One season wonders

by InjuredYetAgain Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:46 pm

I just started another thread about Johnnie Beattie getting dropped from the Scotland squad and reckon that he is living off his reputation from a couple of seasons ago. I genuinely wonder if he will be a one-season wonder.
But who else flourished for a year (or two at the most) and then returned to mediocrity?
The most spectacular fall from grace that I can think of is TOL for the Irish. He was (understandably) the next great thing then he gets dropped to the bench and now he is not going to the WC either. I have seen Irish posters argue that he had a limited game plan whihc suited tactics at that time but nonetheless, he did fall away quickly.
Sheridan - destroyed an admittedly horrible Aussie front row but hasn't ever reporduced that form although he has been injured a lot.
Scotland also had Tom Phillip who got a few caps in the centre, was built like Robocop but then bits starting falling off him quicker than Michael Jackson standing in front of a fire.
Any others you can think of?

by Mr Fishpaste Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:52 pm

Ashwin Willemse, Bok wing of a couple of years back. Peaked with one sublime season then suffered a career ending injury.

by mrsuperclear Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:58 pm

To be fair to TOL, he won the Heineken cup with Munster in 2008 and then went on to win the grand slam and get selected for the Lions in 2009, so you have to say he is, at the very least, a two season wonder (if there is such a thing).

I'm struggling to think of anyone to be honest. Perhaps I'm too tired...Rocky Elsom was unbelievable in 2009 and has subsequently failed to reach that level. He was very good before 09 too though in fairness. I'm sure there's an obvious Irish player staring me in the face but I can't think of him if he is....

by InjuredYetAgain Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:02 pm

MrsSC - I wasn't decrying TOL at all but his honours list just highlights, perhaps, how far he has fallen?
Mr F - I thought I had seen his name on a Currie Cup match last season but I must be mistaken. To be honest, though, with PdV's team selections rivalling those of Lievremont, you never know if a player is irrationally out of favour or even died if he isn't playing

by Irish Curry Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:05 pm

Luck fitz for Ireland could be put in that bracket but hopefully will prove me wrong this year... not likely though Rolling Eyes

by mrsuperclear Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:10 pm

InjuredYetAgain wrote:MrsSC - I wasn't decrying TOL at all but his honours list just highlights, perhaps, how far he has fallen?
Mr F - I thought I had seen his name on a Currie Cup match last season but I must be mistaken. To be honest, though, with PdV's team selections rivalling those of Lievremont, you never know if a player is irrationally out of favour or even died if he isn't playing

Absolutely agree. I was just being pedantic on the "one season wonder" as opposed to two Sorry

You're right though, he's gone from starting Ireland's grand slam decider two years ago and being selected for the Lions to being behind Conor Murray (maybe stringer now as well, we'll see soon) at Munster and Boss, Reddan and Murray for Ireland. It's a very steep fall. I hope he picks himself up and helps Munster in the games during the world cup and proves Deccie wrong. Honestly though I'm not confident. He hasn't played well in a long time and, unlike Fitzgerald (another good shout for two season wonderkid), he hasn't really looked like he's been improving at all. He'll get his chances to prove everyone wrong in the next few weeks and months though and I hope he does.

by Coleman Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:18 pm

Gareth Williams the hooker at the Blues? Was great for us a couple of seasons back, got his chance with Wales, was a very good year for him. Now he just seems to look second rate.

by InjuredYetAgain Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:19 pm

A pedant, eh? If I was a football fan I would start chanting "Are you GreyGhost in disgiuse?" but I'll rise above that.
No doubt the voice of reason himself will appear soon anyway.
For Fitzgerald, what has happened - has he taken his foot off the accelerator, have the opposition sussed his strengths and weaknesses, does he think he is Mr Big now and has an attititude or what? It is a shame becuase he was/is an excellent player.

by mrsuperclear Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:40 pm

Dear god man, I've been called a lot of nasty things in my life but "GreyGhost in disguise"? That's one hell of a slap in the face.

