Carter to announce future today

[Darwin]

Thats almost a word for word description of Beuden Barrett, that style of play was why i was so confident that he could make the step up to the Super 14 this year. The one reason i rate Barrett ahead of Bleyendaal at this stage is that i have seen Barrett remain calm and make all the right decisions while his team is back pedaling and the defence is rushing him. Bleyendaal may very well be capable of that too, but i have never seen him in that position before.

Another top talent is Matt McGahan, who is currently the top points scorer in the NRL U20 competition. Hopefully the NZRU pulls him back before its too late

I haven't seen much of Barrett playing 10, so I haven't really had a chance to make a judgment on him. He does seem a very composed player though, and I'm certainly looking forward to watching him in the Under 20's (even if he is playing mainly at fullback). What is his goal-kicking / general punting like? I'd assume either he or Anscombe will be kicking goals for the under 20's...

Matt McGahan... he's Hugh McGahan son isn't he? I'm sure his father might be putting a lot of pressure on him to stay with league!

 

[dan the man]

Carter signing for the next four years is great news... But i hope that they use him to help the young talent grow... giving guys like Slade or Cruden 10 minutes at the end of a game is not going to help their game much. but playing alongside Carter or starting more frequently will... Carter started playing at 12 and learned from guys like Mehrtens and Spencer. Its so important to get these guys starting Test matches, and i don't mean getting Cruden to start for the first time against a full strength Wallaby team that would just be stupid Get these guys playing 60 minutes against teams like Scotland, Italy or even Wales and Ireland before throwing them in the deep end and then complaining that they aren't as good as Carter.