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IRB Player of the Year nominees revealed

for me:
- Sexton !!!! (sorry, needed to start this like an attention-grabbing ad): is there to represent Ireland's excellent form and consistency. It's obvious, all sports do this (rewarding one individual symbol for a larger contingent's success). Totally predictable and justified. Truth is this though: certainly, there's better out there as far as one individual and his own, only impact over a team.
- Willie....Le Roux: I usually like random as shiit stuff, like: Ran. Dom. As. Shhhhhyyyetttt. Stuff ?.. but this right here isn't even funny.
- Savea: nobody can deny his impact on a team. He's a monster and adds an entire dimension to even the by-far-best team in the world. Always going to get at least the nom., plus he's huge and likes to eat um nom nom...(please just shoot me in the ear already - PLEASE).
- Timothy Dalton oh wait that's not really funny, I mean Willie Le Roux is actually on this list for real, like, this isn't even surrealistic..

And now the actual two guys voted on here because they really do deserve the trophy rather than "just" being very very good players (or random as shhhhhhyyettt):
- Thor. Because brutal.
- Retallica. Because versatility, skill, awesome.

Aaaaaaand...I'd give it to...I just dunno. Thor has been great all year long and as awesome as Retallica is he plays for NZ, they're so good as an ensemble they wouldn't have suffer tribulations and torments without em...but then again he's much more skillful and I don't ever want to reward strength over skill...
I - just - don't - know, fellas.
 
Vermeulen for me. Also thought Le Roux lucky to get in but if yo look at the time frame and the mechanics of how they select then it makes sense. You have to stand out in a test match. Le Roux often stands out for the wrong reasons but when he gets going he gets going and he was huge in more games than not.
 
I'm not surprised at all by Sexton's inclusion. It was going to be either him or Mike Brown as representative of the Northern Hemisphere in my opinion. Given that Ireland won 6N, Sexton has averaged 13.25 points per match in International tests this year, and he plays a high impact position on the pitch he seems pretty deserving of a nomination to me.

The LeRoux selection is puzzling to me, and I'm a Bok fan. Willie was a real treat last year and gave us an added dimension running the ball, but this year his form has been inconsistent, he has handling errors and defensive lapses all too often for us. If it were up to me to choose the 5th nominee it would have been either Michael Hooper, Aaron Smith, Richie McCaw or Conrad Smith.
 
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yep Hooper should've been there in stead of Le Roux. I mean it's not like there's a debate even between these two, quite strange...really quite strange. How in the world do you justify that choice:

- Hooper has captained a strong Wallaby side that although somewhat inconsistent has confirmed their place as 3rd best. His work rate is off the charts, he tackles, he breaks, he turns over, he contests, runs like a back, is a huge component to the Wallaby pack and an asset to Australia on the whole, maybe the best openside flanker in the world and boy there are loads who could bear that ***le right now...what do you have to say about the Le Roux choice ??
- ....uuuuuuhmm !...he's got a really, really nice facial hair+haircut setup ??

I mean, fkn...go figure what goes on up there at the top....
 
I actually think Kuridrani was the most deserving Australian player. He changed the way their whole backline operates when he came into the side. Creevy or another Argentinian tight forward is unlucky to miss out. The problem with the point scoring system is that it would be hard for a prop to stand out. Even in games when your scrum is dominant, props don't tend to win too many MotM awards.
 
Regardless of the nominations we all know McCaw will win ;)

For me it would be between Retallick and Vermeulen..... not sure which way I would go to be honest.

No surprise to see Savea there, as he's been scoring tries for fun at test level over the last year (and playing very well overall too). Le Roux had a few standouts games midyear so would have racked up a few points there, but I don't think anyone (apart from perhaps his mother?) would believe he's been in the top 5 players in the world this year. Hooper and Kuridrani were perhaps unlucky to miss out from the Wallabies, and I thought Aaron Smith may have got a look-in.
 
Big Ewis said:
yep Hooper should've been there in stead of Le Roux. I mean it's not like there's a debate even between these two, quite strange...really quite strange. How in the world do you justify that choice:

- Hooper has captained a strong Wallaby side that although somewhat inconsistent has confirmed their place as 3rd best. His work rate is off the charts, he tackles, he breaks, he turns over, he contests, runs like a back, is a huge component to the Wallaby pack and an asset to Australia on the whole, maybe the best openside flanker in the world and boy there are loads who could bear that ***le right now...what do you have to say about the Le Roux choice ??
- ....uuuuuuhmm !...he's got a really, really nice facial hair+haircut setup ??

I mean, fkn...go figure what goes on up there at the top....
Click to expand...

Yeah, Hooper deserves to be nominated. He's better than le Roux and Sexton together.

Also Jerome Kaino is better than either (le Roux and Sexton)
 
Peat said:
No surprise to see Sexton there at all. Ireland have had a fantastic year and he has consistently been a part of it.

Duane or Brodie for me.
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And me. They both operate as though they are powered with mini-nuclear reactors, a seemingly never ending supply of power
 
Conrad Smith said:
Yeah, Hooper deserves to be nominated. He's better than le Roux and Sexton together.

Also Jerome Kaino is better than either (le Roux and Sexton)
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I label that quack science of the highest order and refute it accordingly. I challenge you to mathematically prove that Sex le Roux < Hooper

Gotta be Retallick though. Some fella and second Rows need some love.
 
