Andrew Mehrtens says Colin Slade should be Dan Carter's back up

[Shaggy]

Andrew Mehrtens has made his opinions known who should be Dan Carter's backup in the All Black No.10 Jersey ... and no, he doesn't think it should be himself

... Although he backs Colin Slade, this NZ Herald article gives his insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various candidates

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10730135

All Blacks: Slade has edge as deputy
By Wynne Gray
5:30 AM Saturday Jun 4, 2011

Colin Slade is in repeat injury rehab, but he is the natural five-eighths deputy for Daniel Carter at the World Cup.

All Black great Andrew Mehrtens offers that view from France where he is still playing and watching enough Super 15 rugby to gauge the contenders.

He believes Slade, Aaron Cruden and Mike Delany are the most fluent five-eighths while Luke McAlister and Stephen Donald play like midfielders asked to perform other roles.

That happens tonight when McAlister and Donald duel in the No 10 jerseys in front of the All Black selectors as the Blues and Chiefs go at it on Eden Park.

Mehrtens was buoyed by the choices and their range of talents, they were all strong players who suffered by comparison with the peerless Carter.

"People talk about the gap but that is in the world, the gap between Carter and the rest," he said.

"You tend to lose sight of the fact we have some quality guys there lining up behind Carter. In comparison to Carter, everyone else pales and the All Blacks have been well served by his longevity too."


Slade's test CV reads just 19 minutes as an injury replacement for Cruden last year in Sydney before both missed out to Donald for the end-of-year tour. Slade's blighted rugby experience this season is three games for the Highlanders, one pre-season match, a club game and two broken jaws.

"I judge 10s on the feel you get for them," said Mehrtens, a 70-test All Black. "I really think it is an advantage for Slade that he has played in other positions like fullback and wing, because you can use your energy and read the game with a bit less pressure from those areas.

"The games from 10 and 15 go a wee bit hand in hand. He has played fullback and played well there.

"He has got gas, he is courageous, he has a good feel about him. He will be back soon."

Cruden was more a stepping style player, said Mehrtens, someone whose instincts were to have a go, to lead the attack and have teammates run off his probing style.

"He did that so well for the Hurricanes when they needed it badly last week.
He is still very young, he was thrust into the top level early, but he has the ability to really control and vary games.

"The more he plays, the more his kicking and variety will improve."

Delany appeared to have dropped from favour with the Chiefs this season, but Mehrtens liked him in the pivot role. He was unspectacular, said Mehrtens, and the worry was he was going overseas when he was still only in his late-20s. From that age and into their early-30s, five-eighths matured and showed their experience, said Mehrtens.

"I'd like to think he is still in the mix. He went away with the All Blacks in 2009 and did not do anything wrong there."

McAlister had all sorts of talent and had shown his versatility when picked as first five-eighth for his test debut in 2005 against the Lions, said Mehrtens.

"I think he benefits and plays his best when he has more width and room. He is always a threat, but does not look like a natural organiser," Mehrtens suggested.

Donald was very direct, courageous, tough and gutsy. "I liked it when they played him outside Carter, I thought the idea had merit though I don't think it went too well.

"I think it helps Carter to have a playmaking 12 outside him rather than a bashing 12.
The attention Carter is going to get from any team will be huge. So I think it helps to have a 12 who can step in, call for the ball and organise things as well. It creates more balance."

Whatever decision the All Black selectors made about Carter's backup, each candidate would qualify as team men who would boost the team spirit.

 

[RAWWeyman]

Fair enough, but is Nick Evans eligible to be picked for the WC? I'd say he's up there as the 2nd/3rd best fly half.

 

[Darwin]

Fair enough, but is Nick Evans eligible to be picked for the WC? I'd say he's up there as the 2nd/3rd best fly half.

No, Evans is not eligible. The AB's have a policy of only selecting players that play their rugby in NZ.

 

[TRF_RC]

When was the last time Slade has some consistent quality rugby?
I know i haven't paid that much attention to him, but i can't remember seeing him this season.
He hasn't had enough rugby to even warrant himself being played at 10 for the tri nations, so if he's not in the equation for that tournament, then he's unlikely to make it to the RWC if you ask me.
Plus, there are better options to go with (McAlister, Cruden?) rather than Slade.

 

[Darwin]

When was the last time Slade has some consistent quality rugby?
I know i haven't paid that much attention to him, but i can't remember seeing him this season.
He hasn't had enough rugby to even warrant himself being played at 10 for the tri nations, so if he's not in the equation for that tournament, then he's unlikely to make it to the RWC if you ask me.
Plus, there are better options to go with (McAlister, Cruden?) rather than Slade.

