Look for genius....not effort

This year is clearly going to be spot the talent year, as would be selectors "see" that something special that makes a player a great. But mostly these selectors will be deluding themselves. Ninety percent of these bright lights will fail. And teams that have too many youngsters in the mix early, will have a rocky start to the season.

Often arm chair selectors are fooled by effort. Guys who put in huge work in the CC are deemed to  be ready to shine in the S15. Strauss, Taute and a host of Lions come to mind.

But consider who has emerged at Bok level over the last four years.....Lambie, Hougaard, Brussouw and Bismarck.  That's a small crop, not because the others never had chances, but because you need mega talent to succeed at test or indeed S15 level.

Playing hard is not enough. If that was the only criterion players like Taute, Ndungane, Vermaak, Potgieter and Stegman would already be superstars. If you're a backline player you need a step, a boot.....pace. If you're a forward like Potgieter it's hard to beat basic physics.

But the commodity most often missed is a rugby brain.....the ability to scan the field and see opportunity. If Spies had a rugby brain, he would be a great. Fransie, Lambie and Hougaard all have rugby brains. They see the opportunity. Matfield is the greatest lock I've seen....not because of his physical talents, but because he has vision other locks don't possess.

So this year I expect to be on the negative side of the new talent argument......and, as usual, I expect to be right 90% of the time.

I agree wee matfield had vision. He knew how to avoid the hard grind like no other lock i have ever seen and still pull the wool over certain folks eyes! What a con man.

But yes intelligence is vital. I think one blends the young in over time. Certainly the Super 15 and test matches are different kettle of fishes to Currie Cup Rugby.

 Its not so much a case of these kids failing its more to do with the fact that there is little scope for entry into the Boks side. Lets face it Lambie, JP, Habana, Fourie, Frans, Jean, Morne, Hougaard, Beast, Bismark, Jannie, Bekker, Schalk, Smith, Alberts and Spies are pretty much cemented in that side for now until they hang up their boots.

The likes of Taute, Sadie and co will find it hard to break into this side in the near future......more so that we have a new coach who has already said he is sticking with the tried and tested........with a view to bringing the youngsters in gradually. 

SA coaches are also renouned for being conservative when it comes to selections......if the likes of Taute had been Oz or Kiwi, chances are he would have a test cap or two by now. SA needs to break the conservative mould and follow the Oz and Kiwi lead.

I'm glad someone is thinking in terms of skill and savvy instead of the typical SAFFA mindset that size is everything!

Hahahaha. Beeno has already disagreed with the good doctor, and now I would like to see what he thinks of his gabba Denny's view about size.

Why do you make such a big deal about us disagreeing with each other? I bet if we'd always agree with one another you'd have something to say about that as well.

Tell me, what was your nick on SS and why did you choose to change it on this site?

@Denny. About the disagreement issue.................. Do I need your permission if I want to make a big deal about something? About the "name-change" issue........... it has zip to do with you. Furthermore, I have explained it twice before. In addition, I have told you, quite some time ago, that I have not been registered on this forum since yesterday.

No you don't seeing you have a passion for being a drama queen.Tell me though,why are you so afraid of telling us your SS nick....I mean what's there to hide?

Denny
Member
Posts: 247 RE: Look for genius....not effort
February 23, 2012, 12:46:09

No you don't seeing you have a passion for being a drama queen.Tell me though,why are you so afraid of telling us your SS nick....I mean what's there to hide?

Gee but you are even thicker than I thought. I have said that I have disclosed my SS nickname, just go search for it, or ask your gatgabbe Beeno to direct you. I cannot believe that you haven't picked up who I am. There were two guys from the SS forum who aked me if it was me weeks ago already. I have had discussions with you for some time now, and have explained to you how and when I registered on this forum long ago and yet you still asked me why I changed my nickname on this site.

BS! my discussions with you had nothing to do with your SS nick, if I remember correctly it had to do with the the previous format of this board.  You're a barefaced liar!

