"Please be me, please be me"
Unsurprisingly in a decade in which the Wallabies most capped player played scrumhalf, there were only six men who played at the base of the scrum for the Wallabies from 2000-2009. These players were:
George Gregan (81 starts), Luke Burgess (18), Sam Cordingly (8), Will Genia (7), Matt Giteau (6), Chris Whitaker (3)
Picking a top three scrumhalves of the decade has proven quite difficult.
Obviously the options are limited, but with one player starting in basically two thirds of the tests, the rest shared out amongst the remaining four players, there is limited opportunities to weigh up the challengers. We went to and fro with the final selections a bit, and it is fair to say it was somewhat influenced by the recent tour, but the top three scrumhalves of the decade are:
George Gregan
George Gregan
Gregan was first choice half back for pretty much the first eight years of the decade. He was first choice captain for a little over half the decade. He formed a brilliant combination with his Brumbie team mate Steve Larkham. But still, I don’t expect all this vote to be as clear cut as it may seem it should be.
I don’t think we as supporters, at least this decade, ever saw the true value of Gregan to the Wallabies. What we saw was his on field performances. We saw his courageous defense (go back and watch his tackling of Lomu in the 2000 Tri Nations as an example). We saw the pressure he could put his opposition number under. On the face of it both his running game and delivery from the forwards seemed to slow somewhat as the years went on.
But what we didn’t see, and only occasionaly would read about, was his utmost professionalism in terms of how he would prepare for a test match. The precision practise and care of his body that rookies would watch in awe of. We didn’t necessarily see first hand the respect with which his team mates, and indeed the opposition, had for him. It is respect that seems to have gone missing in the Wallabies team for, gee I don’t know, how long ago to Gregan retire?
Will Genia
Will Genia
It was a real battle for these final two spots in this top three. I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a bit of a ‘recency factor’ in the selection of Genia here. Genia has been somewhat of a revelation since his debut earlier this season. He has provided the Wallabies a dynamite pass from the pack to the backs. He has a dangerous running game that is well managed without being overplayed, and as we have seen on the Spring tour, his kicking game can be inch perfect.
There will always be comparisons made between Genia and Gregan. They start from the physical resemblances I guess. Both being short of stature and dark of skin. Then there is the fact that both players got selected in the test team from relative obscurity. And both scrumhalves were picked as yet another attempt to fill the whole made by the retirement of a former Wallaby great.
Genia has made the position his own though, proving so valuable a player that he has played numerous 80 minute test matches, which is almost unheard of in the modern age. His maturity and composure seeem to be the traits that set him apart, taking into account his obvious abilities and skills. How he manages the newfound attention and expectations? Well that might be where more comparisons with Gregan arise as Gregan struggled to maintain his Wallaby spot for the years after his debut season in 1994. Can Genia set himself apart and stake a claim for the next decade?
Matt Giteau
Matt Giteau
Hmmm… Gits above Burgess? Gits above Cordingly? Gits above Whits? I reckon a definate yes for the last two, and a more than likely for the first. Knuckles Connolly copped some flack for playing Gits at 9, this despite the fact many ‘experts’ were calling for it to happen pre-Connlly’s time as coach. I for one really enjoyed the experiment.
Giteau was our most dangerous player at the time and just didn’t seem to be getting his hands on the ball enough at inside centre. So why not get him back to a position he played at school in which he could handle the ball more than any other player. He scored a great try against Wales in his first game there for that exact reason. Just because he was meant to be close to the ball he was close to the ball, took the quick tap, caught Wales (the ref and the tv cameraman) napping and scored the try.
His delivery was adequate and his kicking game better than most 9′s. If we had a suitable inside centre to take over from Giteau I am sure the experiment would have been extended. Sure enough the best performance by the Wallabies whilst Gits played scrumhalf was when we had the experienced, and vastly underrated, Scott Staniforth at 12 against the Scots at Murrayfield.
So yes, Burgess would have been very close. I think we can forget how much he added to the Wallaby attacking game last year. He still has a lot to offer in my eyes, although his passing is just not up to scratch. As for Whits? Unfortunately I never thought he really grabbed his opportunities, however few they were, for the Wallabies. Only three starts is hard, particularly when one is against Namibia, one is in the torrential rain in Wellington and the other against a very week Samoan team.
So, how did we go? Were we right to go with Will and Gits? And what about Gregan? Is he the definate for the Wallaby Team of the Decade that every suspects he is? Has Genia shown more already than Gregan through the noughties? Let us know in the below poll, in the comments section and over at the Blog!
[poll id="51"]
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Tags: chris whitaker, george gregan, luke burgess, matt giteau, will genia
The artist formerly known as "Noddy" grew up in a golden age of Queensland Rugby and wakes up every morning hoping that THAT day will be the start of a new one. I like to reminisce. Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/RugbyReg. 