I don't know what has gone wrong with Fitzgerald. I think he was over-rated a few years back but without question his defence has always been, and still is, immense. Outside of that I think it's probably been a mixture of what you said. He got badly injured in autumn 2009 and hasn't really been the same since. Then he got a much less serious injury in autumn 2010 that, although not as serious, severely impacted on his confidence. Then he came back for Leinster and had a few shockers and somehow that form landed him at full back for Ireland in the six nations in 2011 in Kearney and Murphy's absence. Full back is a bad position to be playing in when you're low on form and confidence as you can be exposed in a bad way and he was, and then he was dropped for Earls in the final six nations game. I think he just forced it too much in those six nations game and just wasn't confident in his ability and in himself. He seemed to improve a bit at the end of the season but then in the warm up game away to France two weeks ago he made another couple of howlers. He's just become an absolute liability and has been very lucky to be given as many chances as he has been.

As I said though, I'd be much more confidence that Fitzgerald will come back into some sort of form when comparing him with Tómas O'Leary's chances. He was improving slowly and I'd back him to do a Tommy Bowe if you like and go from being dropped for the world cup to being a class player again (maybe not as good as Bowe though).

by Thomond Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:48 pm

I think Ireland may have rushed some of these guys back to quickly. TOL,Fitz, and Kearney have struggled to regain form after long periods out. Were they fully recovered?

by jb1973 Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:56 pm

andy powell great start to test match rugby now !!
michael owen key man in 2005 gs then rubbish

by Imperialbigdave Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:01 pm

to be fair Tom Phillip's career was ended before it even began due to that back problem hed had since he was a teenager. It wasnt that his form dropped, so I think its a bit harsh to call him a one season wonder.

by Irish Curry Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:02 pm

Kearney has played fairly so far though the other two didn't, I argee with mrsuperclear on Fitz though and I would love to see that happen. He needs to settle in one position though and that will be the hard bit. TOL had the same problem before he pick scrum half (might need to rethink that though)

by jb1973 Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:04 pm

riki flutey hasn't done much since that good debut season for england has he?

by Imperialbigdave Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:12 pm

jb1973 wrote:riki flutey hasn't done much since that good debut season for england has he?

spot on, cant believe i forgot about Flutey.

by Guest Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:21 pm

Cipriani.
Vainikolo.
Chris Ashton.
Matthew Tait "actually did he ever have a good SEASON?"
Shane Geraghty.
James Simpson Daniel.
Matt Banahan.
Lee Mears.
Ugo Monye.
Delon Armitage.
Tom Rees.
Tom Croft.
Dan Cole.
Courtney Lawes.
Riki Flutey.
Hape.
To name a few

by PerryGee Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:46 am

I'd have to say Delon Armitage. He took his chance when Abendanon became injured and had a great season. I personally think that he was very unlucky not to make the Lions, but his ascent did coincide with Ireland's Kearney and Wales' Lee Byrne who were both playing well. Armitage then had a few injuries and disciplinary issues and was subsequently ousted by Foden. I am still in two minds about Armitage but on his day he can be very good and this World Cup may be the making or breaking of him.

by nganboy Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:15 am

Hosea Gear was "the best winger in the world" in November. Now he's not in the top 3/4 in NZ

by dummy_half Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:03 am

viewtothegym wrote:Cipriani. - More like a one match wonder
Vainikolo. - Should never have been picked for England
Chris Ashton. - To be seen. He's had the wonder season, now it's can he reproduce it?
Matthew Tait "actually did he ever have a good SEASON?" - So messed around by the selectors that it's hard to say
Shane Geraghty. - Never more than a peripheral squad player
James Simpson Daniel. - We'll never know. Every time he's named for England, something breaks.
Matt Banahan. - See Vainikolo
Lee Mears. - Did reasonably OK considering his size (RWC finalist and British Lion)
Ugo Monye. - Will give you that one, although Johnno has to take some responsibility for picking him at FB for that match.
Delon Armitage. - Would have given that as well a month ago, but perhaps signs of a recovery of form
Tom Rees. - Fair enough. I doubt he'll ever be the player he promised to be
Tom Croft. - Not even close
Dan Cole. - An established starting prop at 24? Anything but a one season wonder.
Courtney Lawes. - As with Ashton, wait and see
Riki Flutey. - The ultimate OSW for England
Hape. - Surely the definition of a no season wonder?
To name a few

by Shifty Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:27 am

Dan Biggar is a recent one, he had one good break through season followed by 3 cack ones.

by ScarletSpiderman Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:38 am

Gavin Evans rose from an unkown at the Scarlets to getting capped for Wales, and being on of the next big things, to being in the regional wilderness, all in the space of one season.

by Guest Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:00 pm

Tal Selley

by formerly known as Sam Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:06 pm

Matthew Tait "actually did he ever have a good SEASON?" - So messed around by the selectors that it's hard to say

The 2011-12 AP top scorer.

