Thoughts on Random Players

Morkel said:
You have to remember that I also choose to see certain players that way because they play for a team I don't like (see also Cordner, Guerra, etc). Seriously though, I haven't seen anything in Keary to be load-blowing like the media.
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I remembered this, which is why I discounted your opinion immediately.

Ftr....I think Keary has great potential. Like all young halves, a 2nd or 3rd year in the top grade will be the real indicator of just how good he'll be.

Eastwood - I'd love to have him back at Brisbane. Always been a fan even through his bugling waste line years. Talented ball playing back rower who could give us great value coming off the bench in 20-25 min spurts.

Gordon - mehh. What's he being remembered for? That one freakish pass (or was it a catch?). Had speed. Has lost it. Wouldn't be playing in my first grade team.

Justin Oneil - meh.

Buderus - Poor man's Cameron Smith. Certainly the NTLE team and rep teams he had around him made him look a lot more talented than he was.
 
I hope that in the near future the NRL can do something similar to the WWE network and put together a shit load of rugby league games from the past for the NRL app or something. Would love to sit down and watch a lot of old footy games whilst I'm on holidays. Speaking of which, anyone hiring? haha
 
Danny Buderus - I didn't really begin to take notice of him until 2003/04 when he started to receive some more notoriety. Before then, he was simply a name who was fortunate enough to play alongside Andrew Johns (who was basically the Darth Vader to 11-12 year old me) and Adam MacDougall (who I despised with a passion).

Anyways, sans Joey, Buderus was basically the one man show, carrying the Knights to the odd victory including that golden point heart-breaker at Suncorp in 2004. It's around this time, I began to acknowledge him as the best hooker in the game (Priddis, Wing & Marsh were there abouts for me around that time) and he held that mantle until 2006 when he pulled out of the 2006 Tri Series, never to be seen again in an Australian jersey.

This of course lead to the infamous clip of Hodges mouthing off, from 12 points behind, showing Bedsy absolutely no respect as Queensland end up winning the second half comfortably. As memorable as that moment was, the true passing of the torch moment was when Bedsy went for a dart from dummy half, he got cleaned up by Cam Smith who comes out of the tackle, realises who he just tackled with a cheeky grin on his face and Bedsy then decides to chase after Smith in a desperate attempt to get the last laugh.

He was rattled and from there, I remember his selection pissing off a lot of Blues fans as they wanted him go for Farah in 2007/08.

He goes to Leeds for a few years, think he wins a premiership over there, comes back and surprisingly plays some really good football for the Knights. He may not have been as sprightly but his timing was still head and shoulders above most and he knew when to run through the forwards, and when to give it to the halves.

It's amazing how close he went to a Blues jersey in 2012, and I wonder if he had have stayed injury free, if Sticky would have gone with him.

Unfortunately, his career ended on a fairly sour note, getting injured early in his club's biggest game since the 2001 Grand Final. While I always thought the Roosters were sure things, I get the feeling that if Buderus had have played on, the scoreline would not have blown out the way it has.

Overall: He's a player I've grown to respect. I barely knew him, acknowledged that he was a great hooker but video killed the radio star so he sort of got lost in the Smith/Farah/Ennis era of hookers yet he reminded people in his twilight years what he was capable of. A Newcastle legend and definitely one of the best players of the 00's.
 
Great thread idea Pete we are going to enjoy this one

Very baffled by some of the comments about Danny Buderus. They seem to be suggesting he wasn't much of a player that was only helped by the players around him. Buderus would have to be in the top 5 hookers in the games history and definitely the 2nd best since 2000 after Smith, what he achieved in the game speaks for itself. Wasn't talented but he made up for it through hard work, determination, leadership and passion and love for the game. Off course it helps when you have great players around you but you are what you are on the field. FTR Smith has always had great/good halves running off him his whole career at all levels of the game. Anyone who says that Buderus was an average player is just deluded or barely watched him play.
 
Broncoman said:
Great thread idea Pete we are going to enjoy this one

Very baffled by some of the comments about Danny Buderus. They seem to be suggesting he wasn't much of a player that was only helped by the players around him. Buderus would have to be in the top 5 hookers in the games history and definitely the 2nd best since 2000 after Smith, what he achieved in the game speaks for itself. Wasn't talented but he made up for it through hard work, determination, leadership and passion and love for the game. Off course it helps when you have great players around you but you are what you are on the field. FTR Smith has always had great/good halves running off him his whole career at all levels of the game. Anyone who says that Buderus was an average player is just deluded or barely watched him play.
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So you're saying he wasn't an average player, and those who think he was are deluded. Yet you say he wasn't talented but made up for it with hard work?