Its hard to compare gregan with genia at the moment. Genia does all the basics of a halfback well, pass, kick, runs when he can, generally makes the right decision, strong defence. But IMO he lacks (at the moment) the playmaking skill that gregan had, that was the ability to create gaps, and the ability to put some-one through it. That combined with what is mentioned above, respect, makes this contest a no brainer!
gotta be gregan, but i voted for burgess just cos of the missplaced genia love!
guy has a long long way to go, he aint winning us games yet!
Even when he seemed slow at the end of his career, he was still irreplacable, go gregan!
He also reffed a lot of games he played in, that was an advantage we have lost in his abscence.
I always thought Sheehan got a cap or two at halfback. Or was he just a bench player?
yep all off the bench. 2 last year away v SAF (Cords was injured)
and his debut in 2006, also off the bench, also away v SAF.
holy hell there are 7 votes for Genia. This is a vote for potential people.
I think Cordingly is a little hard done by at the moment.
definitely Gregan for first, but Sammy C has to be second, maybe fighting it out for the best scrum half to be kept on the bench, Whitaker. But i have Sammy C taking it over Whits
talk of burgess or genia or Giteau is premature i think.
For me, it’s either GG or Gits, who was sensational in the position. I voted GG because Gits didn’t play enough to test the theory as an all-round 9, rather than our best ever running 9, which he was.
I had to vote for Genia because he has already shown he is better than Gregan ever was. Maybe my memory is blemished by the last 2 or 3 seasons of woeful Gregan slowness.
Who cares about Gregan’s professionalism and other rubbish. That is the same sort of argument that kept Mark Taylor in the team too long because they said Steve Waugh wasn’t capable as captain, and thus kept Matt Hayden out of the team while he was averaging over 100 for Qld.
Cordingly was an excellent half back, and should have been picked over Gregan a year or 2 before Gregan retired.
As for Burgess… can’t pass well enough for 9. End of story. Nothing else matters. Doesn’t even belong on the Waratahs bench. Should go back to club rugby and re-invent himself as a wing or center.
Curious that Dingo didn’t pick Ben Lucas in the squad, since he was the guy who kept Genia from the run on side on and off all last season.
sorry sideshow, load of crap, burgess is a monster for the tahs.
greagan was far better than genia, genia hasnt proven much, he plays with alot of enthusiasm and thats great, but its his first season and he was unsighted by many teams cos he hasnt played much at the top level. come season two next year when teams start working a game plan on him is the only time we start to see if he has what it takes!
his shortcomings seem to go undetected, but it will be more than fun when you all turn on him ala gragan in a year or two!
i think genia has the potential to be the next legendary wallaby. i think he has the personality to dominate, and will be a future captain. it doesnt surprise me that when he went off against scotland, they lost alot of direction. gregan is of course the halfback of this decade, but next decade will be genias.
Obviously, anyone who has ever followed the wallabies knows that Gregan is the man. He has done more for Australian rugby than anyone else during his time.
agreed
I am with you Sideshow…except i think it was the last 4-5 years of Gregans Career he was too slow. I was in marseille in 07 and i still get angry remembering gregans slowness and waiting for the ref to make a decision rather than playing the ball.
However no one else got a look in…Sam C was very badly let down as was Whits..both should have spent more time in Wallaby uniform.
Only slightly related to this post, but I a completely agree that Staniforth was underrated. Ever saw the guy have a bad game, seemed to make good decisions, never flashy, but would have trusted him on any of my teams at 12.
Anyway, I think Burgess’s reputations has taken an unfair hit. Genia is certainly a better player right now, but if you look back on the Super 14, he was an excellent scrum-half all competition. Just wait, he’ll have another excellent campagin.
Gregan all the way for the decade…
If we judge Gregan at the top of his career he is incomparable. End of story.
Genia is just starting his career and as good as he is I don’t believe he is as good as Gregan was at the start of his career.
I will never forget eye surgeon Richard Loe barging around the fringe of the ruck and being driven back metres in the tackle of a young totally unknown George Gregan and then being unceremoniously upended on his butt by Gregan.
I thought that event would remain unparalled in my viewing of test match rugby for a long time to come. But who could forget that blistering tackle on Geof Wilson a mini split second before Wilson was about to score in the corner. For some reason I never saw the tackle on Lomu. Can’t figure out why either.
In my very humblest of opinion George, at the top of his form, was not only the best half of the decade, but he was the best half ever – in the world.
By the twiglight of his career he had not only slowed up, he had also been worked out by the rest of the international fraternity of scrum halves. During this phase of George’s career there were some unfortunate occasions when Justin Marshall harrassed George into making the kind of mistakes he would neve have made in his prime.
But the biggest mistake George made in his illustrious career was extending it too long.
fair call Robson, I guess the question has to be asked. Was he at the top of his form, this decade?
Gregan in my view was the man even though his best rugby was probably in the previous decade. His partnership with Bernie was one of the great Rugby Pairings.
Thinking Burgess isn’t a option. He couldn’t win us game and he can’t provide quick ball.