Semi and Maiko, they made their mark at Parra and we were thrilled.
Semi came up from our juniors and to me at least, was unheralded. But not for long as his talent shone from day one.
He scored try after try and displayed a footy brain not often seen before in a winger. He never seemed under pressure and always made the right decision in drawing and passing or going for it. I can still see him bringing the ball out of our red zone in all his majesty
But he was always homesick and chased the big money elsewhere and boy did we miss him.
Afterwood we took a chance and signed Maiko who soon was honoured and was given the Maiko chant for scoring in the corner! But he soon started to come out of the line in defence, mostly missing his man and a try ensued. Sometimes he was forced into this decision by our defence being caught short on his side, but still it was noted by other teams and they made sure they spun the ball out to his side at the end of the tackle count and scored multiple times. BA made note but made allowances because of his scoring record.Then Maiko displayed a lack of grunt and desire in bringing the ball off his line and the writing was on the wall. The're gone now, no longer in our colours, but christ they were excitement machines.
We have a young winger currently in Ball who, could, possibly one day achieve this level
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I still think Semi is the best winger I've ever seen. He was the perfect mix of speed, power, and footy instincts, some of the stuff he pulled off was insane.
There's never been a more influential winger, the best I've seen too
Tell you what there's some talent running round outside back wise in Super Rugby right now that I think would be great league converts Leroy Carter Caleb Tungitau Leicester Fa'iangunuku Kyren Taumoefolau Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens all these guys pretty much have pacific island or Maori backgrounds all of them are very quick.
Good scouting Coryn, wouldn't you hope the club could be pro-active, just once, and go see these blokes in action
They'd have to wait till after the RWC but there's plenty there waiting to be plucked.
The key here is all of those mentioned guys came through the NZ rugby 7s program.
Much like the Fijian crew Semi Radradra and alike all play rugby 7s that's the common denominator that's an Avenue we should be scouting for outside backs.
https://youtu.be/b88Ed7dOnrU?si=srX9vSgFft8auytt
This kid reminds me of an Israel Folau Joseph Su'ali type with more speed.Very similar body type.
https://youtu.be/DY1AnSC_Ak0?si=Y7uMjG-oFpLEf4Wa
This is Caleb Tangitau at 16 yrs of age playing rugby 7s he was a stand out then and his progression through the rugby ranks has been rapid.He's now knocking on the door of an AB debut.
This is Caleb Tangitau last week.
https://youtu.be/qiVvEHZa6kM?si=RcWpZZ3yMRaB4hyK
https://youtube.com/shorts/2EiHGcoKK-Q?si=VTr4kdu-DXzB8_Le
https://youtube.com/shorts/TRFltoqKo3A?si=qtFeHRTI2Rpm7zZj
This cat here is just like butter smooth skills to burn great acceleration and to come back from a near career ending neck injury has shown great character and resilience.
I think he'd be a good fullback or centre in rugby league reminds me a little of Ken Nagas and Will Kennedy in how he moves.
Other then Guru Snr our best winger was Semi ...a real shame he couldnt stay in the game longer but I guess he was just too good
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