the one handed basketball style carry

[nqcowboy87]

ive been noticing over the last couple of years the one handed carry is pretty much the standard carry that most young league players especially three-quarters and front rowers/back rowers. it used to be the style safety first to tuck it in under the wing apart from some of the more exuberant players but now pretty much every young player runs that way and the person to blame is billy slater. he burst onto the scene with that origin try (which if you watch he ran with a one handed carry) and his subsequent form after that involved the one handed carry. and also the next year benji had a similiar style, but at the time the 12-15 yr olds saw that and decided thats how they wanted to play and then went out and played that way, and now 6 years later find themselves in first grade, using that one handed carry which has become second nature to them but even so they still leave themselves open to strips and loose carries. just want to see hear other peoples opinions on this

 

[DeeJ]

Wendall Sailor was doing it for the Broncos long before Slater.

 

[Eels Dude]

You know players are getting bigger and bigger when they carry a football like it's an apple.

 

[nqcowboy87]

Wendall Sailor was doing it for the Broncos long before Slater.

yeh i said there where a few that did it, but now every player under the age of 22 is doing it

 

[Loudstrat]

Warriors players were doing it almost a decade ago. Ali Lauit'iti especially.

The footballs are easier to carry one handed these days, and they don't get caked in mud like they did in the good old days. Cumberland after an inch of rain - you'd need 3 hands to carry it!

 

[Apey]

They must have massive hands, or I have small girly ones. I can hardly hold it like that standing still let alone at full speed :lol:

 

[Iafeta]

Warriors players were doing it almost a decade ago. Ali Lauit'iti especially.

The footballs are easier to carry one handed these days, and they don't get caked in mud like they did in the good old days. Cumberland after an inch of rain - you'd need 3 hands to carry it!

I was going to say about Ali. Stacey Jones, Awen Guttenbeil and Logan Swann were the same. There used to be a lot of times when those blokes would poke their head through, and they would basically hold the ball out in front and make sure that arm didn't hit the ground in the tackle basically allowing an offload once the defence was committed. Sione Faumuina was also pretty good at it. It's a definite skill to open up defensive lines.

 

[nqcowboy87]

yeh blokes like lautiti and faumina where exponents of it back in 02-03 and a lot of 12 -14yr olds started doing it and then every kid seemed to be doing it after slater did it

 

[stormbati]

Billy's carrying style gives him more balance when running and enables a more natural running style.
Uate did it for a few seconds last week and it looked awesome because he held it like a tennis ball while at full speed.

 

[Non Terminator]

yeh blokes like lautiti and faumina where exponents of it back in 02-03 and a lot of 12 -14yr olds started doing it and then every kid seemed to be doing it after slater did it

More like 01-04, were absolutely sensational, and some freakish tries came out of it too.

 

[Shorty]

I thought it was Sonny Bill that made it fashionable?
Different players use it differently, Slater uses it so that he can get more speed whereas Inglis has more strength to fend.

 

[Rovelli]

Don't you ever remind us of 2004. But 2001-2003 provided Warriors fans with the best seasons of their history.

That said, players have more skills and IMO bigger than before. I also believe it has something to do with the Polynesian influence in the NRL. These guys are so talented and instinctive.

 

[Karmawave]

To me its unnecessary showboating. But maybe I'm from the old school way of thinking.

I can understand why a top class ball playing forward like Sonny Bill would do it to free up an around the corner offload.

But wingers running over the tryline with the ball in one hand is nothing but showmanship that will eventually lead to a player dropping the ball over the line when one time that will cost their team a game.

Some of these guys holding the ball in one hand have some of the worst hands on the field trying to catch the ball normally, which is the funniest part.

Its all ego.

 

[CoachMan]

I doubt it has much to do with showboating. It is actually coached and encouraged at development levels now.
Some kids are more enclined to holding the ball like that, and it gives some of them a powerful offload. With so much of the game revolving around second phase play, why wouldn't you encourage it?

 

[Iafeta]

To me its unnecessary showboating. But maybe I'm from the old school way of thinking.

I can understand why a top class ball playing forward like Sonny Bill would do it to free up an around the corner offload.

But wingers running over the tryline with the ball in one hand is nothing but showmanship that will eventually lead to a player dropping the ball over the line when one time that will cost their team a game.

Some of these guys holding the ball in one hand have some of the worst hands on the field trying to catch the ball normally, which is the funniest part.

Its all ego.

No it's not. Often when the winger does it, when he is heading for the corner it's to help him have more natural balance so he's less easily toppled over, to give him quicker access to the ground, and to free up an arm for a fend if necessary.

Wingers are a lot smarter these days, the amount of times they look to have impossible margins to score within, and yet do, highlights how much better their understanding and their own balance and footwork is close to the line. Part of this balance establishment is different ball grips.

 

[Karmawave]

I'm not talking about a winger doing it when they are in traffic and reaching out to score a try.

I'm talking about wingers doing it when they are running untouched to a line with not a player anywhere near him. Why even take that risk?

 

[Iafeta]

There's no real reaction in the press to it, so it's not a show boating exercise. It is easier to maintain your balance when you run with the ball as an extension of your arms, not out in front of you. The grips on the ball are so much better these days, and there wouldn't be a high proliferation of errors because of the way the ball is being carried. It serves a purpose well.