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Since the start of the 2000's what about Neil Doak??UlsterNo9 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:48 pm Lets address the elephant in the room, since the turn of rugby to professionalism we have produced one Ulster born scrum half in Paul Marshall that has held down any length of game time.
Even with no academy in place we should have had more than that in the last twenty years.
I did think of him Bart but Doak was not an academy product, he made his debut for Ulster in 1995, the same year rugby became professional in Ireland, there was no academy then.Bart S wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 11:35 pmSince the start of the 2000's what about Neil Doak??UlsterNo9 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:48 pm Lets address the elephant in the room, since the turn of rugby to professionalism we have produced one Ulster born scrum half in Paul Marshall that has held down any length of game time.
Even with no academy in place we should have had more than that in the last twenty years.
But regardless, i get your point that the production has been woeful.
I'm happy to stand by the comment regarding Finlay, he will end up playing for Jersey in 3 years. I hope i'm wrong by the way.Columbo wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 3:19 pmI don't think that's quite fair on Finlay - he has looked very good at U-20 level, and these days U-20 is a consistently high standard, and while it's not unheard of for a player to go nowhere after shining at U-20, it has recently tended to be a very good indicator of a good future. I haven't seen quite enough of him just yet, but I think he's been very impressive so far. As for being behind ROD, it's not really surprising given that back then he would have been what 18? And ROD with a couple of seasons under his belt - I know you are a big ROD fan, and I am too up to a point, but I have to say that while I've often been impressed by him at Hinch, I'm not sure he has stood out so much that it's obvious to me he should be in the Ulster squad..kingofthehill wrote: ↑Tue Feb 25, 2020 9:07 pmHe’s a decent AIL player.launish116 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:24 pm Am i missing something Re. Lewis Finlay?
He has been very very good for Ireland U20s
As I have said many times before they made a mistake when they choose Stewart over O’Donnell.
Finlay was at Hinch last year and couldn’t get near the 1s because ROD was there. Hence why he left to go to Malone.
They will now throw all the eggs in Doak’s basket but to be fair, he’s a cracker!
I do think he's better than Stewart though - Stewart played for the 20s for a couple of years, but a relatively weak team, and didn't really stand out, in fact what I remember most is his kicks continually being charged down!
And was not especially good when he played with them.UlsterNo9 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 2:31 pmShanahan didn't, but Stewart did he was involved with U20 for two years.therealspratt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 1:25 pmThough in Shanahan and Stewart we have players who didn't even deliver at that level.Snipe Watson wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 12:14 amThere is a vast chasm between U20 standard of play and the professional game.launish116 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:24 pm Am i missing something Re. Lewis Finlay?
He has been very very good for Ireland U20s
You are definitely wrong.therealspratt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 5:13 pm I'm not especially fussed on Doak yet from what I've seen of him. In my mind he's another Conor Young, but I hope I'm wrong.
Watching a different player from myself, Doak stands out among his peers like a sore thumb.therealspratt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 5:13 pm I'm not especially fussed on Doak yet from what I've seen of him. In my mind he's another Conor Young, but I hope I'm wrong.
The day of that kinda scrum half was drawing to a close around 15 years ago!
Speaking of which, I guess most people have seen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50785122 .
I feel this would hold more water had any of the small scrumhalves Ulster brought into their system actually been any good. The truth is that our scrumhalves haven't been too small, they've just not been any good. Either the talent hasn't been there or the academy hasn't been able to identify it, and I lean towards the latter.Amiga500 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:51 pmThe day of that kinda scrum half was drawing to a close around 15 years ago!
Unfortunately we've persisted with them till now. They need to be 80kgs plus these days otherwise they are a non-entity in defence - regardless of bravery.
Unfortunate, but another casualty to the freaky size of professional players I guess.