SBW is the most talented player in the world of Rugby

[Manu Vatuvei]

Pfft, I could beat tackles and offload like that if I was 6'10 and 150kg.
Sensational athlete, good enough footballer.

He is 191cm, 106kg. A fairly big backrower, but nothing special in the size department. There are plenty bigger going around.

If anything, his speed and skill give him a larger than life presence on the field. Sort of like Inglis- Scott Minto is taller and heavier than Inglis, but Inglis has a dominating presence because of the combination of skills to go with decent size.

 

[Big Pete]

intelligence

LOL

Explain those stupid offloads he makes to no one?

No doubting on his day Sonny Bill is one of the most talented backrowers in the competition, however some of you on here are getting a bit too carried away.

 

[Nathan B]

And the intelligence is questionable but getting better (on and OFF the field)

His on-field intelligence has been first rate right from the start. Watch him in defence - he knows exactly when to strip the ball, he knows when to play at the guy's arm from behind to force a mistake. I think the lunge from behind to slap at the ball-carrying arm has become a Sonny trademark. (The '04 Gee Eff has a nice example, but there's been many.) Yes, he's tried to offload when he shouldn't on occasions, but 1. who hasn't?, and 2. it's getting much, much better. In fact, he was very selective with his passes last night.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

With Greg at centre you have a case.

Plus all those things you say about SBW you can say the same about Greg, lets not forget he's 2 inches taller then SBW and weighs the same.

BTW lets not confuse a great off-load with ball-playing. Mateo is a great ball-player, Gavin Miller was a great ball-player, SBW has a freakish off-load. And the intelligence is questionable but getting better (on and OFF the field)

Well, Inglis is 99kg and SBW is 106kg. While I'd say by modern rugby league standards they're both on the tall and lean side of things, SBW is more solid and muscular, whilst Greg is pretty skinny. Last year Inglis was 194cm and 92kg, now all of a sudden he's supposedly 195cm and 99kg...anyway, you always have to take these things with a grain of salt as I think the players usually supply them themselves. For example, at the Warriors 193cm Steve Price is clearly about half a head shorter than 190cm Simon Mannering, El Masri at the Dogs is clearly nowhere near the listed 178cm, and every time I see King stand next to Inglis King looks taller....

..anyway enough ranting about these trivialities...size is nothing if not accompanied by the strength to burst through tackles and mix it up the middle, and I think SBW has a clear edge over Inglis in this area.

 

[Nathan B]

Explain those stupid offloads he makes to no one?

No need... he doesn't make them.

Sonny never flops speculative offloads out the back to no one. Yes, he can throw an ill-advised offload, and, yes, it mightn't always reach it it's target (although very rare). But he never flops an offload out for the sake of it. He's always had the ability to twist in the tackle, get his arm free and aim for a team mate.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I think the lunge from behind to slap at the ball-carrying arm has become a Sonny trademark

Indeed, it absolutely is. He does it once about 2 out of every 3 games, usually from marker on a mystified dummy half runner.

You know a player is good when he has things in his game that no other player in the world can do as regularly.

His hands are the only issue I have- not so much "stupid offloads", as his tendency to drop the ball when attempting to get his hands free in the first place.

In general though, when it comes to the little "one percenters" he is extremely good, he always works hard in defence, he forces errors by deliberately making 1 on 1 strips and ball and all tackles, and he usually takes the correct options in attack.

He's not exactly a ball-playing/play-making genius, but he's a very competent/intelligent all round footballer.

 

[Dutchy]

He still cant tackle

 

[Tommy Smith]

intelligence

LOL

Explain those stupid offloads he makes to no one?

No doubting on his day Sonny Bill is one of the most talented backrowers in the competition, however some of you on here are getting a bit too carried away.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is called a generalisation. Sought of akin to saying "all Muslims are terrorists".

SBW shows tremendous on-field awareness. Sure he throws the odd misguided offload but that comes with the territory of being such a dynamic and dangerous offloader of the ball. I believe he has become increasingly selective with his offloads...he knows when to pick his moment. Compare that with a Tupou or Pritchard who quite often make poor decisions with the ball in hand...

He also gets around the field well by putting himself in the right place at the right time. I also recall him creating a try last night through a clever draw-and-pass as well.