Talk about a mind **** dude.

He was average for the majority of his career, and he was even more average after his career left to die in England.
 
Yeah someone who played 257 NRL first grade games, won a premiership, represented his state 21 times not missing a game captain in 15 straight games, represented Australia 24 times and captained Australia, won origin series being captain and lead his country to victories in the international arena, 3 time hooker of the year, and won player of the year and won representative player of the year.

What a crap resume that is

Not all great players are blessed with talent, Queensland fans have praised Dallas Johnson for some superb performances in the origin arena and he wasn't blessed with athletic talent and relied on toughness and determination.
 
Yeah, you don't have to like him, just like you don't have to like someone like Johns, but they were still brilliant players. No, Bedsey wasn't as good as Smith at his best, but I doubt any other hooker ever was. Smith pretty much reinvented how the role is being played, and a bunch of teams try or tried to emulate it but no one can replicate what he does.
 
Broncoman said:
Yeah someone who played 257 NRL first grade games, won a premiership, represented his state 21 times not missing a game captain in 15 straight games, represented Australia 24 times and captained Australia, won origin series being captain and lead his country to victories in the international arena, 3 time hooker of the year, and won player of the year and won representative player of the year.

What a crap resume that is
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Yeah....but that's all been widely dismissed as meaning very little.

Buderus achieved those accolades only because of the players he had around him ie; A. Johns.

Certainly wasn't because of his own personal ability.....
 
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Justin O'Neil - Was one of those players I read a lot about before he even looked like making his debut. Over on RLeague, a poster by the name of IMA SHADOW would often run through each junior and I remember him describing O'Neil as a talent, but incredibly soft, so I always kept that in mind while watching him.

I don't know how many people paid attention, but when the Storm were busted for the salary cap probe, Bellamy changed tact and turned 2010 into a rebuilding year where he brought through the likes of Duffie, Widdop, Bromwich & O'Neil to set him up the following year. It was a smart tactic by Bellamy but highlighted a flaw in the NRL's punishment.

Years go by and sure enough, SHADOW wasn't far off the mark. O'Neil has yet to really make any sort of impact outside of being a decent club player benefitting from Bellamy's structures. As a Queensland fan, I've always hoped that he'd go to the next level, but I've yet to see it.

Luke Keary - I like this guy's story. His family moves down to Sydney, he makes a splash in some Rugby and Rugby League junior rep sides but nothing major. Ends up coming back to Queensland and plays for the Burleigh Colts where he begins to make more of a name for himself and ends up getting offered a contract at Souths.

I begin to recognise him at Souths where he's surrounded by a lot of really mediocre players but he's so involved and competitive that he basically drags them into the finals. I was a fan of him from that point on and wanted the Broncos to make a play before the cat got out of the bag.

Unfortunately, Morgan was onto it and once Peats signals his intentions to go to Parra, Keary is given his bench spot almost simultaneously. He doesn't do a whole lot, but he does show some nice signs off the bench, scoring a nice try against the Titans that gets replayed over and over again whenever anybody talks about him on those panel shows.

Was expecting big things out of him in 2014 but he fell victim at the Auckland 9s. Came back at the pointy end of the season and while he didn't embarrass himself or anything, I don't think he made the impact expected of him.

If I was a Souths supporter, one of my biggest hopes going back to back rides on Keary giving the team another dimension.

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Tomorrow I'll list 5 new players. If you guys have any recommendations, feel free to PM me.
 
....no Pete, you can't have him for your SVRL team. Just putting that out there now....
 
I'm not saying Buderus was better than Smith as Smith is easily the best hooker I've seen and perhaps the greatest hooker to play the game but to say Buderus was an average player is just absolute fucking bullshit. Great players rely on their own attributes and Buderus relied on his determination, work rate, passion, service from dummy half. If you asked Locky, Smith, O'Davis, Webcke, Wayne Bennett etc they would rate him highly.

Nothing against anyone having an opinion but at least have something to back it up with.
 
He was then incumbent. His resume doesn't show his personal ability. Like you said, he's got no talent.
 
Steve Price didn't have much talent as did Johnson, Webcke, Civoniceva, Hethrington, Harrison and others yet they are thought of as greats and are idolised by the Queensland public.

Just like Leonard on the Big Bang theory said when someone argued with Sheldon "Don't bother you're just arguing with a crazy person"
 
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