Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:40 pm  

popinn wrote:

Grant Anderson???? have a look at his stats then say he is a underachiever!!!!

If you'd have played me in a team that featured Crooksy, Ellis, Blackmore, Nikau, Fordy, etc then my stats would have been good as well!

Like I said in my OP, it is maybe a bit harsh but if he could have achieved a hell of a lot more, a bit less time in the Jockey and he would have made the GB shirt at centre his for years at least.

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:38 pm  

who needs flankers? wrote:

He got 3 SCOTTISH caps. Wow! Big deal, my friend played football for the isle of man team, it doesn't mean he was any good. Why is Danny Brough playing for Scotland and not England? Because he is an underachiever not living up to his potential. Sounds familiar to me. He should have been as good as Wellens was at his peak, and should have been playing for GB before Wellens even started at Saints. If he had lived up to his petnetial, he would have been pushing Radlinski all the way for the GB full back shirt. Steadman and Flowers didn't cross over at international level.

Spruce had peaked and was on his way down by the time flowers was in his 2nd season, robinson was not a rl full back rah rah made him a full back, connolly was a good centre and an awful fullback, gay - now that is scraping the barrel. Broadbent never played for GB, and wasn't as good as Flowers and Atcheson... Yea not a bad full back, but not that great. Flowers at full potential was better.

So in summary the only one who should have been in his way was Radlinski. He was nowhere near, but yet he could have been. I'm glad Alan Tate was past it when he came along or he might not have got a Scotland cap.

The 10 people i quoted are not my own personal preference as available fullbacks but they were the players picked at Fullback for either GB or England between 1992 and 2004. So they were the choice of the several leading coaches of that period, though apparently they did not know as much about the game as yourself.
You claim Spruce had peaked by Jason's 2nd season but he managed to be picked for GB in Flower's 3rd season and play 6 times for England in Jason's 6th season so you may need to re-appraise your recollection.
You claim Alan Tait had peaked when Jason came along, but he was sufficiently fit to play a significant part in the Scotland RU team after Jason made his debut for Scotland and also played in the 2 victories of the successful 1997 British lions team....


In short, Jason managed to be in the top 14 fullbacks out of 900 professional
and semi-professional RL players playing RL in the UK on nearly 200 occasions.
A significant achievement in any sporting career.

Finally, if the forum subject was All time Cas players we take an irrational dislike to, Im sure Jason would appear in your list.

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:11 pm  

Cant help feeling your barking up the wrong tree here.

I remember Jason Flowers from when he broke in to the first team, to when he left to Salford I think it was.

Flowers was one of the best defensive fullbacks in the game at that time, his one on one tackling was exceptional, as was his positioning and ability to take the high ball. However the reason that Jason was never world class was quite simple, he lacked any kind of pace.

I dont remeber Jason being tipped to be a GB fullback by many people during his career, as there were several fullbacks during that time that were nearly as good as Jason in every department, but were also gifted with bags of pace, an invaluable asset for any attacking fullback.

I think the reason he was overlooked by so many coaches at international level bears this out. That is not to say Jason wasnt a terrific player, because he was, I doubt if you will find any Cas fans who watched him turn out for us who would disagree.

With all this in mind then how do you feel he underachieved? I must admit to being slightly puzzled.

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:52 pm  

^^well said!^^

Flowers did do his best with the ability he had, so is not really an underachiever in that sense.
Now Jamie Benn for example....

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:03 pm  

Regarding Grant Anderson, think its a bit harsh to say he was in the jockey too much, he was ever the proffessional ask any of his team mates!! and also ask any centres or stand offs of that era who their hardest competitor was and im sure mr andersons name would pop up on more than one occaision! regarding the gb squad think grant should have been picked but think a few politics got in the way, if ya know what i mean
Really dont think its fair to say grants impressive stats were because he had decent players around him ,yes he sure did but he fully deserved his place in what was a very succesful team p.s i would like to see him play against the centres of today for cas!

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:41 pm  

popinn wrote:

Regarding Grant Anderson, think its a bit harsh to say he was in the jockey too much, he was ever the proffessional ask any of his team mates!! and also ask any centres or stand offs of that era who their hardest competitor was and im sure mr andersons name would pop up on more than one occaision! regarding the gb squad think grant should have been picked but think a few politics got in the way, if ya know what i mean
Really dont think its fair to say grants impressive stats were because he had decent players around him ,yes he sure did but he fully deserved his place in what was a very succesful team p.s i would like to see him play against the centres of today for cas!

Yes, Definitely not an underachiever!!
If only he could have rigged a curious GB selection, like some of his former team mates, just to claim the windfall in the representation clause in their contracts.
A fine breakfast too...

Was rubbish at Halifax, though.....

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:04 pm  

1. Ron Sigworth
2.Diccon Edwards
3.Richard Goddard
4.Adrian Flynn
5.Tony Spears
6.Sean Rudder
7.Ryan Sheridan
8.James Pickering
9.Kenny Hill
10.Andy Bailey
11.Tom Harberect
12.Matt Whittaker
13.Neil Roebuck

I had nightmare's picking that side

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:17 pm  

Start at 1994 then list the lot ?

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:42 am  

Yed wrote:

Start at 1994 then list the lot ?

Except for the side that was 80 mins from the Grand Final.

When was the last time a Warrington side did that?

Re: Cas All time Underachievers XIII : Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:23 pm  

who needs flankers? wrote:

connolly was a good centre and an awful fullback

i'm sorry but i have to dissagree with you regarding connolly,he was a fantastic player in both positions,i still regard him as a very good signing by the rhinos and even at the back end of his career.
connolly was very good and in both positions too ,he even won the lance todd trophy whilst playing at full back and in a beaten rhinos side in 2003

imo garry connolly was the guiding light behing richie mather's rise to prominence at the rhinos due to his guidance.
i'd bet that if you asked mather's on his opinion on connolly that he would tell you just how good a player he was