Is Marika Koroibete The Man To Save Australian Rugby?
Is one of the fastest men in rugby league on a fast track to obscurity by switching codes to play for the Melbourne Rebels? Jamie Wall assesses the case of soon-to-be Wallabies winger Marika Koroibete.
Melbourne Storm winger Marika Koroibete won’t actually be going anywhere when he switches codes – the Melbourne Rebels share AAMI Park with the Storm. He is going to have to get used to something different when he plays Super Rugby next year, though. He is going to be playing for a team who are probably not going to be very good.
Actually, make that two teams. Koroibete’s deal with the Australian Rugby Union also includes a place in the Wallabies – he looks set to be selected for their end-of-year Northern Hemisphere tour before playing a game of Super Rugby.
Who is this guy the ARU are taking such a big punt on? The Fijian-born winger started out with an injury-disrupted couple of seasons with the Wests Tigers, and only really began to show his potential after a mid-season move to Melbourne in 2014. He ended the following season as the Storm’s top tryscorer and had earned a reputation for his extreme pace.
There’s this try as evidence. And this one. Valentine Holmes found out he is pretty quick without the ball, too – this incredible cover tackle effort involved almost running from his wing to the posts and back in one play.
But is all this going to translate into success in union, a game he hasn’t played since school?
Koroibete is travelling a well-trodden path for convert Wallaby wingers, with ARU more or less treating the NRL like its outside back development programme. There’s been a fair share of success stories, but about the same amount of busts – for every Israel Folau, there’s a Nathan Blacklock. For every Lote Tuqiri, a Clinton Schifcofske.
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Koroibete’s new team, the Rebels, have gone from being a retirement plan for veteran players to being interesting-for-all-the-wrong-reasons to finally settle on being characterised as a plucky, understrength outfit that can produce a few decent players. However, they’re unlikely to be anything more than that next season given Australian rugby’s much-talked about lack of depth.
Obviously money is a big motivator for Koroibete, plus a few trips to South Africa, Argentina and Europe that rugby league wouldn’t be able to provide. Perhaps the key thing to not is that he is only 24, so there’s every chance he could slot right back into the NRL if his move doesn’t work out. As shown with the likes of Jarryd Hayne and Benji Marshall, the transition back can be pretty much instantaneous with no hard feelings.
One thing is for sure though – he can still feel comfortable walking down the street in Melbourne. Given neither the NRL or Super Rugby are actually the one code they really care about in those parts, he can be assured that, whatever happens, people on the street probably won’t give him any sort of hard time.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
27 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
27 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
27 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments