The record books will show the Wallabies
clean-sweeped the French, their emphatic 39-13 third Test victory on the
weekend being the national team’s seventh win on the trot – the first time this
has happened since 1999-2000. Not that anyone will care about any of that years
from now. They’ll only look at the official record to check out when one Will
Skelton, all 140kg and 203cm of him, made his international debut. The less
formal public records, Facebook and Twitter, will simply say OMG! Let there be
no doubt, Skelton’s arrival was nothing short of a seismic incident; a
Godzilla-like emergence of a New Zealand born 22-year-old of monstrous
physique, toothy grin, and quite unexpectedly, a pianist’s soft touch. Oh my
God indeed.
Applause to Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie
for selecting Skelton at lock. This column expressed caution about sending the
youngster out to face the French pack. How wrong can one be? It was the French
who needed protection in the end. Skelton skittled them in groups of two and
three, the French flying this way and that like blue-topped bowling pins. Rugby
has plenty of forwards who can shift pianos, but rarely do you find one who can
also play. Skelton’s ridiculous talents border on the comical. He even laughs
to himself when pulling off audacious plays, like when he took a spell from
beating up Frenchmen and laid on the sweetest of short passes to send Israel
Folau clean through for a gem of a try. Skelton was grinning ear to ear the
moment the ball left his fingers.
The scariest thing about Skelton is that
he’s barely scratched the surface of his potential. He was utterly spent when
subbed in the 52nd minute. Imagine what he could do when conditioned to play 60
or 70 minutes, if not the full 80? It’s a spine-chilling thought for future
opposition at next year’s World Cup. And despite his weekend’s heroics, Skelton
won’t truly arrive on the global scene unless he performs at that tournament
with the whole world watching. Like Jonah Lomu in 1995, a big tournament could
see Skelton’s fame catapulted into the stratosphere.
But Lomu’s fame came well before the social
media boom. Skelton, on the other hand, at just 22, bum-fluff passing as a
goatee and a disarming smile, could be rugby’s first social media global
superstar (Quade
Cooper in lime green speedos fell well short in the end). The world loves
athletes with unusual physical gifts, even armwrestlers like Germany’s
Matthias ‘Hellboy’ Schlitte who has a rare genetic condition making his right
forearm almost three times bigger that his left. A powertools company recently
signed up Schlitte to front
a new campaign to flog is its wares, including in Australia through
Bunnings. Who’s to say Skelton couldn’t get that gig. Schlitte’s campaign is
called “unexpected powerâ€. Skelton’s would need tweaking though, perhaps “totally
expected powerâ€.
Skelton will be getting plenty of high
fives this week. The media love him right now. He can do no wrong. Being humble
doesn’t look like being an issue for Skelton given his Pacific Island
background. However, one hopes he’s clued up – and he comes across as exceptionally
bright in interviews – to position himself in a way that maximises his earning
potential, especially for next year’s World Cup and beyond. It’s a fact
Australian players are underpaid by global standards. Most accept the situation
because they know the Australian Rugby Union is doing it tough. Other players rightfully
want to get paid what they’re worth and have opted not to remain playing in
Australia (and, yes, there’s a distinction between deciding not to stay in
Australia, and deciding to go overseas). There has been a compromise of sorts
between the remaining talent and management to pay for less than market value
until the governing body’s financial situation improves. However, it’s a
fragile arrangement straddled across the finest of lines in the employee/employer
relationship – and it’s one Australian Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver has perhaps
overstepped.
Pulver’s decision to shoot down the
prospect of lucrative out-of-season sabbaticals for the game’s marquee players
is ill-judged on a number of levels, including that the player who first raised
the issue, Israel Folau, is the one man the Wallabies cannot afford to lose.
Former Wallabies hooker Brendan Cannon has already made
some very valid observations on Pulver’s curious position. Skelton needs to
take note. He’s on the edge of something special as a player and has yet to sign a top-up deal with the ARU. It’s his time. Humility
is fine. He’s got that covered. But repeated displays of gratitude? Absolutely
- the Wallabies are very lucky to have Skelton playing for them. In fact, they
should forever thank him for not signing for the All Blacks who chased him hard
to return to ‘home’. Thank you Will. Always. Now, it’s time to get a good
agent. Sonny Bill Williams’s agent, Khoder Nasser, is the go to guy. He landed
SBW a global ambassador role for Adidas. Come the 2019 World Cup in Japan,
Skelton could literally and metaphorically be the biggest player in world
rugby.
Talking points
• From one star to another, although this
one does his finest work in the shadows. Blindside Scott Fardy is the pick for
player of the series against the French. There’s plenty of competition for that
gong, Michael Hooper, Israel Folau, and Matt Toomua to name just a few. But
Fardy shades them all for consistent excellence in dark places across all three
Tests. The Wallabies are a far lesser team without him.
• The
NZ Herald’s Dylan Cleaver has put together a revealing infographic charting the
birthplace of All Blacks past and present. It shatters the myth about NZ
pillaging South Pacific island nations for its talent. Of the 1,133 players to
have donned the famous black strip, just 32 were born in the islands.
•
Super Rugby returns this weekend, and it’s a frantic three rounds until
the play-offs. In fact, it’s pretty much essential viewing from here on out
with finalists unlikely to be known until the last match of the final round on 12
July. This weekend’s must-watch games are the Hurricanes v Crusaders, and
Waratahs v Brumbies. The Tahs will all but seal top spot and a home semi-final
with a win. Test match quality is assured.
Wallabies" Will Skelton could become rugby"s biggest star
No comments:
Post a Comment