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Retallick has one of the coolest surnames I've ever heard...and his full name, "Brodie Retallick", he sounds like a Mortal Kombat Karacter or someone from a Mad Max type post-apocalyptic movie, like a renegade who don't go by no laws, not even his own. Duane Vermeulen is banal as fucck...'Retallica' rocks, what cool manipulation can one make with Vermeulen ? Ain't nobodeh gat tahm fo dat.

+1. No, wait...+2 Retallick.
images
 
Big Ewis said:
Retallick has one of the coolest surnames I've ever heard...and his full name, "Brodie Retallick", he sounds like a Mortal Kombat Karacter or someone from a Mad Max type post-apocalyptic movie, like a renegade who don't go by no laws, not even his own.
Click to expand...

Brodie is a good cowboy/western name...the Outlaw Brodie Retallick. But Retallick also sounds like some kind of demon or alien hunter, so with the two names together he could be an alien-hunting space cowboy...like the Chronicles of Brodie Retallick, or something.

As far as who gets the prize, I certainly hope it's Retallick or Savea seeing as how I'm an ABs fan, but it would be nice to see the old fart, Sexton, get it, too. Really, they're all exceptional players, so whoever wins it will be deserving.

das
 
> Johnny Sexton is a cool guy.

> Don't know why Willie Le Roux is there.

Savea a beast, but it's tie Between Brodie Retallick and Duane Vermeulen.

*A wild McCaw appears*

IRB Player of Year.

wut.
 
For me it's either Retallick or Thor. Clearly the two strongest candidates and I wouldn't complain about who got it of those two. I love Le Roux, but he's not consistant enough. Savea is the best winger atm imo, but he hasn't had the same impact as the other two. Sextons feels a bit token, but fair play to him, he's consistently good.
 
TRF_nickdnz said:
For me it's either Retallick or Thor. Clearly the two strongest candidates and I wouldn't complain about who got it of those two. I love Le Roux, but he's not consistant enough. Savea is the best winger atm imo, but he hasn't had the same impact as the other two. Sextons feels a bit token, but fair play to him, he's consistently good.
Click to expand...

I have to agree fully with you Nick. For me it's also between Shrek and Thor.

But we don't know what criteria the panel was looking at, and who will win.

I think Willie's nomination is warranted as he has changed the views of many people on how a South African backline operates. Therefore his influence as well as performance gives him the shot. He could just be the dark horse...
 
I had picked Savea, Vermeulen and Rettallick in my head, it was always going to be a token gesture to the remaining two. Le Roux is wrong - plenty of 3/4's better. I guess they had to pick an Irish player seeing they won the 6N.
I would have added Lawes, Brown, Hooper maybe Sexton.
Also if these nominations were made in two weeks time I reckon a certain no7 from NZ is definitely back to his best form (which means best player in the world!)
 
TRF_nickdnz said:
For me it's either Retallick or Thor. Clearly the two strongest candidates and I wouldn't complain about who got it of those two. I love Le Roux, but he's not consistant enough. Savea is the best winger atm imo, but he hasn't had the same impact as the other two.
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Agreed, either Retallick or Thor, Retallick has been better than Thor for most of the season but just waned a fraction toward the end imo, over all I think it is 52 - 48 for Retallick, just had more swing the game moments and he almost plays 2 roles on the field, work horse lock and ball scavenging loosie.

Savea - as stated above great try ration and best winger atm but hasn't had enough of those swing the game moments with the big plays as the other 2.

Hooper from Aussie has had a great season form wise but some of his decision making has been poor from a leadership point of view and maybe this went against him?
 
nzlizard said:
Agreed, either Retallick or Thor, Retallick has been better than Thor for most of the season but just waned a fraction toward the end imo, over all I think it is 52 - 48 for Retallick, just had more swing the game moments and he almost plays 2 roles on the field, work horse lock and ball scavenging loosie.

Savea - as stated above great try ration and best winger atm but hasn't had enough of those swing the game moments with the big plays as the other 2.

Hooper from Aussie has had a great season form wise but some of his decision making has been poor from a leadership point of view and maybe this went against him?
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I have that swing vote the other way around. I think because Duane got the MOTM award against the All Blacks in the last test, would have assisted in the matter.

Also, this:

 
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Disapointing

Wow, this is personally a really disappointing announcement from the IRB.

This is just my opinion so take it how you will but Sexton and Le Roux have no place on this list. There has to be a token NH player ever year - which is fine but Jonathan Sexton isn't even the best player in the NH let alone a top five player in the world. Mike Brown got robbed of the NH spot. Perhaps Sexton got the spot because of Ireland winning the 6N and him being their standout player? Either way, this is a Player of the Year award not an MVP discussion. Willie Le Rouxe is a fantastic player, no doubt but he is not the best fullback in the world - Smith, Folau and Brown are all better players who have bigger impacts for their teams.

I have no idea how Michael Hooper did not get a nomination. What more does he have to do? At 22, he has carried the Wallabies forward pack being man of the match in most of the game's he has played in. He makes huge meters, tops the tackle count, gets to every breakdown, captains the team and consistently steps up in big moments. In what is a really tough period for rugby union in Australia, I'm surprised that the IRB did not reward him for his play. A nomination could have really be used by the ARU and would have been well deserved. Perhaps I am showing some bias here but I think most people would agree with me on this point.

Thor, Savea and Retallik are great choices and very well deserved. I would be happy to see either Thor or Savea win the award but think Vermulen deserves it just a fraction more than the others. Either way, it does make sense that the IRB Player of the Year award is dominated but the world's two best teams.
 

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