Do the great players arrive trailing clouds of glory….

…..or are they formed like Orcs in the fires of Mordor? Pakie raised the point that the greats arrive to the manor born. Which frankly was what excited me most about Sacha. He was totally confident.

Many of our greats have been similar:

Kolbe and Arendse (they had to be successful because the doubts about their size afforded them a narrow window)

Jean de Villiers

Pollard

Fourie du Preez

Marx

Etzebeth

Skinstad

Schalk

Big Joe

These guys made a positive difference in their first test. They were born veterans

…. 

Others have grown in the role:

Kriel

Mostert

Malherbe

Dud Toit

Vermeulen

….

But I would argue, none of those who have grown in the role had a fatal flaw that had to be corrected. And a player like Vermeulen with his complex set of skills was on the growth path before he played for the Boks, just not fully done.

….

I can’t think of one player with a fatal flaw who has come back and corrected that flaw, with one exception, Percy. Percy was hit or miss off the tee until he changed his technique. But that was a specific thing.

….

I don’t think players that exhibit mental or physical liabilities generally resolve those issues. Their teams learn how to manage them….Manie may be relieved of kicking duties….but they don’t overcome them.

So while we gush about the skills of youngsters, keep a weather eye out for their faults, because for those players that’s what tends to define their careers .

There are many that don’t rate Jean that highly

Mostert definitely does not even come close

It often amazes me how some players do make it that should not - Mostert is the best example of this.

Then there are those that just don’t make it that should of like

Jan Serfontein

Wilco Louw

Jason Jenkins

JD Schickerling

JL du Preez

Dan du Preez

Jacques du Plessis

There are some right now struggling to break in when they should be in like

Tyrone Green, David Kriel, Nohamba, Ruben v Heerden, Ruan Vermaak, the Tsituka brothers and Francke Horn

You are just back to lists…the issue is do players really recover from flawed debuts.

Depends on the coach - a coach has to be a pretty shit one if he discards a player after a flawed debut

Same applies to players that only get the odd test here and there like Thomas, Moerat, Elton Jantjies, Esterhuizen, du Preez twins, Roos, Dweba,

A player should only be properly judged after a few consecutive test starts

Rassie is on record saying the selection of Gaffie du Toit was the worst treatment of a player he has ever witnessed. He was thrown under the bus - no recovering from that

The best players usually play well from their very first test games. 

The Deysel twins have never had a good game for the Boks. One or two games with average performances, but mostly not test standard performances.

There's merit in the argument that players never overcome deep seated flaws although I've always believed in the evolvement of a player or that players evolve in different ways. I guess I'm a fence sitter on this one. 

In the words of Shakespeare....some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. It's the last one I find confusing

Good old ignorant Sharktwat - nothing changes

This threat started off with dealing with players being disliked by an idiot referring Dud/    Not wih any conideration   

Rassie is on record saying the selection of Gaffie du Toit was the worst treatment of a player he has ever witnessed. He was thrown under the bus - no recovering from that

Fancy starting a test career under a Knoffel of a coach like Margraaf? Hell man he was useless, one of the worst in Bok history.

Saaiman go away….your childish drivel is of literally zero interest. Deprived by your own hand of talking to me directly, you now whine away at me in the 3rd person mode. Get lost…your dishonesty has finally been fully recognized on here, nothing you say will be taken seriously.

This threat started off with dealing with players being disliked by an idiot referring Dud/    Not wih any conideration  

Not sure how the above can be called "childish drivel" when there's a problem in identifying the language it's written in.

Rassie said he could not look poor Gaffie in his eyes

Also most of the great ones, has that hard edge mongrel in them.

Keep on fighting no matter what.

Mozart

I have been siffering bad;y fro depression stemming from a vriety of health problem - imclusion of lwblod presure and suddering from leg ache problems stemming from infamation of  both hips  and avig to force myself to eat since I am no hugry.   

So it seems the system is switchig off and I ill not be around fo weeks rather than months/   I am sure you will be happy about his news.    .       

Ai Maaik...sorry to hear that...but you have to pull through till 2027 RWC at least...vysbyt Oom...die lewe kan soms maar wreed en moeilik wees.

Keep strong Mike you good old boy

Keep fighting buddy

Good morning Uncle Mike. Try your best to be positive and I am sure things will look better.

When it comes to increasing your appetite, I know that CBD Oil will definitely help. You can buy it at a Pharmacy. Don’t worry it won’t make you high, as THC is not present.

Then maybe consider making Peace with Moz. I am sure he will be receptive and then you guys can stop the BS spreading :) :)

You guys do have some kind of connection thru the years and at your guys age, it’s not good to have bad vibes.

ouMaaik maybe you should give Draad your phone number in case you need some Uber eats delivered. See the light, support the Democrats & you'll see the depression instantly lift !

Otherwise take care, best wishes & fight .

Lol Bob

We will always continue to give you shit dude..... however..... you need to be here for us to do it 

Mike your sanity is desperately needed on this board. Hope you are better soon. 

Have yourself checked for blood clots. 

Blood clods i do not have - he mai problem seems be dehydration causing blood pressure being low.    My ip inflation seems to agv stopped pains  and  I go some sleep at least durng he past wo nights.  I am going to go back to the chemist to fight appetite loss - that was the major cause of the death of my brother three year ago.   he got so weak that he could nt even turn on his bed withut help.

The string of problems I developed recently = after years of gd health is very depressing - but I managed o into th rdena t my home the frst ime in a week.  

Thanks for your good wishes - which makes me feel better entally as well.  .        .

Mike I’m sorry to hear about your health issues. It seems the cause of your problems hasn’t been properly diagnosed, which a chemist probably can’t do. I’m not sure what the protocols are in RSA, but you need to be assessed with proper blood chemistry and cardio tests.

Mike, I’m sorry to hear of your health issues that are causing you to feel so low. 

I think Mozart is right; you need to be properly assessed to try to get to the bottom of this and to get you the help you so obviously need. 

Sending my very best wishes to you.