs is in the QLD team right now and is predominantly a FB.

Dunno if Phil would play SOO now. People have mentioned his defence being a liability.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Barba has Slater and Inglis in front of him. Pretty unlucky.

Phil Blake would easily make the current NSW side though, i would hope.

I was just saying that it shouldn't be too hard for a modern fan to understand how Blake could've been a gun attacking fullback but still missed out on rep footy.

We're in an era where there are a heap of good fullbacks and a number of them haven't repped much- especially if they are regarded as mercurial attackers but less solid in other aspects. Pretty much exactly what happened to Blake.

 

[Loudstrat]

Blake had Sterlo, Mortimer and Kevin Hastings in front of him for a Blues jumper in 82. Blake was virtually in a test strength club side anyway. In later years, Greg Alexander, Allan Langer and Ricky Stuart appeared.

Blake was all chip-and-chase in his early years anyway. Others had far better kicking games and organising abilities anyway.

 

[Card Shark]

had never heard of Scott Gale. He played for Easts so i'm surprised I've never heard of him before. His RLP profile suggests he was a great attacker who never really reached his potential after leaving the Tigs. And sad to hear about his early death

Scott Gale was a tiger & also an excitement machine. Not as good as Blake though. Both were great exponents of the chip & chase.

RIP Scott

 

[Mr Spock!]

interesting thoughts everyone!

had never heard of Scott Gale. He played for Easts so i'm surprised I've never heard of him before. His RLP profile suggests he was a great attacker who never really reached his potential after leaving the Tigs. And sad to hear about his early death

Scott Gale played his best football for Balmain. I remember him tearing Combined Brisbane a new one with some sensational tries.

Scott passed away in 2004.

RIP

[youtube]-8TYReEKPZ0[/youtube]

 

[WarriorDefence]

I would compare him to Preston Campbell.

 

[Hanscholo]

How good was Phil Blake?

He was slightly before my time, but I remember a lot of fuss about him (here in NZ they had to create a superstar for the warriors), yet when I look at his rep career he played hardly any rep footy. Whenever they show highlights the word that comes to mind is electric.

So what's the go? Was Blake brilliant but unlucky with rep footy, or just a solid first grader? Which modern day player could he be compared to - Lyon?

He was a lot like ben barber actually. His career is similar too. The difference between his best and worst was unbelievable. He was an absolutely brilliant player, but patchy.