Shane Williams - the last of an endangered rugby species?

I love Shane because he represents the last of the old amateur doctrine that rugby is a game for all sizes of players.

Well Jonah Lomu hammered the first nail into the coffin of that concept.

Li'l Shane is a still great striker albeit that he has to run more metres horizontally across the pitch than towards the whitewash these days because otherwise he'd run into a humongous Samoan or another oversized gym monkey.

Sad to see the demise of the little player.

No serious club/side would recruit a little'un in future would they?

I see your point here, Portnoy, but Shane Williams isn't the last of his kind. I think you're overstating the demise of the little player.

Also, what's a 'gum monkey?'

luckless_pedestrian wrote:I see your point here, Portnoy, but Shane Williams isn't the last of his kind. I think you're overstating the demise of the little player.

Also, what's a 'gum monkey?'

It's a Koala Lucky - up a Eucalyptus tree.

[will edit it though...]

Totally disagree with you....

Look at the likes of O'Connor, Foden, Clerc, Habana etc etc....

I even wrote the other day that Englands trial with Banahan has failed. He is only there for his size...scrap the trial and look elsewhere like Sharples, Ojo, even Wade...etc smaller quicker and more skillful players that can make things happen.

Big beefy gym monkeys.

And none of those guys are exactly diminutive.

Will Genia is only a little bit taller than him and I’m sure he’ll be a fixture in international rugby for some time.

I think there’s still room for the small lads, but maybe not as small as 5ft 7”!!

luckless_pedestrian wrote:I see your point here, Portnoy, but Shane Williams isn't the last of his kind. I think you're overstating the demise of the little player.

Also, what's a 'gum monkey?'

I think you'll find they are Portnoys "special friends"

Shane Williams highlighted that natural talent and hours of practice to hone those skills will always compensate in any enviroment or walk of life.
You only have to look at Lionel Messi.............. another little un but world class.

Size might be a bit of a factor at the very,very top end of the game but in Wales at least you've still got the likes of Lee Williams playing for a region and I think he's smaller then Shane. Not exceptional by any means but what he lacks in stature he makes up for with a rugby brain, he can be a very exciting player to watch.

We've also got Matthew Morgan coming through. Now he may not make it at international level, tis too soon to say but the talent the guy has is crazy and size doesn't seem to be an issue for him at U20's at any rate.

So no, Shane isn't the last, but there won't be many more like him. But then, there haven't been for years anyway. There's only a handful of small players, but the likes of Clerc for France seem to be doing okay

Portnoy wrote:
No serious club/side would recruit a little'un in future would they?

The Ospreys regected Leigh Halfpenny because he was 'too small' - lucky for the Blues really...

bit harsh

I think the game moves in cycles Portnoy. Lomu created a trend for big powerful wingers for sure. However after a while defences adapted and became harder to breakdown with just size and power.

Then Jason Robinson and Shane Williams came a long and used their quick feet and acceleration to unlock tight defences.

Williams just seems to have lost a bit of pace but I think the Williams of 3 seasons ago would still be very effective today. His acceleration and footballing skill scared the life out of defences and he drew defenders to him like a moth to a light, which created gaps for his team mates. To an extent this is still the case and you can see this against SA. He's just not getting the breaks he did before.

Williams and Robinson were exceptions to the rule but I think if a player is good enough, he's big enough.

Williams. Well he's got about 2" on me at 5'7".

But there again I just played hooker at about 9 1/2 stone in the very lowest ends of rugby.

We once played Wasps 4/5th side on a precursor to their European Easter tour here in Felixstowe in about '83. Their backs were bigger than our forwards.

Still you only play at the level you capable of.

Kyle Eastond the rugby league convert moving to Bath is a similar size to jason Robisnon. having seen what he has done in league I think he could be the next Jason Robinson for England and will be a world class player and a similar size to Shane and Jason.

Yeah Eastmond looks special....but what position have they decided to play him at.

Ive heard everything from SH to FB....

Well, there's still Lee Mears...

More seriously, Rob Burrow does more than OK for Leeds RL side, and he's as short as Shane and a bit lighter but playing in a game that is probably even more populated by big beefy gum monkeys

There's still some room in the game for players who are quick and light on their feet. Even someone Bananaman's size and pace isn't going to run through / over many international defences, so pick someone who can run round and evade the tightest defences - again, something that happens in RL, with wingers and full backs often taking the ball up on first and second tackles from defensive positions to try and get a mismatch against a bigger and slower forward.

Matthew Morgan the Ospreys second choice outside half is absolutly tiny but has a bag of tricks and a turn of pace that hopefully will see Biggar relegates to the all whites.

TycroesOsprey wrote:Matthew Morgan the Ospreys second choice outside half is absolutly tiny but has a bag of tricks and a turn of pace that hopefully will see Biggar relegates to the all whites.

I noticed as well that they dont pass to him that much, or atleast they didnt in the last game he came on.

Shane Williams. Wales and Lions 5 ft 7 brilliant player.
Derwyn Jones. Wales 6 ft 10 useless.

Gio Aplon does more than alright for SA, Christian Wade is doing pretty damn well in the AP (joint top try scorer), and the smallest of the lot Marc Andreu is first choice wing for top of the French league Castres (plus 2 tries in 3 starts so far in his international career).

It'll be interesting to see how the even smaller Kyle Eastmond does when he arrives at Bath.

If wade can develop his defence I can see him in a senior England shirt in the future. Paul diggin is a little fella and he does pretty well for himself aswell.

I can see your point though, there does seem to be less small uns playing international rugby than in the past

There are not less smaller players taking up rugby it's just that these days they are professionals with professional coaching staff.
This is what the players do for a living they get paid for spending a lot of time in the gym.
Players are bigger because they have far more time to train these days.

People who are dedicated and talented will always make it to the top, smaller players can and will be world stars provided they work as hard on their weaknesses as well as their strengths.

Look at Matthew Morgan at the Ospreys, he is small but he is being given oppertunities.

Cymroglan wrote:Shane Williams. Wales and Lions 5 ft 7 brilliant player.
Derwyn Jones. Wales 6 ft 10 useless.

A good point well made sir

matthew morgan, halfpenny, medard, clerc are all small players but now it seems that all players are 6ft+ i mean the welsh team apart from shane, halfpenny and lloyd williams are 6ft+

Cymroglan wrote:Shane Williams. Wales and Lions 5 ft 7 brilliant player.
Derwyn Jones. Wales 6 ft 10 useless.

What an unkind thing to say about Derwyn!
I remember him quite clearly using his face to clean Kobus Wiese's knuckles during the 90's, useless... HA! your memory is terrible!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0gDO0txxvQ

Appears to have punched him in the left ankle....