cheers rider,just read it.

OK matey, how’s the situation in Edinburgh regarding this crap virus, stay safe pal.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby ... debut.html Good article on his background here

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby ... debut.html Good article on his background here

Great write up in Mail on Sunday which is a perfect example of the difference between Union and League. League are so poor at promoting both individuals and the sport in general. I remember when Robert Elstone was brought in and said we need to highlight individuals so the general public is aware of them and also use social media to promote the sport.
WHAT HAPPENED

The marketing of the sport is so poor.
Elstone has done nothing since his arrival

The mainstream press aren't interested, they never have been.

Apart from take a hefty salary

The problem we now have, is that other minority sports, which fit the PC agenda, are now getting the exposure on TV that we were competing for.

What I don't get is how come we only signed him up for a short contract (less than 2 years) after he was officially released from his army commitments? We've lost out on not just a great player but a significant fee

As for his first game, started on the right wing, got moved to the left wing after about 15 minutes then back to the right wing.
he fluffed his first catch - went backwards luckily, had a bit of a run with not much space into a bunch of defenders, looked to have picked up a loose ball to go under the posts but ref blew for a scrum infringement.
Spent lots of time chasing upfield for aimless kicks that were far too long (standard)
There was a decent break but the Bristol FB basically crabbed toward the touchline cutting down the space for the centre+RN, instead of passing quickly he then fluffed his pass to the centre and the opportunity was gone. A miss-pass of the centre and Naulago would have skinned the Connaught FB with ease.
Second half he got a loose ball in his own 10, chipped over the top and was obstructed by two forwards but ref said play on, aside from a kick off catch after Bristol scored, got pinged for a deliberate knock on despite him knocking the ball upwards as it was virtually in his hands

Got replaced after about 68mins and then a few minutes later the left winger came up on the right to score with a decent pass, typical of how it was going to go for him in all honesty
It was a pretty dull game, usual forward orientated battle, missed opportunities to pass the bal out wide but kept down the middle, ref was whistle happy in the first half and the usual 30+ minutes wasted on lineouts and scrums.

I think he made one tackle, maybe a second.

He'll get bored but maybe the money will compensate.

It was an RU game, and it was a good one. bore off

pretty rough rider,the poison dwarf sturgeon has`nt a clue what to do.hope you and the family have a safe and happy christmas.

He is mega fit,powerful and fast ideal for our game.
He is a big loss for us.Lets hope he gets fed up standing around or playing half a game and comes back for a couple of years

Dead right, as well as the emergence of the fairer sex in very high profile sports, we are in a tough market.

Let's hope Bristol's salary offer, 3x more than we could afford, doesn't influence him.

Who can blame players if they get such a significant offer, it's a bit like going from being a head chef in a nice restaurant or hotel and then being offered three times your salary to go run a burger van for half the hours. You'd take it in a heartbeat but would it be anywhere near as fulfilling as what you did before.
Once he's done at Bristol he might well have to go back to fulfil his army commitments anyway so he's not coming back unless something very unusual happens.

Quite, I described it perfectly, inadequate, fallible, low skill for the most part, I suppose compared to other RU games it might be considered just above average but that really isn't saying much in terms of outright entertainment.
I'd sooner watch lower level regional RU, it's nowhere near as tedious and you aren't left feeling massively disappointed by supposed elite players/teams whom defend and attack like a bunch of pub teams and still can't grasp the basics like ping-ponging the ball up and down the field isn't doing anything and isn't entertaining to watch either.

Not quite perfectly, it wasn’t his first game.

Get a grip, it was awful. So many line outs, hoofing the ball downfield, scrums galore, inability to utilise the space due to poor skillset. It was awful to watch

I was describing a game of union not Naulago's performance

Please don’t describe any more Union games, we’ve suffered enough this year.

Wouldn't mind a few of the English lads playing for us though.

I'd have Sam Underhill in a heartbeat, the guy is a tackling machine, not a bad turn of pace and decent hands as well.

10 tackles a game doesn't make you a tackling machine. After criticism of the lack of open play in a recent international he suggested if you don't like scrums or lineouts you should watch Rugby League. I agree with him and I do.

I do agree though that apart from the front rowers and the 7 foot high jumpers there's loads of RU players who would excel in RL. Pity there's no money to attract them anymore.

itoje would be good, 6ft 4 and 18st , Anthony Watson fantastic winger as J May is, Underhill Curry Daly all imo would do well, but its all conjecture,

Where did you get the 10 tackles from? And number of tackles isn't the be all and end all, it's how and when you make big tackles that impacts a game. In any case he often makes 20+ tackles a game which is high for union. Technically he's very good, gets under players and stops them in their tracks, few RL players can do that these days - Tommy L is one of them, Danny H has done a few in his time as well. He makes a big impact in the tackle at important points of games that shift the balance of play significantly.
He of course won't leave RU, but that type of player I'd have.

Should we be looking elsewhere outside of rugby for athletes who can catch a ball and handle a ball, there must be thousands of decent standard college/ex NFL players that are never going to earn any money whatsoever just based on numbers alone. I don't know if TW actually bothered to do open days but could it be worth spending a couple of days down at places like Jacksonville at the Jags and seeing if there's any talent.