Discussion of AB 9s. Best ever All Blacks Half Back?
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Breakaway from the Bledisloe 2 thread.
Of the players with 9 on their back I've seen in the Black Jersey.
Trapper - Read the game brilliantly. Quick thinking. Solid pass and kicking. Very good player, best AB half back of the modern era until Aaron Smith came along.
David Kirk - Great leader. Another quick thinking who made good decisions. Can't remember him having to kick or pass much.
Graham Bachop - Great pass. Didn't do much with the ball in hand.
Justin Marshall - Great runner at the start of his career. Put in lots of defensive work. Solid box kick. Crabbed before he passed. Some of his passing was loopy.
Jimmy Cowan - Meg clone but without the running game.
Aaron Smith - Best of the lot. Great, quick pass. Reads the game really well. Superb support player. Confident enough to be the play maker when coaches have asked. Only thing I would fault him on is his a weaker kicking game.
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Piri was handy. Better than some on that list.
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@booboo said in Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
Piri was handy. Better than some on that list.
I’d have Weepu right next to Perenara. But neither of them or Cowan should be in a “Best ever” thread.
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@act-crusader said in Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
@booboo said in Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
Piri was handy. Better than some on that list.
I’d have Weepu right next to Perenara. But neither of them or Cowan should be in a “Best ever” thread.
Agreed. But thread title and opening post a little contradictory.
@sparky said in Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
Breakaway from the Bledisloe 2 thread.
Of the players with 9 on their back I've seen in the Black Jersey.
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@act-crusader I remember Jimmy Cowan having a strong defensive game.
Agree that Cowan - Weepu - Perenera on a level. Weepu the best of the three on a big occasion. Had a very good game against the Boks in 2010. Fantastic goal kicking in the 2011 Quarter Final.
Piri was dreadful for London Welsh after leaving the ABs. He forgot how to tackle and became fat.
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@kiwimurph said in Discussion of AB 9s. Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
Peak Piri is a level above Perenara and Cowan.
He was a wonderful bench 9 too.
He also covered 10 at a pinch. Tough little bugger too.
I always rated TKB as a bench 9.
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Sid Going - as a running halfback he would have been dynamite on these manicured fields. Def up there is the discussions of 'best'
Mark Donaldson - under-rated. Perhaps not among the 'best' allrounders but you don't get a nickname like Bullet without a good pass. His disjointed career and the arrival of Loveridge probably meant that we never saw the number of games he deserved
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@victor-meldrew said in Discussion of AB 9s. Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
@kiwimurph said in Discussion of AB 9s. Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
Peak Piri is a level above Perenara and Cowan.
He was a wonderful bench 9 too.
He also covered 10 at a pinch. Tough little bugger too.
I always rated TKB as a bench 9.
TKB only just turned 31. Another unlucky to be around at the same time as someone even better
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@sparky said in Discussion of AB 9s. Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
Justin Marshall - Great runner at the start of his career. Put in lots of defensive work. Solid box kick. Crabbed before he passed. Some of his passing was loopy.
Still doesn't understand the laws of the game years later. Prone to making stupid exclamations. Has had an array of ill advised hair styles. Boomfa!
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Mentioned Sid Going in the other thread as being the best running AB 9 I've seen, loads of power and lethal near the line. Just a pity his passing was pretty average to dire.
He wa seriously quick as this clip shows 7:30 minutes in. (whole thing is worth a watch - completely outplayed Gareth Edwards on the day)
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Always rated Loveridge back in the day. Great pass , good runner, pretty good kicker. Did I mention great pass?
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@catogrande said in Discussion of AB 9s. Best ever All Blacks Half Back?:
Always rated Loveridge back in the day. Great pass , good runner, pretty good kicker. Did I mention great pass?
Likewise
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For me, Smith has probably the best pass, bar none.
Some of those passes in traffic to find the man are boner material!
He has a good running game, is a good defender.
Prior to him we went for the 4th loosie type 9 more often than not, but his game allowed us to go to another level.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 2 Eden Park 14th Aug:
For me, Smith has probably the best pass, bar none.
Some of those passes in traffic to find the man are boner material!
He has a good running game, is a good defender.
Prior to him we went for the 4th loosie type 9 more often than not, but his game allowed us to go to another level.
Yeah his passing is on another level to anything I can remember
Super Sid was great for his era ,but it seemed he had to wind it up a bit more before he let it go, didn’t have the accuracy and instant pop like smith
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