Player bios
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@reprobate said in Player bios:
@MN5 said in Player bios:
@Virgil said in Player bios:
@MN5 said in Player bios:
I'll just jump on and join the Cullen echo chamber. Incredible and very HUMBLE player especially compared to the way Jeff Wilson sometimes carried on.
He was like a cat in that he looked half asleep and then BOOM, sprang into ridiculously athletic action. That swerve in open spaces must have been a nightmare for defenders.
These (obviously AI written
) bios make me realise how much more I loved players back in the day than I do now. Better players ? bigger characters ? or have I just grown up a bit ?I think it highlights how things have changed how the game has changed.
Along with Cullen there was also Carlos Spencer cut from the same fabric. Mercurial in their approach and insanely talented.
With every second of a players time on a field analyzed, tracked and picked apart by coaches and opponents i think its harder for them to play the way guys like Cullen, Spencer and others did back in the 90's and early 2000's.Theres still room for mavericks. Finn Russell is cut from that Spencer cloth ( still feels weird writing this about a Scotsman ) Beauden Barrett when he still had pace ?
Jonah and Cully would still carve up today, maybe to a slightly lesser extent. Jeff Wilson with his kicking game might be even more of a force in todays game than he was in his playing days. Joeli Vidiri if he'd qualified earlier and with rotation would have played a heap more tests than he did.......
If the current Aussie outside backs can carve up WC champs best team in the world Boks, and those Boks can carve us up to our worst defeat ever, then I find any speculation that Cullen wouldn't absolutely kill it today absurd. Jeff Wilson was a useless flog by comparison.
That's why I said MAYBE to a lesser extent.
Wilson had more skill than Jonah and Cully but less freakish athleticism. No one could chip and chase like he could.
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For me Cully is that quintessential player that represented everything great about the pre-professional era but playing in a ‘new age’.
Natural ability off the charts.
Not much too him - 5’10-5’11 and just a touch over 80kgs. I think I read he wasn’t much of a gym guy.
Hit angles and space using pace.
And played at a time when scoring a try was no longer just about business and running back to halfway, but you could express a bit of emotion and joy.Does he make my all-time XV? Maybe at centre……
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@ACT-Crusader said in Player bios:
For me Cully is that quintessential player that represented everything great about the pre-professional era but playing in a ‘new age’.
Natural ability off the charts.
Not much too him - 5’10-5’11 and just a touch over 80kgs. I think I read he wasn’t much of a gym guy.
Hit angles and space using pace.
And played at a time when scoring a try was no longer just about business and running back to halfway, but you could express a bit of emotion and joy.Does he make my all-time XV? Maybe at centre……
Got that right. Weak as piss. Definitely preferred playing centre too, he could have kissed John Hart when he switched him.
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@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
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@reprobate said in Player bios:
@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
oh you'll get no disagreement from me there, but Wilson was a freak of a winger. To have him, Jonah and Cully at the same time was frankly ridiculous.
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@mariner4life said in Player bios:
@reprobate said in Player bios:
@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
oh you'll get no disagreement from me there, but Wilson was a freak of a winger. To have him, Jonah and Cully at the same time was frankly ridiculous.
We didnt know how good we had it
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@mariner4life said in Player bios:
@reprobate said in Player bios:
@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
oh you'll get no disagreement from me there, but Wilson was a freak of a winger. To have him, Jonah and Cully at the same time was frankly ridiculous.
Except for when Cully is at centre and Wilson is at fullback, which is disastrous. Which partly happened because Tana was so good that year he too had to be selected.
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@Nepia said in Player bios:
@mariner4life said in Player bios:
@reprobate said in Player bios:
@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
oh you'll get no disagreement from me there, but Wilson was a freak of a winger. To have him, Jonah and Cully at the same time was frankly ridiculous.
Except for when Cully is at centre and Wilson is at fullback, which is disastrous. Which partly happened because Tana was so good that year he too had to be selected.
Cully was good at centre. Wilson's leaky defence was the issue.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Player bios:
I think I read he wasn’t much of a gym guy.
There were frequent references back then about him outperforming some of the forwards in the gym.