SBW is a very smart footballer IMO...contrary to the perception people may have of him as a reckless offloader, which most Kiwis seem to get tagged with.

 

[stevie013]

maybe some of the pplz in here should join laurie daley in his w*&k fest over SBW. geez, he does a couple of good things last night, and yes, they were pretty good, but anybody can throw a flick pass, anybody can score a try with players all over them. he did have a good game, but geez, settle down.
i was almost sick at hearing his name 1,265 time in the game, even when he was off the field, daley was salivating over him.........

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

He still cant tackle

He's a very good defender. Not just big hits, moreso in terms of positional awareness, keeping himself in the game, and not missing many.

 

[Tommy Smith]

maybe some of the pplz in here should join laurie daley in his w*&k fest over SBW. geez, he does a couple of good things last night, and yes, they were pretty good, but anybody can throw a flick pass, anybody can score a try with players all over them. he did have a good game, but geez, settle down.
i was almost sick at hearing his name 1,265 time in the game, even when he was off the field, daley was salivating over him.........

Of course they can, that's why everybody has 44 offloads so far this year. That's why every other forward has scored about 8 tries with a dozen or so linebreak assists etc. :crazy: Honestly, the amount of attrocious, baseless arguments against SBW is just mind-boggling.

When somebody posts something constructive as to why he's not a superstar with rare gifts then let me know...

 

[stevie013]

Of course they can, that's why everybody has 44 offloads so far this year. That's why every other forward has scored about 8 tries with a dozen or so linebreak assists etc. :crazy: Honestly, the amount of attrocious, baseless arguments against SBW is just mind-boggling.

When somebody posts something constructive as to why he's not a superstar with rare gifts then let me know...

"superstars" stand the test of time, and have been playing the games for many, many years....at this point in time, SBW has not achieved that status, but im sure he will, but he has only proven to me so far, that he gets hurt quite often, and occasionally does something good, even spectacular, which, im sure u would agree, many players have done as well.

the 'myth' that is SBW is yet to b proven IMO, and when he does stand the test of time and has a long and great career, then i will acknowlege that. but right now, he is not in the 'superstar' class that alot of u have him in. not yet.

 

[mattyg]

the thing i love most about his game is his ability to cross the try line from within our attacking 20. Get the ball to him and any less than 3 defenders on him and its all over. Even when there is 3 defenders on him, he can still manage to somehow get his arm free and put the ball over the line. And if too many defenders come in to make a tackle, he'll pass before the line. He has scored 8 tries so far in 2007, and he is a forward. Add to that the fact that he has missed 2 games through suspension and 1 through injury. So he has played 12 games all up, and scored 8 tries. Great effort for a forward.

 

[Dogaholic]

Thought I would throw in some Sonny Bill Stats....

Season Average

Minutes: 64.92
Line Breaks: 0.58
Try Assists: 0.33
Tackles: 22.58
Missed Tackles: 2.75
Errors: 1.25
Hitups: 15.17
Dummy-Half Runs: 0.08
Meters Gained: 121.08
Offloads: 3.75
Kicks in Play: 0.08

http://www.bulldogs.com.au/main.php?page=player_stats_avg&player=659&compare=626

 

[panthersballboy]

Sonny Bill has always had moments of brillance on the footy field but was very inconsistent and for that reason i used to say he was a very overated player. This year he is making me eat my words. He has dominated games and his worst game has still been pretty good.

Just when it looked like Thurston was going to be crowned the world's best player this guy is stepping up to the plate. Inglis is no where near these 2 when it comes to being able to dominate a game yet, he may get there one day but Sonny is twice the player Inglis is at the moment.

 

[Ice777]

He has dominated games and his worst game has still been pretty good.

His worst game would have to be against the Storm and it wasn't pretty good, it was f**king atrocious :lol:


Now before Dogs fans jump down my throat i agree he's had a pretty good season thus far and his most consistant for a while. Is he a superstar? Well that's subjective and open to interpretation depending on who you ask. But if he can maintain some sort of consistancy and stay relatively injury free i think he's on the right path to being one IMO.

 

[Nook]

Is he a superstar? Well that's subjective and open to interpretation depending on who you ask.

No it isn't.

He is.