Monday 2 July 2007

leave our dan alone

The poor guy. He fails to score 40 points in two test matches and suddenly Dan Carter is under the microscope with so called learned NZ media pundits lamenting his perceived dip in form and questioning whether he should be benched for the Tri Nations test against SA in two weeks time.

Leave the guy alone. It isn't like he played with the butter fingered touch of Mauger or got sinbinned for being hopelessly inadequate in the contact area.

Rattue needs to respect that he Dan can't be superman all the time. He is arguably the best first five eight that NZ has had - ever (and NZ has had some pretty good ones in the past). Even when his form isn't sparkling like champagne he can ignite the team with a deft pass or elusive side step (and when truly on song - metre gaining kick).

It is this kind of self obsessed analysis that puts unnecessary pressure on someone that by all accounts plays when he is perfectly chilled out. Organisations like TVNZ (a worldwide laughing stock) and reporters like Rattue need to find something else a little bit more newsworthy to chew on and stop reaching for the scapegoat when things go a little pear shaped. There are lots of things to critique when it comes to the last few AB matches. Dan is not one of them.

3 comments:

Simon Christie said...

I totally agree with you 100% ruggerblogger. TVNZ are a joke.

Anonymous said...

yep, the press are prety crap really. Last week we were going to win the world cup on the basis that we are really really fit.

This week Dan Carter is totally out of form.

Truth is that our fitness won't win the world cup, and Dan Carter will be good old Dan Carter at the world cup.

Anonymous said...

Ferdy, I should not be suprised that the Kiwi press has been tough on Carter. He is not the reason the AB's lost to the Wallabys-if memory serves, the Wallabys scored their two second half tries while the one AB prop was being sin-binned. I still think that the AB's will have the needed focus once they get to France in September. If the AB's get dumped at the RWC, it will be a Southern Hemisphere team like the Wallabys or the Boks. I don't see France or Ireland being able to compete. To be honest, I think Argentina is the other side that people should be worried about-I think they have made great strides in the past 4 years.