Leaguel Counsel Episode Six
https://soundcloud.com/user-213310981/leaguel-counsel-ep5-040417
Indigenous Enigmas
Our game of Rugby League has a variety of different players. There is the immortals, players that will never be forgotten and were basically the best players we have ever had the privilege to witness. There is the one club stalwarts, the Steve Menzies and Alan Tongues of the world. There is the multiple club journey men like Jeremy Latimore and Corey Payne, players that don’t stay long at one club but do the job that is asked of them. There is the rocks and diamond type players where the sublime to the ridiculous occurs in a couple of sets, refer to Shaun Kenny-Dowell and Krisnan Inu for examples. One type of player that has died out is the kicking specialist, the player that can kick very well either at goal or in general play but other than that offers very little to nothing like Jason Taylor, Daryl Halligan or Eion Crossan. The one type of player that is really close to our heart is the Indigenous enigma. Let’s describe the indigenous enigma.
The indigenous enigma is generally a kid with indigenous heritage who is brought up and plays all his junior football in the bush. He’s the kid that every town within 200km knows about after he turns 10 year old. The kids skills are talked about throughout the pubs over schooners in Country New South Wales and Queensland. More often than not the kids father played a bit of top level league or sometimes a bit of prize fighting. When the kid turns 14 years old talent scouts from all the big Sydney clubs are watching his performances at the country football carnivals. During the tournaments these talent scouts are organising meetings with the kids parents trying to convince them that their club is the right one for their child and if he’s signs with them the club will look after his welfare.
At the age of 15 he has already signed with a Sydney club. Some will go all the way to Sydney to finish their schooling only for half of them to return to their country town within a couple of months because of home schooling. They will then play senior football in their country league from 16 years old to their mid 30’s and become local legends in their communities. The stories at the local pub will be about what if….. what if the bloke didn’t get home sick and managed to stick it out in Sydney?
The kids that can get past the home sickness play SG Ball and Jersey Flegg for their clubs. Their tremendous skill alone makes them stars in these comps against soft city kids. By now they start to get allowances that gives them some spending money. The under 20’s comp beckons and their natural skill level gets them through but the effort on the training paddock starts to dwindle as their attention is drawn to the bright neon lights of the big city and they have a bit of cash with which to exploit it.
The head of football at the club and the first grade coach discuss often when they will blood him in first grade. They have been planning for years for this young prodigy to turn their club into title contenders. The problem is although he playing well at under 20s carving up the kids, they know the work behind the scenes isn’t happening and it won’t be a good look to the other players in the club if they give the kid an opportunity even though he has been cutting corners in the gym.
Its mid season now, the club is in the middle of the table and the injuries are taking their toll on the clubs roster. The club is desperate and they make the decision to give their Indigenous enigma a go in first grade. The kid looks a natural on the big stage, his skill speed and deceptive strength are a sight to behold. The Sydney media starts talking the kid up, his photo is splashed all over the daily telegraph, the panellists on the footy show wax lyrical about him.
He continues to string some great performances together and the club rides the wave of success on the back of his prodigal performances. After 25-30 first grade games things start to go wrong. He gets caught up with the wrong crowd, the success goes to his head, and he starts turning up late to training. His performances start to go down as well he becomes a turnstile in defence. He gets dropped and not much is heard of him for the rest of the season.
The kid has a big preseason but still has ill-disclipine and the club has to part ways. The fans can’t believe it, only 6 months ago they thought he was going to be a club all time great. The player is now damaged goods and other clubs are scared to go near him but are tempted by his potential and the mercurial performances he has produced on the big stage. This player goes from club to club showing flashes of glimpses but he can’t string it together consistently. He ends up with 60 first grade games before no other club wants him and he moves back to his home town to play senior grade football taking his town to a handful of premierships before retiring in his late 30s.
This is the average story of the Indigenous enigma type of player. They are so special to watch. When you have been following this great game as long as we have though you learn to really enjoy the brilliance because you know it may be gone all too soon. This week we ask on the podcast will Latrell Mitchell become an Indigenous enigma? Will he go down the path of Joe Williams, Wes Patten, Daine Laurie, Owen Craigie, Chris Sandow, Anthony Mitchell, Brett Grogan, Yilleen Gordon, Milton Thaiday, Richie Williams, Leo Dynevor and Ewan McGrady to name just a few. Latrell is at a turning point in his career the question is will he turn into the Indigenous enigma or the talented representative player like Matt Bowen, Sam Thaiday, Rhys Wesser, David Peachey and Nathan Blacklock or maybe even an all time great (e.g Arthur Beetson, Greg Inglis, Gordon Tallis). The interesting thing right now is that he is at a cross roads. He could go either way and we are looking forward to witnessing the story unfold.
Here is some indigenous grass roots rugby league at its best – sniff out an intercept from nowhere!
Comments on RugbyPass
Nice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
8 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
8 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
8 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
8 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to comments