As we all watch a new footy season take shape, it’s always a bonus to see the rise of previously ‘unknown’ players – unknown to most of us that is.
Jack Bird has wowed everyone watching him kick start his NRL career at Cronulla. His story is a great one of dealing with personal health issues.
Waqa Blake made his debut for Panthers, another to look the part in his Penrith jersey for that club giving plenty of talented kids a crack in the past season or so.
At Melbourne Feliise Kaufusi, a very strong looking forward, has already shown great confidence in his passing and offloading skills. Euan Aiken has played left centre for Dragons in their three wins on the bounce – what a great way to start an NRL career.
Pat Richards, along with Jamie Lyon and Luke Burt, were among the many stars for Parramatta junior representative teams back in my days as head coach at the blue and golds. They were super talents as were Anthony Mundine, Nathan Brown and Gorden Tallis at St George a decade earlier.
Read more from Brian Smith at SmithySpeaks
More recently at the Roosters it’s been Jake Friend, Dylan Napa and Roger Tuivasa Sheck. It’s always been going on, development of talent to pro.
Some of these guys slip straight into NRL and make it look easy, but not many. Nearly all of them will tell you how difficult it was at the time and how much harder they had to work at improving their game after they had “made it to the big time”.
That’s the story of Tautau Moga, another to catch my eye playing centre for North Queensland. He is not a newbie this season nor has he had a whirlwind beginning, despite his tremendous talent and incredible physique.
As an SG Ball player for the Roosters a few seasons back, Tau absolutely dominated that whole competition in a way I have not very often seen. Scoring length of the field tries was almost too easy for him.
But it wasn’t the same as he progressed to an NRL opportunity.
Every player has a story. Some we hear about, and don’t we all love the winning one? The one almost made for a movie when everything goes right for the kid made for this elite level.
Tautau’s story has personal triumph aspects to it as well after appearing at first to fail at NRL footy. But that’s for him to tell or not.
The message from his achievement in re-making this opportunity for himself is one not often written as it’s not so romantic or exciting. This one is about the kid with all that talent and size who had to go away and work hard or miss out.
I would suggest facing that prospect of failure was not something this huge young man had to do until he hit the wall that NRL demands every player must climb and conquer at some stage for differing reasons.
Everyone faces it, but it seems so cruel a challenge when it comes when so young. “A waste”, people called it when he didn’t measure up initially.
Playing tough, upping his involvement, accepting how difficult it is in NRL footy to break a tackle let alone make a break and score a try is all part of the confidence battle of the on-field type. Feeling like you have let people down by not living up to everyone’s expectation is the accumulated personal pressure pile to deal with off the paddock.
Often it’s too much, especially if injury is involved, or lack of support. Re-shaping talent into what works in NRL demands thousands of repetitions, a much stronger body and an even tougher mind.
I dislike that too many people in our coaching and recruitment systems don’t recognise how often this occurs. For every one of those who seemingly cruise into top flight footy, there are 10 who don’t. Those 10 all have to learn how to play right centre overnight because if that’s the only place available in your club and you have only ever played left centre at junior rep level.
It’s a whole new position to learn, an opportunity with so little preparation. Only a small group of players in the NRL get to make their debut in their favoured position.
If junior footy is so easy for a top young kid, it’s the job of the coaches among us to find ways to challenge him so that he meets these kinds of hurdles early on and becomes accustomed to finding ways of solving difficult problems. Playing a new position or on a different side of the field are just simple but often overlooked methods of continuing the development process.
Whatever it’s been for Tau, I have really enjoyed his performances of a steady but effective kind in a Cowboys shirt recently. I can’t wait to see how far further up that performance ladder he can climb.
He represents the majority of young guys out there looking for that opportunity, perhaps still working out how to make it happen. There are so many out there with stories like Tautau Moga.
I hope our sport continually improves the ways we assist them in getting where they want to get to. We still miss too many.