Tom Croft has been playing consistently well for about 4 years. Dan Cole has had a couple of good seasons back to back and is still very young for a prop.

Shaun Perry? One half decent season which got him selected by Robinson and he somehow managed to cling onto his place in the squad long enough to make it to a RWC.

by dummy_half Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:38 pm

Sam
We've had a bit of a history of one season wonder scrum halfs since Dawson retired:
Ellis (OK, injury was the problem)
Perry
Gomershall
Care
Youngs? (hopefully not, but...)

by Great White Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:02 pm

dummy_half wrote:
viewtothegym wrote:Cipriani. - More like a one match wonder
Vainikolo. - Should never have been picked for England
Chris Ashton. - To be seen. He's had the wonder season, now it's can he reproduce it?
Matthew Tait "actually did he ever have a good SEASON?" - So messed around by the selectors that it's hard to say
Shane Geraghty. - Never more than a peripheral squad player
James Simpson Daniel. - We'll never know. Every time he's named for England, something breaks.
Matt Banahan. - See Vainikolo
Lee Mears. - Did reasonably OK considering his size (RWC finalist and British Lion)
Ugo Monye. - Will give you that one, although Johnno has to take some responsibility for picking him at FB for that match.
Delon Armitage. - Would have given that as well a month ago, but perhaps signs of a recovery of form
Tom Rees. - Fair enough. I doubt he'll ever be the player he promised to be
Tom Croft. - Not even close
Dan Cole. - An established starting prop at 24? Anything but a one season wonder.
Courtney Lawes. - As with Ashton, wait and see
Riki Flutey. - The ultimate OSW for England
Hape. - Surely the definition of a no season wonder?
To name a few

I can't believe you've stooped so low as to give the Welsh WUM a reply. I suppose he's conveniently forgotten the fact that we could class pretty much every Welsh team from 1985 to 2005 in the same vein.

by dummy_half Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:32 pm

GW
I know, I apologise. Sorry

by formerly known as Sam Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:55 pm

Sam
We've had a bit of a history of one season wonder scrum halfs since Dawson retired:
Ellis (OK, injury was the problem)
Perry
Gomershall
Care
Youngs? (hopefully not, but...).

Ellis was playing at a decent level before Dawson retired and continued to do so for years after. His England chances were blighted because of injury but his club career left him with every medal he could win at least twice in his collection.

Care has been at the same level for about 3 years, he has still got all the same strengths and weaknesses and his form is steady. Youngs suffered from some second season syndrome last season but that seemed to have a lot to do with fatigue. We'll have to see how he recovers.

by Guest Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:09 pm

So im a wind up because you don't like/agree with my list Erm

Come throw some debate in and at least counter act my list my examples on why im wrong.

Or is it just easy to call the Welsh man and windup when he is right?

by Great White Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:13 pm

Can you say that in English please?

by Guest Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:24 pm

So one typo "my list my* examples" should read my list of examples.

So point out on the list who im wrong about or just accept im right.

by Great White Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:26 pm

Why should I? WUM.

by **RDW** Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:51 pm

The clear one that springs to my mind is Rauridh Jackson - although he didn't really have a good season, just I good game against Bath like 4 years ago!

Still yet to be convinced of him for Glasgow (I think Wier is better) never mind Scotland!

Tom Phillip was a major blow I think - at the time we had no centres (Di Rollo) and he really was an absolute dynamic beast of a man who looked extremely good. Shame his back was destroyed!

by geoff998rugby Fri Aug 26, 2011 1:49 pm

viewtothegym wrote:So im a wind up because you don't like/agree with my list

Come throw some debate in and at least counter act my list my examples on why im wrong.

Or is it just easy to call the Welsh man and windup when he is right?

