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Player of the Decade

Leonormous Boozer

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So it's Sexton and a bunch of lads I've never heard of, odd but there's only one winner anyway. Vote for Johnny on World Rugby's website.
 
It can't be Retallick because he looks like he's just had a big swig of Fat B*stards stool sample


It's a tough choice, don't feel like anyone has been consistent over the decade (a decade is a long time to be at the top of a sport) - feel like Read's form has dropped off a cliff, despite being superb in the earlier parts of the decade.
McCaw was more last decade than this - feel like Carter's best days were before too. PSDT feel like he hit his straps too recent to be the best of the decade.

Probably leaning towards Retallick or Sexton
 
These "of the decade" things always strike me as a bit daft given that it heavily favours players whose careers happened to start at the beginning of the decade. It's between Read, Retallick and Barrett for me. I'd go for Read on the basis that (subjectively) he's spent more of the decade as a world class player than the others. Barrett spent a chunk of the decade as a bit part player and Retallick's form has fallen off a cliff, although I may well be guilty of polarising my opinion with what's happening right now and am struggling to remember when his form started to dip.
 
Between BB and Sexton.

RM and Carter are out in my book just cause of how long they've played between 2001 and 2020.

Kinda silly the way they select the list. Someone can be second/third every single year of the decade and he wouldn't even make it to the final. I mean, no one of sound mind would consider PSdT the best RSA player of the decade.
 
Of those (all great players) only Sexton, Read and Retallick genuinely had decade spanning careers. I'd be leaning towards Sexton or Read.

Could go either way but I think I'd give it to Read, I love Johnny but 2 world cups and being a key player in what was consitently the decade's best team is hard to argue with. PsDT is too new.

Carter didn't play enough, Retallick was amazing at his height but had that massive injury and didn't get back for me.
 
Of those (all great players) only Sexton, Read and Retallick genuinely had decade spanning careers. I'd be leaning towards Sexton or Read.

Could go either way but I think I'd give it to Read, I love Johnny but 2 world cups and being a key player in what was consitently the decade's best team is hard to argue with. PsDT is too new.

Carter didn't play enough, Retallick was amazing at his height but had that massive injury and didn't get back for me.
Then it must be Richie... Won 2 world cups in 2011 and 2015.

And he also became a chopper pilot... Which is very fitting to him, as he always enters from the side...
 
Then it must be Richie... Won 2 world cups in 2011 and 2015.

And he also became a chopper pilot... Which is very fitting to him, as he always enters from the side...
Richie had a case as well but I'd lean towards Read because he went on a bit longer. Issue with player of the decade is that it favours players whose careers start roughly around a certain time.
 
Man, I'm leaning towards Richie or Dan. PSDT is a bit early on the list to be in contention.
I was surprised to learn when I Googled that PSDT won his first cap in 2013, so played in 7 seasons of the decade versus McCaw and Carter's 6 (both quit in 2015). That said, it's only relatively recently that PSDT has been winning these kinds of plaudits.
 
PSdT has won the South African player of the year award three times out of the last 4 years. He would have won it 4 out of 4 were it not for injury. He played a crucial role in the 2015 world cup also, this after he tore a ligament and his dad went into surgery to donate his muscle tissue to PSdT, this so that his son could go play in the world cup or so the story goes... But I recognise that most international people only really took notice of him after our world cup win and probably would not have even noticed if we did not win the cup.

Carter was an all time great so if he did not win the previous player of the decade award then I would give it to him just based on his achievement in the game, don't need to be to pedantic over the timeframes. If not Carter then McCaw
 
McCaw for me. Captaining his country to two World Cup finals, winning a large chunk of his 148 test caps in the last decade between 2010-2015 and his consistency at the highest level.
 
These "of the decade" things always strike me as a bit daft given that it heavily favours players whose careers happened to start at the beginning of the decade. It's between Read, Retallick and Barrett for me. I'd go for Read on the basis that (subjectively) he's spent more of the decade as a world class player than the others. Barrett spent a chunk of the decade as a bit part player and Retallick's form has fallen off a cliff, although I may well be guilty of polarising my opinion with what's happening right now and am struggling to remember when his form started to dip.
Just have 'last ten years' and do it every year?

I think brodies form slipped only in the last two years. And I've been very critical of him. But that still leaves 7 years of pretty darn awesomeness.

Read for me for most of his career has been criminally overrated. Last year was his best year for the all blacks by far, the four or five previous years were not that good. That included bad errors, defensively and bad passes, at critical times in games causing us to lose. Vermeulen was better last decade.