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Just reading that, the part that sticks out is that at some stage of a young player's career, they are going to be tested by the NRL. Whether it's playing out of position, an injury or simply acclimatising to the week in week out work of the NRL.
I think we may be seeing young Tepai being tested at the moment. He hasn't seemed himself really since round one.
It doesn't matter how good you are at a junior level, once you hit the NRL it's a whole different ball game.
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Tep should be allowed to step back and regroup.
I don't know if it is injury, but I suspect it does have a lot to do with his recent form.
Seeing Tep leave the field in every game he has played this year, because he can NOT go on, to me this indicates our current coach is on the verge of destroying a unique talent.
I'm going to piggy-back on this one Sir Col and I totally agree with you that Tep should be allowed to step back and regroup. I am seeing the same thing as you, he is very talented and continue playing with this injury could destroy a promising career. I have read a lot of your blogs concerning the young man and I do believe that you know what you see and you are genuinely concern for Tep. Talents are rear to come by and an opportunity to develop and mold one such as Tep could be lost by situation out of his control, ie making up the team due to other team injuries.
I would hate for Tep to go under the knife so early in his career but would rather see a rehabilitation approach with bulk strength work on his shoulder area. Another change I would make if I were coach is getting Tep to work on speed work for the rest of the year combined with strength and conditioning. I do believe Tep is a genuine Center. It is that developing and molding piece that I spoke of earlier that would shape the talent a player has to fit a role in NRL. Tep has size, skills and ability to fit a Center mold but is easily seen as a second rower.
Great blog Sir SuperEel
Bug - we have discussed this previously and although the injury MAY not get any worse we are talking about a 19 y o back woods kids.
I don't say that in a derogative sense - ho is NOT from the big smoke.
Now extreme / serious continual pain is a soul destroying thing and ONLY the person suffering knows what they are going through.
PAIN is an invisible disease or condition.
Add to this, the fact that young Tep is FORCED to come from the field because it is way beyond him to continue with this pain and you have the PERFECT recipe for a career ending "minor" injury.
He will ultimately fail MENTALLY and tend to hold back his best because he knows it is going to hurt big time.
All well and good for those NOT suffering pain to tell him to suck it up - THEY are his biggest enemies and the ones hell bent on destroying him because "they are tough".
Until you KNOW what it is like to live with and suffer severe chronic pain then you or anyone else is in NO position to say what is good and what is bad for Tep.
We are NOT talking about Tep only getting stabs of pain every time he contacts another player - that pain would be there, to varying degrees, 24/7.
Brian Smith is clearly stating here, the biggest hurdle these young blokes have in playing FG is overcoming their MENTAL hurdles.
I will say as far as I can see BA is a feckwit of the lowest order, and not a coaches butt hole, for NOT realising that he is potentially destroying Tep's future.
Then some know-it-all will come along and say - "Second year syndrome" and by the end of his 3rd year he will be punted altogether.
Sir Col I raised this last year and again twice this year. It is not right to put a 19 year old in 1st grade pack. But to put him in the pack against the Warriors when he was carrying three injuries--shoulder,nerve and infected leg --was reprehensible. He was useless in that game. I did not watch the West Tigers game but I asked anyone who did to report on Tep`s performance. I got no reply.I take that to mean he was not noticed by lack of involvement. If he is not adding to the team why select him? If he has now a mental problem, stand him down for 2015 and get him proper treatment. David Gower should replace TM in the starting side. He started against Souths and was my co MOM. He was put back on the bench after the Souths game--WHY?--and see how well we have gone since.
Ha 'back woods'???
He comes from SEVEN HILLS, you know.. 3 suburbs away from Parra
I know Seven Hills well = Backwardest of the back woods - unless you come from Bangstown or Punchbowl.
However, I am NOT aware of a Seven Hills in the COOK ISLANDS.
But he has lived in Aus since he was 5 years old
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