• Welcome to the forums of Green & Gold Rugby.
    We have recently made some changes to the amount of discussions boards on the forum.
    Over the coming months we will continue to make more changes to make the forum more user friendly for all to use.
    Thanks, Admin.

Waratahs 2017

Status
Not open for further replies.

Hawko

Tony Shaw (54)
Personally if talking about prospects it's very hard to go past the Thor (as a prospect). Just needs a season to sharpen scrummaging and he will very quickly surpass Robertson. He is already a better runner of the ball.


So, is TT moving to Sydney? This is the Tahs thread.
 

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
He was replying to a post on this thread suggesting Robertson was the best tight head prop prospect in Australia. His response has every justification to be on this site.
You omitted a key word, Reg. I don't think anyone was saying he'd the best at anything yet. And prospects are so arguable.
 

Dalai Ninja

Ward Prentice (10)
Personally if talking about prospects it's very hard to go past the Thor (as a prospect). Just needs a season to sharpen scrummaging and he will very quickly surpass Robertson. He is already a better runner of the ball.

To be fair, Pfitzy was talking specifically about scrummaging. We don't know yet if Thor will be a test-quality scrummager. Many a promising prop has fallen down that particular crack. His ball running ability is unquestioned.
 

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Personally if talking about prospects it's very hard to go past the Thor (as a prospect). Just needs a season to sharpen scrummaging and he will very quickly surpass Robertson. He is already a better runner of the ball.


The beauty of scrummaging is it could be "a season" or it could be never - for any of these kids.

Whether he's a better runner of the ball is kind of irrelevant on a site where, universally, our T5 is panned for not doing enough donkey work at ruck time.

Let's see him bring all those elements at a level higher than club rugby before we all start shooting a wad.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
NRC form is irrelevant now as well?

Ultimately Robertson is technically the better scrummager, has the greater experience and has demonstrated it at a higher level. Prospect wise, Tupou's ball running and explosiveness is on another level to any prop in Australian rugby, and whilst he was part of a dominant NRC scrum he hasn't demonstrated that at Super Rugby level..

It's really just semantics..
 

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
Personally if talking about prospects it's very hard to go past the Thor (as a prospect). Just needs a season to sharpen scrummaging and he will very quickly surpass Robertson. He is already a better runner of the ball.

and how many "prospects" @ THP have we said this about?

It is the one position on the field where I would much rather see a strong scrummager selected over the higher workrate unit. We have seen that end in tears too often.

That said, I expect Robertson to get toweled up a few times on the Wobs tour. He is still a fetus in prop years
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
Australia has no one like Tupou. Best prospect in Australia by a country mile

I just hope he is mentored correctly and brought on slowly.

He has all the physical elements required to be a top, long term THP. Hopefully he has the mental "edge" and the dedication and determination to achieve high levels of rugby.

The greatest challenge for all footballers whether of PI heritage or not is complacency
 

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
NRC form is irrelevant now as well?

. . .

It's really just semantics..



Exactly.

Robertson isn't anywhere near Tupou for ball running BUT he has been doing some of that work, and at this stage has the runs on the board.

He has also shown some good work with ball in hand for the Tahs and concentrates on the donkey work.

Tupou's time may come, particularly with Holmes no longer in his way at the Reds. He's got some good minds to grow under including Stiles and that old bloke whose name I've forgotten.



The greatest challenge for all footballers whether of PI heritage or not is complacency


Yep - when you dominate at a young age you haven't necessarily had to work as hard as someone who might be smaller than you.

The Reds have had a shit year to think about, and he should be part of that process. While we're diverting this into a Reds thread: the one thing they need to be wary of at Ballymore is this "dominant young kid at club level" practice that has seen a few crash and burn.

Its good to have some experience back there.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
Last word from me on this reds site.

Will look forward to Round 9 when Reds play the Tahs. Thor should definitely be the starting THP prop by then, meaning a direct comparison between Robertson and Thor can be made. Slipper and Keps should equal each other out so it will be interesting.

As always, time will tell.
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
How does Opeti Helu compare to the 2014 version of Tupou? He appears to be a very powerful ball runner as well. Perhaps bigger but not as explosive.


From what I can find he's touted at 127kg. He's a powerful alright but as you suggest not nearly as explosive in contact as Tupou at the same stage. Well, at least that's what I can tell from his highlights reels. Still if we can somehow keep hold of him he has the potential to develop into a very similar player as Shembeckler Vui seems to be. Which actually is bloody good.

Comparing a player to Tupou is a little unfair. At least in my opinion. I consider Tupou a bit of a freak athlete in many ways. I haven't seen a young footballer quite as explosive as him in my time playing and watching the game.

I am actually a little surprised that during all the hype surrounding his initial break out on YouTube that he wasn't offered scholarships to play AF.
 

Rugbynutter39

Michael Lynagh (62)
1. Ryan
2. Latu
3. Kepu
4. Skelton
5. Mumm
6. Dempsey
7. Hooper
8. Holloway
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. Robinson
12. Simone
13. Folau
14. Horne Naiyaravoro
15. Kellaway

Change my mind on starting 15 for Tahs after ba ba's game.
 

Micheal

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
1. Ryan
2. Latu
3. Kepu
4. Skelton
5. Mumm
6. Dempsey
7. Hooper
8. Holloway
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. Robinson
12. Simone
13. Folau
14. Horne Naiyaravoro
15. Kellaway

Change my mind on starting 15 for Tahs after ba ba's game.

Horne will undoubtedly start somewhere in the backline. Perhaps Simone will be a bench option until he forces his way into the XV with form (if he does).
 

saulityvi

Syd Malcolm (24)
@fatprop Im not saying big T is the best defender out wide, but on that example he had three players to cover and trusted his inside support to take care of the ball carrier.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top