Quote ="sally cinnamon"Imagine there were two young halfbacks coming through the Wire academy today, a young Andy Gregory and a young Chris Thorman. Andy Gregory likes his beer and parties and carries a bit of spare timber but is a real true halfback that can break a defence, and that you don't see around much today. Chris Thorman is a more limited player but he does everything right. Says yes sir to anything the fitness staff want, eats what he's told to, gets the hours of sleep in, dedicates himself in the gym. The Gary Neville of rugby league.
Which of those two lads is going to get given a shot by our coaching staff?
My bet is, Andy Gregory gets shifted out early and ends up signing for Leigh or Oldham trying to rebuild his career part time. Garry Schofield would be all over the media complaing that there's a halfback genius in the lower grades who nobody looks at but SL coaching staff turn their noses up and say that lad hasn't got what it takes to prepare himself for the modern game. Meanwhile the young Chris Thorman gets his gig as the future of English rugby league, and when we come up against Australia, people say, why don't we produce players like they do.'"
Do you really think it’s always as simple as that? I would argue that if there was a player as good as an Andy Gregory out there that he’d get cut a lot more slack and probably have to get out of line a lot more before he was shipped out. I think Danny Brough (although not fit to lace Gregory’s boots) is the nearest modern day example. Perhaps Tommy Martyn or Lee Briers are other examples of players that are a bit maverick that didn’t get a look in for GB. But would any of these players really have made much of a difference had they been picked? I’d say probably not.
Quote ="the flying biscuit"that would be a good analogy if it weren't for: Billy Slater, Jonathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith who all came through the same junior club played together at the highest level and didn't drink,or Smoke, but acted like clean living role models, earned an absolute fortune became legends of the game won every honour known to man....meanwhile Todd Carney drank his own Wee Wee.'"
Excellent point. The Aussies produce more top class players because they have a much larger player pool than us and therefore have more “cream on the top”.
Our player pool has decreased massively since the days of Andy Gregory – is it any wonder players of his ability are rarer over here? All clubs search high and low for talent. Everyone is watched from an early age. Nobody slips under the radar. I’d say if there is a fault it’s with the system that cuts players too early. At 19 many halfbacks aren’t fully formed, especially in a game nowadays that puts the emphasis on size and power.
Quote ="sally cinnamon"But here's another question. If you take drive and preparation to the absolute extreme, can you actually overtake all the others with natural ability and become the world's best?
What about Ellery Hanley and Shaun Edwards for example, what talent did they have that separated them from the rest of the players of their era? I can't remember them having a great step or pass or kicking game, certainly not better than many other players. Was their entire game based around their physical attributes, mental toughness and their ability to read and understand the game? If so, could you take a player say with the ability of one of the Wire first teamers, and 'manufacture' them in to a Hanley/Edwards style all time great, if they were willing to go as far as Hanley or Edwards in terms of being driven to get there....?'"
I think both those players had a level of determination that set them apart. I don’t think you can coach that. You can point out the advantages of being professional in preparation and in giving 100% but both those players often went beyond what “normal” players were prepared to do and that was their choice. I’d say that level of determination is the equivalent in value to a great step or kicking game, probably better given what they achieved in the game. Your Andy Gregory might have a stellar career but he needed the Edwards alongside him and the Hanley running off him to achieve that.
