Aaron Smith
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I’d wager these guys are practicing their passing all the time but it’s bloody hard to be anywhere near Smith level. All the training in the world is no guarantee of firing off inch perfect missiles from both sides in the heat of battles. One expression I heard once was being good enough to knock the cigarette out of a sparrows mouth.
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@antipodean I think his partnership with Conrad also helped drive some of that development. Clear as day that Nonu put in the hard work though. I think Nonu was a pretty early adopter of stuff like yoga as well? One of those guys always looking for that extra edge or 1% to add to their game.
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@mariner4life said in Aaron Smith:
i am not for a second saying these skills aren't worked on. i just find it astounding that so many players go their whole career with an obvious skill flaw that just never develops.
Completely agree.
The example that comes to mind for me is Rieko Ioane and kicking. He debuted for the Blues in 2016 and the ABs in 2017 and he has developed exactly zero kicking game. How is it that he has not developed the skill even a little bit despite being in these set ups for 5 or so years? Kicking for a winger and centre in the modern game is close to a must have and he simply does not have the skill.
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@paekakboyz said in Aaron Smith:
One of those guys always looking for that extra edge or 1% to add to their game.
I cant recall who it was, but Craig Dowd springs to mind and the time he was an AB/Blues fits with the memory...anyways, ballet is what he was doing, not ballet for ballet, but ballet training for the strength and balance.
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@paekakboyz said in Aaron Smith:
@antipodean I think his partnership with Conrad also helped drive some of that development. Clear as day that Nonu put in the hard work though. I think Nonu was a pretty early adopter of stuff like yoga as well? One of those guys always looking for that extra edge or 1% to add to their game.
agreed, i think partnering with Smith at the canes and the AB's gave Nonu the confidence to work on his game knowing exactly what the guy outside him was going to do
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@kiwimurph said in Aaron Smith:
@mariner4life said in Aaron Smith:
i am not for a second saying these skills aren't worked on. i just find it astounding that so many players go their whole career with an obvious skill flaw that just never develops.
Completely agree.
The example that comes to mind for me is Rieko Ioane and kicking. He debuted for the Blues in 2016 and the ABs in 2017 and he has developed exactly zero kicking game. How is it that he has not developed the skill even a little bit despite being in these set ups for 5 or so years? Kicking for a winger and centre in the modern game is close to a must have and he simply does not have the skill.
He hasn't graduated past 'holding the ball in two hands'?
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@mariner4life said in Aaron Smith:
i find the core skills development in rugby codes to be pretty ordinary in the modern game. I reckon most players are promoted based on having a couple of things they do better than others, mostly physical (bigger, quicker, stronger) and the obvious skills that need developing just never improve.
I wonder if modern sports science has something to do with that? The capping of training loads meaning there isn't the time for that stuff between all teh team stuff they already do (ie defensive patterns, which i bet are an enormous part of a players week).
Also, it shouldn't be the job of the national coaches to develop core skills in players
Reminds me of Kevin Senio (in terms of people working on core skills), that guy used to do an insane amount of passing drills over and above the rest of the team, I remember an interview with him talking about it. He certainly wasnt big, but those core skills elevated his status.
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Aaron Smith is the king!
He's an absolute beast of a half back and the impact he has on the teams he plays for is massive, particular the Highlanders who are pretty average without.
I'm worried he will steal the title from the blues this weekend, almost single handedly.
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@cliff said in Aaron Smith:
@bovidae yeah he is very young I think 19 and shows good promise I wonder if the chiefs will have a halfback spot next season has Weber resigned?
No public announcement on Weber but I expect him to play another season to bring up his century of games for the Chiefs (currently on 98).
I've seen plenty of Cortez play at schoolboy level as he replaced Roe in the Hamilton BHS 1st XV, and for Waikato last year. I'm sure the Chiefs have him in their system, even though he didn't play in the U20 tournament.
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Aaron Smith is way up there with the best 9's I've seen.
He's almost a perfect mix of being able to take the game by the scruff of the neck like Joost van der Westhuizen when needed, or just do the classic 9 role of distributor or kicker. Does both roles brilliantly and has done pretty consistently. I struggle to remember an average game let alone a poor one from him.
No disrespect to the GOAT, Nonu/Conrad & DC, but I think we're going to miss Smith much more than those players.
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@kiwiwomble said in Aaron Smith:
@paekakboyz said in Aaron Smith:
@antipodean I think his partnership with Conrad also helped drive some of that development. Clear as day that Nonu put in the hard work though. I think Nonu was a pretty early adopter of stuff like yoga as well? One of those guys always looking for that extra edge or 1% to add to their game.
agreed, i think partnering with Smith at the canes and the AB's gave Nonu the confidence to work on his game knowing exactly what the guy outside him was going to do
I think that probably assisted, but I'd point more to his "mentor" of sorts, Umaga. One of the first guys to go head down, arse up and work hard outside of where he was expected to.
The year before he made the AB's, he spent the whole off-season doing plyometrics and speed training and came back an absolute weapon with a whole lot more pace and explosiveness, as well as that extra "vision" you get from being fit as fuck.
Which brings me to Roe - that's what I like about him and see in him, his pass is really laboured at the moment, but his vision looks streets ahead of everyone behind Smith, bar Fakatava.
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@victor-meldrew he was a bit average after after-david-gate, was at the helm for Chicago wasnt he, and that was not a fine day for many.
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@taniwharugby said in Aaron Smith:
@victor-meldrew he was a bit average after after-david-gate, was at the helm for Chicago wasnt he, and that was not a fine day for many.
Yeah, there was a season where he put in a few pretty average performances, got bullied quite a bit and wasn't a threat at all around the breakdown - many were calling for him to be dropped (hi @Tim).
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@bones said in Aaron Smith:
@taniwharugby said in Aaron Smith:
@victor-meldrew he was a bit average after after-david-gate, was at the helm for Chicago wasnt he, and that was not a fine day for many.
Yeah, there was a season where he put in a few pretty average performances, got bullied quite a bit and wasn't a threat at all around the breakdown - many were calling for lhim to be dropped (hi @Tim).
Yeah, I forget about that year. Still think a fully firing AS is going to be hard to replace.
