Re: 17 for 17
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 1:31 pm
Bench.
The bench is a hard one, so few players have had a great year and stayed on the bench as opposed to being elevated to the starting lineup. So, I have looked for players whose careers took off after a period on the bench and come up with the following three names:
Cooper Cronk (2005). Played 20 games in 2005, most of them as a bench utility moving into hooker, five eighth, centre or anywhere else that a hole had to be plugged. It was the way that he played this year that helped get him the job of halfback when Orford left at the end of 2005.
Adam Blair (2006). Even though he did his ACL in 2007, he didn't start from square one when he came back in 2008. He was devastating in the run to the grand final, busting tackles and offloading at will in the preliminary final in a game that I still remember now.
Matt Rua (2000). Played a very hard-hitting brand of league that lead to him claiming the hit of the year award for our club in both 1999 and 2001. 27 games in 2000 which included the winning World Club Challenge game. Rua could play second row, lock and even centre at a pinch and played for New Zealand at the World Cup in 2000.
The bench is a hard one, so few players have had a great year and stayed on the bench as opposed to being elevated to the starting lineup. So, I have looked for players whose careers took off after a period on the bench and come up with the following three names:
Cooper Cronk (2005). Played 20 games in 2005, most of them as a bench utility moving into hooker, five eighth, centre or anywhere else that a hole had to be plugged. It was the way that he played this year that helped get him the job of halfback when Orford left at the end of 2005.
Adam Blair (2006). Even though he did his ACL in 2007, he didn't start from square one when he came back in 2008. He was devastating in the run to the grand final, busting tackles and offloading at will in the preliminary final in a game that I still remember now.
Matt Rua (2000). Played a very hard-hitting brand of league that lead to him claiming the hit of the year award for our club in both 1999 and 2001. 27 games in 2000 which included the winning World Club Challenge game. Rua could play second row, lock and even centre at a pinch and played for New Zealand at the World Cup in 2000.