No thanks it far easier to ignore when your wrong with a silly Wind Up Rolling Eyes

by BATH_BTGOG Fri Aug 26, 2011 3:01 pm

George North Whistle

by Gatts Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:20 pm

BATH_BTGOG wrote:George North

Manu Tuilagi thumbsup

by BATH_BTGOG Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:38 pm

1/2p

by Gatts Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:48 pm

Courtney

by Turkster Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:57 pm

Chris Ashton

by Guest Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:21 pm

Tom Prydie? Not that he was even sublime during that 1 season, he just got rushed into test rugby and then dropped

by Gatts Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:31 pm

IronMike wrote:Tom Prydie? Not that he was even sublime during that 1 season, he just got rushed into test rugby and then dropped

Blimey i had forgotten him completely...what is the story with him? Is it the Matthew Tait effect?

by BATH_BTGOG Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:39 pm

Ryan Jones Very Happy

by Gatts Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:43 pm

Ouch

Flutey raspberry

by dubh_linn Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:33 am

The most obvious one i can think of is a polish guy called gregory kacala who plsyed 6 for brive in the heineken cup final circa 1996 ...he was immense in that game won man of the match...but then just seemed to dissapear of the face of the earth....not sure if it was injury,form or whatever...i was convinced at the time that the french would find a way to fast track him into the national team

by Guest Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:02 pm

Gatts wrote:
IronMike wrote:Tom Prydie? Not that he was even sublime during that 1 season, he just got rushed into test rugby and then dropped

Blimey i had forgotten him completely...what is the story with him? Is it the Matthew Tait effect?

Dont think so, I cant even remember, I think at the time Wales were suffering from lack of depth on the wing and Prydie/K Phillips were drafted in for the 6nations. Prydie then went to NZ with Wales but in fairness he was still raw and needed more time at regional level(he wasnt even selected for the Ospreys and last season he was still a bench warmer for B.Davies at best). So really I have no idea why Wales "wasted" their time with him rather than playing a more experienced player on form like Aled Brew.

On the other hand they were probably hoping for a George North where this talented young player just makes a huge impact on the game, Prydie may have his time in the future as a fullback, but who knows.

by wrfc1980 Mon Aug 29, 2011 6:17 am

Ian Balshaw! He burst onto the internantional scene nad had some truely amazing games. He was picked for the Lions and cam back from that tour a broken man.

by fa0019 Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:32 pm

Jongi Nokwe.

In 08 he debuted for the boks and a couple of games later he scored 4 vs. Aus.

This boy had it all and that season he was on fire.... he blitzed everyone in Super Rugby & Currie Cup... notably rounding and embarassing the then world player of the year, Habana.

Been pretty much injured ever since.

Also Jon Bentley of Eng on the97 lions tour. Surely the best 1 hit wonder of modern times?

by funnyExiledScot Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:07 pm

Scotland have had a few flash in the pan players.

Shaun Longstaff, James Craig, Rory Kerr, Jamie Mayer, Iain Fullarton, Donnie MacFadyen and Richard Metcalfe to name a few.

by Guest Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:24 pm

It may not be such a bad thing to be a one-season wonder.

I'm thinking of Rex 'Tarzan' Richards who was capped once by Wales as a prop in 1956. A product of the Cross Keys club, he went to Hollywood in the early 1950s where he worked as an actor, high-diver and stuntman. He was one of 1,000 who auditioned for the role of Tarzan in succession to Lex Barker and got to the last two, losing out to Gordon Scott who went on to win fame in a number of Tarzan films.

He came back to Wales for his one cap and would have had more, but Rex decided to return to America. He achieved fame of a kind in 1958 by starring as the King of Wongo in the film 'The Wild Women of Wongo', which has since been voted amongst the top 10 worst films ever made!

Rex is still remembered by some of us old-timers as the man who sparked the 'Tarzan picked for Wales' headline in the Western Mail. He may have been a one-season rugby wonder but Rex was quite a guy!

by TrailApe Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:18 pm

Thanks Optimist, that's the sort of data that will stick in my head forever and block out important stuff.

Headshed
"What's the Right First Time ratio for change orders this month on the ACME account"
Underpaid Lackey
"Er.....Rex 'Tarzan' Richards"? Erm

by GunsGerms Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:42 pm

Lee Byrne had one sublime season the rest he was good but not great.

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