FFS, but you guys are obsessed with trying to prove others are liars. Whi is that? You trying to hide/camouflage something? OK, let's try again.

We had discussions about this site and the old members, and the old format of the site, yes. I told you that I was a member of this site long ago, and I gave you the names of some of the old members. I never said that I THEN gave you my nickname on SS. NO, I only told you that I registered here. If you go look at the post where I said who I am, you will note that I said that I haven't disclosed it for a reason. I know I would not have told you what my nickname on SS was at the time that we were having the discussions. I only recently disclosed my SS nickname. It was the fact that I have been a member of this site for quite some time and that I have not recently joined (and changed my nickname for the sake of changing it), that I explained twice before. Once to you, and once when I disclosed who I was .

What I did say is that I cannot believe that you have not recognised who I was, since a number of people on SS asked me if I was Ceradyne on here, and I confirmed it. Go check.

And then the "change" of my nickname. You made it sound as though I followed you here and chose another nickname to stalk you or something. I don't know, because when I told you long ago that I was a member of this site, before SS was started. Understand?

Talk about jumping to conclusions..................... esih.

Sounds to me like you're embarrassed by your SS persona.

No Moz, I am not. You also seem to be too embarrassed to go back to that thread.

The one where you claimed Spies did 121 metres or 123 metres,  when he actually did 38 metres. The one where you claimed no other Bok came close to the great Spies......when in fact those were Schalk's stats? Just say you screwed up man and be done with it.

Die bliksemse ESPN. They knew there were a few guys who were going to slate Spies, so they deliberatly swapped the stats around so that ou Moz can call someone a liar. I am also taking about the thread where I said what my SS nickname is. Funny ou Moz, who is always so on top with all stats and facts, as well as tuned in to the moment someone is lying, missed that one.

This may come as a big surprise, but I either never read the thread, or it made no big impression on me. But far be it from me to change what makes you happy.....I support your right to remain a different persona than on SS......and I support your right to continue to believe Spies and not Schalk gained 120 metres against Oz..

Now, shall we move on?

Don't entertain the yapper, lest he believes he is one of the big dogs Moz. You'll make him lift a leg ;)

To the original post, very well said .Though I would like to point out that poor Lambie, having come of age at fullback, is now languishing at 10 again. We'll see how much of a future the kid has after the sharks are finished draining every scrap of confidence out of him. He has much the same fragility as Pienaar, he often looks a tad nervy. If he doesn't bail out soon he'll have no career to speak of at all!
 

I hope they keep the lad at 15. Hell it's not like good 15s grow on trees.

I think we aer fortunate enough to actually have many very good 15s. That said, not many are world class. New Zealand have had, say, three world class 15s in the last sixteen years or so themselves. So it's not as though you get many of those great players often. Lambie comes alive at 15, it was actually very interesting watching him gain in confidence and poise. At 10 his game management, decision making, accuracy, body language is all shockingly substandard. But play him at 15 and he becomes a completely different animal. You can have all the skills etc a player could ever have, but you only really have the mind for one position. Frans is a 12, Monty was a 15, Gaffie a 15, Jaco a 15, Aplon a 15, Russell a 15. Almost all of those players were stuffed at 10. Shows you how poor our coaches are at understanding the value of their players. Lambie is another such player. It seems every talented player we have has to go through a rites of passage by being crammed into the number ten jersey. It's quite bizarre. Plumtree is as clueless as those before them. Perhaps being in SA has regressed his thinking, or it's the curse of the Shark tank.

Either way, I hope he sobers up fast. The Sharks looked very much better with Bosman at 10 last year. So much so they almost turned that Saders game on it's head! Definitely food for thought. I think jake was right in saying that they gave up on him at 10 too soon.
 

Yep Moz, Ignore the yapper, plain to see it's the same vitriol...stale and boring. He's here purely to disrupt this board.