If Slade wants to make the RWC squad he is going to have to have an outstanding opening few games in the ITM Cup. His Super Rugby season has been ruined by injury, but before the season started he probably had the inside running to be Carters backup. At full fitness I definately rate Slade as the second best 10 in the country. It has just been really unfourtunate that the Highlanders haven't had him for more than a couple of games!

 

[TRF_RC]

Wasn't he drinking through a straw at one point this season?
That's a helluva state to be in, poor bugger.

 

[Darwin]

Wasn't he drinking through a straw at one point this season?
That's a helluva state to be in, poor bugger.

Actually at two points, as he broke his jaw again only three weeks after coming back from his 1st broken jaw....

 

[dan the man nz]

id love to see slade on the bench for the worldcup. surely hell make it if he plays well from here on without injury. a couple more super rugby matches, a couple of itm matches, a couple trination tests, and a couple of pool games in the world cup.. shell be rite =) if not mccalister wont be a miss. he wont win us the game but defensively hes solid so probly wont lose it for us eithier. unlike cruden. brave but small.

 

[cyRil]

Even if he is that good, what's the point of taking someone who is such an injury liability. Even the games Slade did play for the Highlanders this season, I think he went off with a knock in every one!! Poor bugger.

 

[dan-the-man]

Okay Delaney is obviously the best back-up to Carter...why the Chiefs pick Donald over him is beyond me! Whenever Delaney gets a chance he takes it. And he's probably the best goal-kicker in the Southern Hemisphere at the moment.

 

[cyRil]

=/ Dunno about that mate...

 

[dan-the-man]

=/ Dunno about that mate...

Delaney is smart, solid, confident and has a good boot...both out of hand and when kicking for goal. Cruden can make good line breaks sometimes and trust me, I love running first-fives, but Crudens kicking is just terrible. While I feel it's important to be a running fly-half in todays game, you need to be able to kick to some degree. Cruden is one of the worst kicking fly-halves in world rugby. And please don't get me started on that bumbling moron Slade. Arguably the most over-rated rugby player in the world. I don't know what he's done to warrant so many people saying he's the second best number 10 in New Zealand. Absolutely pathetic

 

[TNT88]

If Delaney is the best goalkicker in the SH, i hope he is having the worst season of his life.

 

[dan-the-man]

If Delaney is the best goalkicker in the SH, i hope he is having the worst season of his life.

No just all the other guys suck atm...Morne is nowhere near what he used to be, Carter hardly ever makes kicks from the touchline and then who else? Maybe Peter Grant is a close contender

 

[TNT88]

All the other guys just suck? lol i wish they did (for Australia's sake).

Morne is kicking at almost 80% this season (so is Pat Lambie). Carter is 77% i think. These guys seem to be the leaders (i haven't checked every kicker so i could miss someone). Delaney is kicking at something like 60%, even with his lack of games that is still bad.

Carter is the best kicking fly half IMO, mainly because of his general play kicking abilities. Very consistent and smart.


EDIT: wow, just have a look at this: http://twitter.com/#!/ruckingoodstats

A very good review of the comps best kickers.

Top kickers are:

Grant: 85%
Giteau: 80%
Cruden/Lambie/Steyn/Eberson: 79%
Carter: 77%

So yea, there is genuine competition amongst SH kickers. Delaney isn't up there.

 

[cyRil]

The last time I saw Delany play he was pretty poor and his goal kicking was dreadful, so he hardly takes every opportunity he gets as dan the man is claiming.

 

[smartcooky]

Cruden is looking more and more likely. The stats certainly seem to suggest that, and I have been impressed with the way he has taken control of the Canes last two matches, taking the ball to the gain line and creating scoring opportunities for his midfield. He's gaining confidence with every game; it a pity Hammet hasn't given him more starts in the 10 jersey.

