[TRF World XV] Blindside Flanker - Nominations

[iINDOMINUSxx]

i know i'll mess it up so before i start a poll i would like some players who you would think should be in the poll for me so far i think:

Dan Lydiate
Stephen Ferris
Tom Wood
Scott Fardy
Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe

who else ?

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Liam Messam, Peter O'Mahoney, Steven Luatua, Willem Alberts, Shalk Burger, Jerome Kaino.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Willem Alberts should be a real contender.. possibly along with Lobbe the one to beat even; no finesse but brutally effective at getting momentum, comitting tacklers and stopping opposition momentum with jarring tackles and is very hard to stop close to the try line. Jerome Kaino, Schalk Burger and Juan Smith havn't been playing test rugby for a very long time. Same goes for Ferris to a lesser extent? I see Sean O'Brien as just as much a blindside as an openside (playing style if not the actual number on his back) so if he doesn't make it there (seems he might sneak past McCaw) maybe consider him here? Lydiate is also a good shout.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Ferris, Wood, O'Mahoney, Alberts, Zanni, Messam, Higginbotham, Nyanga and if fit Croft

 

[j'nuh]

No one from the northern hemisphere. (Maybe a fit Ferris would be in there.)

 

[Big Ewis]

Lydiate is also a good shout.

not anymore. He had a SHOCKER in Twickenham last Feb. and hasn't looked all that good lately.
Honestly, I'll admit I get confused with Blindside and Openside, it's hard to keep track of who plays what, some guys will change their club number when they play test Rugby, some guys really play OS but wear BS all the time...I just go by flanker.

But from what I do know, Nyanga, POM, Messam and Ferris should def. get a chance here, and if Alberts is to be considered one here then him too for sure.

 

[Draggs]

not anymore. He had a SHOCKER in Twickenham last Feb. and hasn't looked all that good lately.
Honestly, I'll admit I get confused with Blindside and Openside, it's hard to keep track of who plays what, some guys will change their club number when they play test Rugby, some guys really play OS but wear BS all the time...I just go by flanker.

But from what I do know, Nyanga, POM, Messam and Ferris should def. get a chance here, and if Alberts is to be considered one here then him too for sure.

Harsh. Top Welsh tackler that game, by no means the worst on the field that day. I'd say his issues stem from lack of time at RM92 at the moment. A move to a different club could be beneficial.
Alberts is a blindside, Coetzee/Daniel plays openside for Sharks.

 

[Darwin]

not anymore. He had a SHOCKER in Twickenham last Feb. and hasn't looked all that good lately.
Honestly, I'll admit I get confused with Blindside and Openside, it's hard to keep track of who plays what, some guys will change their club number when they play test Rugby, some guys really play OS but wear BS all the time...I just go by flanker.

But from what I do know, Nyanga, POM, Messam and Ferris should def. get a chance here, and if Alberts is to be considered one here then him too for sure.

In some countries there is no real difference in the roles of a blindside and oprnside flanker so describing them simply as flankers is fine. However in places like NZ and Australia there is a massive difference between the two roles. In both places the blindside flanker has far more in common with the number 8 than the openside flanker. There are exceptions, but most NZ/Australian loose-forwards are either specialist 7s, or play both at 6 and 8.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

not anymore. He had a SHOCKER in Twickenham last Feb. and hasn't looked all that good lately.
Honestly, I'll admit I get confused with Blindside and Openside, it's hard to keep track of who plays what, some guys will change their club number when they play test Rugby, some guys really play OS but wear BS all the time...I just go by flanker.

But from what I do know, Nyanga, POM, Messam and Ferris should def. get a chance here, and if Alberts is to be considered one here then him too for sure.

The way I see it is that if there is some difference to the two (there needn't be of course and this is merely preference/custom/strategy which is open to change) then your blindside will be burlier, probably taller, probably slower and more robust because the blind side has less lateral space so he needn't cover as much field whilst your open-side has more space to cover and needs to be faster or at least read play much better to make more tackles and presumably be the first at any given breakdown if he is doing his job right. So blindside will be more important in carrying the ball and making a difference in contact while your openside will make his impact felt through shear workrate or simply his effectiveness at the all-important break-down. So with that in mind they could swap sides on the scrum depending on which side of the field (left or right) is tight/narrow/blind and which is open. So the actual numbers mean nothing and its a case of playing style and/or field position.

 

[Big Ewis]

thx Darwin, good to know.
And stormer about your latest post: I know all that, but those very statements although true in theory are contradicted on the field. You see a guy who's got an OS profile but plays BS, vice versa; or plays one for club, the other for country....it's just fkn confusing, or at least in my lifestory it's always had ambiguity although I've tried to make it simple and consistent for myself but facts have never followed.

I'll keep in mind what I know about the specific roles of BS and OS, but then when talking about actual players, I'll have to go by 'flanker' most of the time..

 

[McTallshort]

Lobbe's your man

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I'd say Alberts and Lobbe are the only real options here. With Read and McCaw the other two loose forwards either could work TBH; with both Read and McCaw being multi-skilled you can argue that the 'softer skills' are covered so go for the impact of Alberts or continue the theme of 'all round play' and go Lobbe. At the end of the day though I'd go for Alberts if only because he'd bring something different to teh table and the others could play off of him.

If SOB comes through to sneak past McCaw then that would probably tip it towards Lobbe though to retain balance in the loose trio.

 

[Aristodemus]

I haven't seen anything of Kaino since his return, is the same player back? If so I would vote for him.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I haven't seen anything of Kaino since his return, is the same player back? If so I would vote for him.

Too early to say. He's looked good so far, but hard to make an assessment based on only a few games. He certainly isn't up to speed yet, but that doesn't mean he won't be.

 

[nzlizard]

Like Me Fish said, his first few games have been pretty good so far, for a guy who has just came back he has that great instinct.

Timing, combinations and a bit more of that super 15 hardness and I believe he will get back there.