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@Nepia said in Player bios:
@ACT-Crusader said in Player bios:
I think I read he wasn’t much of a gym guy.
There were frequent references back then about him outperforming some of the forwards in the gym.
I have a feeling his quote was tongue and cheek
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@brodean said in Player bios:
@Nepia said in Player bios:
@mariner4life said in Player bios:
@reprobate said in Player bios:
@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
oh you'll get no disagreement from me there, but Wilson was a freak of a winger. To have him, Jonah and Cully at the same time was frankly ridiculous.
Except for when Cully is at centre and Wilson is at fullback, which is disastrous. Which partly happened because Tana was so good that year he too had to be selected.
Cully was good at centre. Wilson's leaky defence was the issue.
Oh yeah, Wilson was more of the issue, but Cullen was wasted at centre regardless of how well he performed there. What was also annoying was that a year later coaches clicked that Tana should be the one at centre.
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@Nepia said in Player bios:
@mariner4life said in Player bios:
@reprobate said in Player bios:
@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
oh you'll get no disagreement from me there, but Wilson was a freak of a winger. To have him, Jonah and Cully at the same time was frankly ridiculous.
Except for when Cully is at centre and Wilson is at fullback, which is disastrous. Which partly happened because Tana was so good that year he too had to be selected.
They needed Alama at second five to do the shit clean out work and carting the ball up which he did admirably but it was so obvious to everyone back in 99 that the best backline would have been 13 Tana, 11 Jonah, 14 Wilson and 15 Cully.
Not sure how John Hart couldn't see that.
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@MN5 said in Player bios:
@Nepia said in Player bios:
@mariner4life said in Player bios:
@reprobate said in Player bios:
@mariner4life well, it may be a touch harsh. but so is having to listen to him.
oh you'll get no disagreement from me there, but Wilson was a freak of a winger. To have him, Jonah and Cully at the same time was frankly ridiculous.
Except for when Cully is at centre and Wilson is at fullback, which is disastrous. Which partly happened because Tana was so good that year he too had to be selected.
They needed Alama at second five to do the shit clean out work and carting the ball up which he did admirably but it was so obvious to everyone back in 99 that the best backline would have been 13 Tana, 11 Jonah, 14 Wilson and 15 Cully.
Not sure how John Hart couldn't see that.
I think he just wanted Wilson there so that was the only option.
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@gt12 said in Player bios:
How long would Cullen need to wait to get a run under the current coaches?
Well, I don't think we have any Cullens available right now - but on the other hand, there are guys playing a lot worse than Oz ever did who are being retained.
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@MN5 said in Player bios:
@Nepia said in Player bios:
@ACT-Crusader said in Player bios:
I think I read he wasn’t much of a gym guy.
There were frequent references back then about him outperforming some of the forwards in the gym.
I have a feeling his quote was tongue and cheek
Whooshed me completely. I always take honest @ACT-Crusader at his word.
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@Nepia said in Player bios:
@MN5 said in Player bios:
@Nepia said in Player bios:
@ACT-Crusader said in Player bios:
I think I read he wasn’t much of a gym guy.
There were frequent references back then about him outperforming some of the forwards in the gym.
I have a feeling his quote was tongue and cheek
Whooshed me completely. I always take honest @ACT-Crusader at his word.
I did too until his comment about Cullen at centre.
He would look good there feeding Caleb Ralph and Scott Hamilton in an all time XV though.
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@gt12 said in Player bios:
How long would Cullen need to wait to get a run under the current coaches?
dude, it's not just the coaches. NZ rugby is OBSESSED with errors. We actively ignore talent because of a perceived weakness or because they make errors trying shit. It's how we end up with a bunch of vanilla worker players who don't try anything for fear of crucifiction.
The only way you are allowed to make errors or miss a core assignment is to have already played 60 tests.
All these amazing talents we will gush over in this thread would never get a look in
Cullen's kicking game is shit and he runs too much.
Wilson celebrates to much, obvious flog and dressing room cancer.
Lomu can't defend or catch high balls.
Tana isn't a distributor.
Walter Little isn't strong enough in the carry.
Zinny kicks drop goals, fuck him off.I say this fully aware i am as bad for it as anyone. Not for the first time, i wish i was French.