<table class="tablestyle_4" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="450px"><thead class="axyl_rowstripe_dark"><tr><th style="text-align: left;" colspan="2">Number of starts at 1st 5 up to and including Round 15</th></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top">Stephen Brett</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">11</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Stephen Donald</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">9</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Dan Carter</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">8</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Aaron Cruden</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">7</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Luke McAlister</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">2</td></tr> </tbody> </table>

<table class="tablestyle_4" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="450px"> <thead class="axyl_rowstripe_dark"> <tr> <th style="text-align: left;">Points scored</th><th style="text-align: right;">Average per game</th><th style="text-align: right;">Kicking percentage</th></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="20%">Dan Carter</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">15.87</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20">76%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="20%">Luke McAlister</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">12.11</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20">75%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="20%">Stephen Donald</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">10.44</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20">76%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="20%">Aaron Cruden</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">10.23</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20">75%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="20%">Stephen Brett</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">10.75</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20">52%</td></tr> </tbody> </table>
<table class="tablestyle_4" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="450px"> <thead class="axyl_rowstripe_dark"> <tr> <th style="text-align: left;">Linebreaks</th><th style="text-align: right;">Total</th><th style="text-align: right;">Average per game</th></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="40%">Luke McAlister</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20%">2</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">1.0</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="40%">Stephen Brett</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20%">8</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">0.73</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="40%">Aaron Cruden</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20%">5</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">0.71</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="40%">Dan Carter</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20%">4</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">0.50</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="40%">Stephen Donald</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="20%">4</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top" width="40%">0.44</td></tr> </tbody> </table>
<table class="tablestyle_4" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="450px"> <thead class="axyl_rowstripe_dark"> <tr> <th style="text-align: left;" colspan="2">Average number of offloads per game</th></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top">Aaron Cruden</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">2.71</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Dan Carter</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">2.13</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Luke McAlister</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">1.50</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Stephen Donald</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">1.33</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Stephen Brett</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">0.73</td></tr> </tbody> </table>
<table class="tablestyle_4" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="450px"> <thead class="axyl_rowstripe_dark"> <tr> <th style="text-align: left;" colspan="2">Percentage of tackles successfully made</th></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top">Dan Carter</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">83%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Luke McAlister</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">79%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Aaron Cruden</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">78%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Stephen Donald</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">63%</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Stephen Brett</td><td style="text-align: right;" valign="top">52%
</td></tr> </tbody> </table>​

(Statistics courtesy the the great work done by Tracey Nelson at www.haka.co.nz)

[TEXTAREA]"Colin Slade has not been included due to his lack of game time this season. Luke McAlister's stats are only for the games where he has started at 1st 5 (two up to the end of Round 15) other than his goal kicking, where he has been first choice kicker for the Blues this season. All tables start with the top player for that category. Another point to note is that my definition of a 'line break' is a clean break where the gain line is not only breached but the player makes it into clear space behind the defensive line without being held in a tackle. So in other words, the player runs into open space by at least 2 metres and the entire defensive line has to turn to chase." - Tracey Nelson[/TEXTAREA]

 

[cyRil]

I'm just trying to figure out how Giteau is at 80%!!

 

[Darwin]

Delaney is smart, solid, confident and has a good boot...both out of hand and when kicking for goal. Cruden can make good line breaks sometimes and trust me, I love running first-fives, but Crudens kicking is just terrible. While I feel it's important to be a running fly-half in todays game, you need to be able to kick to some degree. Cruden is one of the worst kicking fly-halves in world rugby. And please don't get me started on that bumbling moron Slade. Arguably the most over-rated rugby player in the world. I don't know what he's done to warrant so many people saying he's the second best number 10 in New Zealand. Absolutely pathetic

You clearly haven't watched Delany play this year. I'm quite a big fan of Delany - coming into this season, I suggested he would be a definate contender to backup Carter. However he has been poor this season, making basic errors every game (not finding touch from penalties, throwing poor passes), has tried to take the line on far too often himself, and his goal-kicking has been poor to say the least. Indeed he often hasn't even made the bench for the Chiefs this season, with Foster preferring Nanai-Williams to cover 10 from the bench (not that Nanai-Williams even has that much experience at first-five!).

I've been impressed with the way Cruden seems to be maturing as a player. He still has a way to go before I would select him for the AB's again, but he seems to have added some distance onto his punting, and noticably improved his goal-kicking. I do worry a bit about his defense; he invariably makes most tackles, however his lack of size means he can often be dragged back 5-10 metres. This means teams can run at him to get some easy metres; this is particularily an issue when defending close to the try line. When he starts to run though he can really get the backline going, as he can create lots of space on the outside as defenders know they have to watch him closely.

I expect he selectors to pick McAlister, but (like Mehrtens) would personally prefer a fit Colin Slade.

 

[Shaggy]

Well the pressure's off all of them, as they only have to be a backup for someone call "Dan Catrer" and not "Dan Carter" ... can someone with the more power than me, please correct my typo in the thread ***le

Thanks,

Sahggy ... er, I mean Shaggy