Mcaw pretty great, but mostly as a captain at the end of his career.

Psdt didn't play enough in the decade.

Carter, nah. What about others who retired at the same time? Nonu and Smith, they were better than Carter last decade.

Sexton, my memory fails me there. I can remember times when he was great and when he was awful but I don't have a sense if what the average looked like. Don't want to base it on a few bad performances just because that is what's in my memory, but nor do I want to assume it was only a few if I can't really remember. My sense is he was reasonably consistent so I think he's close, but not the safe bet

So out of those available, I'll go with retallick.

Actually what about Ben Smith, or Aaron Smith?
 
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Carter was an all time great so if he did not win the previous player of the decade award then I would give it to him just based on his achievement in the game, don't need to be to pedantic over the timeframes. If not Carter then McCaw

I agree with this to be honest, he was fairly peerless at his best and was at his best enough times in the decade to get it.

If you are pedantic about times it's hard to discount Johnny though. He was Ireland's best player from 2013 to 2018 which included 3 Six Nations with one GS, 2nd in the world rankings (1st the year after) and he started 5 Lions tests for a 3-1-1 record as a key player. Definitely the most valuable player of the decade but not the best admittedly.
 
I think brodies form slipped only in the last two years. And I've been very critical of him. But that still leaves 7 years of pretty darn awesomeness.
Good to see a Kiwi perspective given that it seems like the answer is an AB (although I note a surprising amount of Sexton love). As I said, I was struggling to remember when Retallick's form started to dip. Maybe it's a confirmation bias, but it always struck me how much he was missed when he wasn't playing, possibly more so than any other player (ignoring ending up with Stephen Donald at 10 in a World Cup final!). Given how hard it is to show up as a star performer in the second row versus say, being a number eight hanging about on the wing, that's a strong argument for him IMO.
 
Thierry Dusautoir for me. Won the last 6N ***le and CCup ***le with Toulouse in 2010. Was robbed of a world ***le in 2011. He stands out as a player and captain in a decade of utter union mediocrity inflicted on the man with joke national selectors and selection policy. The one who could hold a candle to McCaw. Richie was surrounded by great players and staff, Thierry wasn't.
 
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Read for me for most of his career has been criminally overrated. Last year was his best year for the all blacks by far, the four or five previous years were not that good. That included bad errors, defensively and bad passes, at critical times in games causing us to lose. Vermeulen was better last decade.

Actually what about Ben Smith, or Aaron Smith?
thank you! i thought i was the only one, im not even sure last year was the good, i think Read had one awesome season three or four years ago and has been riding ever since

im always surprised Aaron Smith hasn't won one of these, a huge amount of the AB's attacking play has been sparked by him in the last decade

The Pocock call is a good one, something to be said for playing as well as he has in a team that has struggled

if we were talking 2005-2015 it would be pretty quickly down to DC or Richie...this is a lot harder but read (overrated), brodie (too many injuries), Richie/DC (played better in the previous decade) are out
 
Totally depends on your definition of great and whether you look at during the decade or over the whole course of the decade etc.

How about Michael Leitch? Career spans the whole decade, he captained Japan to possibly the best ever RWC result v the Boks in Brighton and was inspirational for them in their home RWC.
 
Mcaw for me .Alot of players i like not even on here (Vermulan,Alan Wyn Jones,Kaino,Nonu,).
 
Just have 'last ten years' and do it every year?

I think brodies form slipped only in the last two years. And I've been very critical of him. But that still leaves 7 years of pretty darn awesomeness.

Read for me for most of his career has been criminally overrated. Last year was his best year for the all blacks by far, the four or five previous years were not that good. That included bad errors, defensively and bad passes, at critical times in games causing us to lose. Vermeulen was better last decade.

Mcaw pretty great, but mostly as a captain at the end of his career.

Psdt didn't play enough in the decade.

Carter, nah. What about others who retired at the same time? Nonu and Smith, they were better than Carter last decade.

Sexton, my memory fails me there. I can remember times when he was great and when he was awful but I don't have a sense if what the average looked like. Don't want to base it on a few bad performances just because that is what's in my memory, but nor do I want to assume it was only a few if I can't really remember. My sense is he was reasonably consistent so I think he's close, but not the safe bet

So out of those available, I'll go with retallick.

Actually what about Ben Smith, or Aaron Smith?
To me when Julian Savea bumped off Read and injured him in super rugby he wasnt the same after that lost that x factor that made him special.
 

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