Transition to Halfback.

[Hulk Hogan]

Well, next season I'm moving from wing to Halfback, as I will be moving to open grade from Under 19's, my rugby career so far I have played games at Hooker, Second Row, Flanker, Halfback, fly half, Wing, Center and full back.

Halfback is the position I will try and make permanent this year, I played one game there at the start of the season and it was a success so I'm going to focus on it.

What are the main skills I need to develop other than passing as my passing is already up to scratch.

 

[Native]

Some important attributes for the halfback are explosive speed, being able to sprint out from behind the scrum or ruck.
Try to focus on not being one paced, e.g. dont run the same speed from ruck to ruck, instead of being one paced the whole game, sprint to each ruck, deliver your pass and continue
Box kicking off of both feet, good core strength for when the opposition try to contest at ruck time, having a really strong core helps for having a strong base
Hope it helps

 

[ranger]

I definitely wouldn't stop practicing my passing if i were you. There are very few players even at Super 14/international level who can consistently deliver quick, accurate passes straight off the deck without crabbing any steps.

One of the most important things you have to work on after that is stamina. Obviously you have to have the lungs to make every ruck, but something alot of guys miss out on is muscular endurance. Its actually very taxing throwing quick passes all game, and i can tell you as an openside flanker that the best time to slaughter a first five is in the last 20 minutes. 80% of halfbacks i come across start feeling their muscles burning at that stage and begin throwing slower and less accurate passes, effectively turning their 10s into free hit targets.

Following on from that, a good way to make yourself invaluable is to work on your defensive game. Alot of halfbacks overlook defense but they are actually in a great position to make a lot of turnovers. They generally don't have anyone to mark very closely, (maybe they have to check the blindside at scrumtime but after that they pretty much have a free licence.) that frees them up to lineup easy shots and pilfers on the inside shoulders of the backline. So getting into the gym and working your legs and back like a flanker is a great idea for this

Apart from that peripheral vision and general game sense is huge. Playing as a winger you probably know the feeling of rage when you have a clear mismatch and the halfback throws it the wrong way. A good halfback will always instinctively spot a lazy guard-dog too, so maybe getting into some touch or league in the off season would be a good idea, even paying the point in a basketball team will help your peripheral vision and open player spotting.