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Crusaders best ever Number 8

Crusaders best Number 8

  • Ron Cribb

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • Scott Robertson

    Votes: 3 17.6%
  • Mose Tuiali'i

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • Kieran Read

    Votes: 11 64.7%

  • Total voters
    17
Vote in the Poll !!!

my choice Read

Hard to choose, as the games changed a bit since some of them played ... I went with Read, but Cribb probably played his best rugby for the Crusaders, and he wasn't the same player after he left the franchise
 
Cribb, Read is pretty solid now but still has a long career to go.
 
Read shouldn't be there yet. He is a very good 8, but its too early in his career to be judging his greatness against the others listed.

I chose Scott Robertson
 
Read shouldn't be there yet. He is a very good 8, but its too early in his career to be judging his greatness against the others listed.

I chose Scott Robertson

Yeah, he was a pretty good No 8, considering he (like Read), is a converted flanker ... even Ritchie's had a few games at eight for them I think
 
McCaw does pretty well anywhere, even clearing the 22 with that left foot of his. And yes the game has changed but without a doubt the man who has set the template for what the modern 8 does is Read. THorne, while good was mainly a blindside, a very good one at that. We forget that Read also started life at lock and blindside, and he could probably be considered one of the best all-around forwards in the world at the moment.
 
Read may be early in his career (according to some) but, he has done more than both Robertson and Cribb already.

Tuiali'i was good, but not great.

Read is NZ best No8 since Zinzan Brooke
 
I hated Read back in 2008, thought he was Mr Average. My god I was wrong. In terms of comparrison, I'd have to give it to Read. Read has already played 7 more All Black tests than Robertson, 21 more tests than Moses Tuiali'i and 15 more than Cribb, and he has certainly made the most amount of impact since Brooke. He will probably need to play longer for the Crusaders, but he's in my mind better than the other three.
 
early in 2008 I was laughed off another forum when I suggested Read could become a world class #8 and should be given a chance hehe :)

he sure has been a fantastic find for the AB's and could very well become a long term captian if McCaw retires in the next couple of years. no doubt he's much more than the "Throne clone" many people suggested he would be. He's just as hard working and is good at the "**** work" Thorne was praised for but he also has good speed and power as a ball carrier and often comes up with game changing big hits on defence that win critical turnovers.

I would have thought Mose Tuiali'i would attract a lot of votes. He was a key figure for the crucaders during a very successful time.

I never saw Robertson or Cribb much as I was overseas and didn't follow rugby much at the time but For Robertson one test he played against Australia where he totally dominated really stuck in my mind. I cant remember when it was or the result but everything he did that day was with 110% effort, was really impressive. Likely during the year of the "cantablacks"
 
I hated Read back in 2008, thought he was Mr Average. My god I was wrong. In terms of comparrison, I'd have to give it to Read. Read has already played 7 more All Black tests than Robertson, 21 more tests than Moses Tuiali'i and 15 more than Cribb, and he has certainly made the most amount of impact since Brooke. He will probably need to play longer for the Crusaders, but he's in my mind better than the other three.


True, but the point I make is that he hasn't yet finished his career, that is, he hasn't had the chance to have a really bad season or a form slump.
 
I think thats irrelevant Smartcooky.

He is ALREADY better than those other blokes, so that makes him the best.

I mean look at it this way- Tuiali'i couldn't get past So'oialo as ABs no 8, yet Read ousted him.

Cribb was only good for 1-2 seasons max.

Robertson was (in my opinion) a very overrated and fortunate player. He came along at a time when NZ didn't really have dominant loosies, and he got into the ABs on the back of his Canterbury team. There have been a lot of guys since then that were more deserving than "razor" who have been blocked by McCaw (Holah, Braid, & Blackie to name a few)

By the way; the Canta-Blacks Sucked!

Worst selection of an AB team of all time, by two of the biggest douche's ever to be involved in the ABs; Mitchell and Deans.
Honestly; if you can't select players from teams that AREN'T the campions, you obviously are USELESS at spotting talent and shouldn't have the job in the first place.
THEN to not front to the media about anything like cowards...

SO glad they got the arse, and so glad Deans never got the AB job
 
I hated Read back in 2008, thought he was Mr Average. My god I was wrong. In terms of comparrison, I'd have to give it to Read. Read has already played 7 more All Black tests than Robertson, 21 more tests than Moses Tuiali'i and 15 more than Cribb, and he has certainly made the most amount of impact since Brooke. He will probably need to play longer for the Crusaders, but he's in my mind better than the other three.

Back in 08 Read was still playing at 6 but he had pretty much supplanted Thorne in the Saders lineup with a tremendous work rate. It was easy to write him off because its not always apparent what a good 6 is until you don't have one, thats why most non Crusaders fans have a hard time seeing what made Thorne so respected in the team. I honestly did not see switching Read to 8 due to his lack of bulk under rules where 8s like So'oialo, Spies and Luaki were preferred but he's really established himself as one of the ABs key men, along with Kaino, in dominating the loose at test level. Plus I love how he times his line-breaking runs perfect to just smash over players.
 
Personally I feel Cribb was the best at the crusaders and the second best modern day 8th man ever to come out of NZ after Zinzan. I say Modern Day because the game has changed so much over the years and by modern I mean post 95. It would be impossible to judge previous players against the modern day player due to the nature of the changes in the game of rugby. Re Cribb , pity he had such a bad temperament as he could have been even better had he kept his mind on the game. A bit of a wasted talent who never reached the heights when he left the Blues but still did enough in my books to get the vote.

Just FYI I rate Zinzan Brooke as the best ever rugby player to grace our fields , as a boy he was my hero even though I am a South African WP/Stormers Supporter and I always felt torn when watching him play against South Africa or WP in the S12 back then.
 

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