Rog's Autobiography

jamieh

Hi all,

Has anyone read this yet?

I picked it up yesterday and haven't put it down since!!

sickpuppy

Hello Ronans agent didnt buy it these things are better brought out when you retire IMO.
No way you can tell the full story of the shenanigans that have been going on or went on when yous till an active playing member of teams.

thehighground

sickpuppy wrote: »

Hello Ronans agent didnt buy it these things are better brought out when you retire IMO.
No way you can tell the full story of the shenanigans that have been going on or went on when yous till an active playing member of teams.

No one is ever going to tell the full shinanigans in Irish rugby. O'Gara is right to bring it out now when he is on top of his game- he will sell a few books now and its not as if he hasn't done anything in rugby. Anthony Foley just retired and brought out a memoir a couple of weeks ago and no one has mentioned his book here. I really enjoyed it, particularly as he came from the amateur era and he gives a great insight into Munster and Ireland.

I'm reading Ronans - and one thing about him, he is very honest. Probably another reason would be to once and for all get rid of all the rumours about him.

One obvious thing apparent from both books )which Munster players often get a bit of stick about) there is no doubt that Ireland comes first.

Pshan

sickpuppy wrote: »

Hello Ronans agent didnt buy it these things are better brought out when you retire IMO.
No way you can tell the full story of the shenanigans that have been going on or went on when yous till an active playing member of teams.

Hello Humphs, while I agree that players are better off waiting till they've finished playing it's not uncommon for players to write a book on their life and times.
By all accounts it's honest book and a good read, the OP certainly seems to like it.

JWAD

Pshan wrote: »

Hello Humphs

lol

Its on my holiday reading list for when I feck off this wednesday. Seems like a good 'un from what I've heard so far.

tHE vAGGABOND

I will read it when it hits paperback..

JWAD

thehighground wrote: »

One obvious thing apparent from both books )which Munster players often get a bit of stick about) there is no doubt that Ireland comes first.

Dec Kidney said last week that every player he has ever met would give up nothing for one minute of playing in an Ireland shirt.

Amazotheamazing

JWAD wrote: »

Dec Kidney said last week that every player he has ever met would give up nothing for one minute of playing in an Ireland shirt.

Nothing?

Junior

thehighground wrote: »

No one is ever going to tell the full shinanigans in Irish rugby. O'Gara is right to bring it out now when he is on top of his game- he will sell a few books now and its not as if he hasn't done anything in rugby. Anthony Foley just retired and brought out a memoir a couple of weeks ago and no one has mentioned his book here. I really enjoyed it, particularly as he came from the amateur era and he gives a great insight into Munster and Ireland.

Just read Axel's book there the weekend, very good, but a bit light like - regardless of the shennigan's and those 'stories' of tours etc I thought there could have been a helluva lot more detail in it.. He really was hacked off with not getting more game time for Ireland, I wonder does he regret his antics etc ?

buck65

Axel was one of the great brains in the Munster pack over the years. He did really cross the divide between the pro and amateur game, I would imagine though from 1999 onwards he was a serious pro regardless of the image he portrays.
Really looking forward to O Gara's biog. His wife had twins on sat. Was anyone else really impressed by Paul Warwick the other night?

dreamer_ire

I thought Warwick did really well when he came on... I'd like to see him get more game time over the coming weeks

siochain

thehighground wrote: »

Probably another reason would be to once and for all get rid of all the rumours about him.

I'd say thats the main reason it's out now......

redroar1942

buck65 wrote: »

Axel was one of the great brains in the Munster pack over the years. He did really cross the divide between the pro and amateur game, I would imagine though from 1999 onwards he was a serious pro regardless of the image he portrays.
Really looking forward to O Gara's biog. His wife had twins on sat. Was anyone else really impressed by Paul Warwick the other night?

As much as I like Foley i think he is one of the biggest wastes of talent in the modern era. I know he won a HC and has a few Ireland caps but thats nothing to what he was capable of. A fantastic talent at underage, but could never shake his amatuer begings. Great brain,hands, tackling etc but was constantly out of shape. His fitness always held him back, pity.

redroar1942

dreamer_ire wrote: »

I thought Warwick did really well when he came on... I'd like to see him get more game time over the coming weeks

Typically the fecker has played sevens for Oz. Would have had serious claims for the Irish squad.

Pshan

redroar1942 wrote: »

As much as I like Foley i think he is one of the biggest wastes of talent in the modern era. I know he won a HC and has a few Ireland caps but thats nothing to what he was capable of. A fantastic talent at underage, but could never shake his amatuer begings. Great brain,hands, tackling etc but was constantly out of shape. His fitness always held him back, pity.

Bit harsh to say "he was one of the biggest wastes of talent" - he states in his book that he wasn't the fastest No.8 but he had the stamina to keep going for the full 80 minutes. He ceratinly enjoyed the night before and the night of the matches but that was when Irish rugby was amatuer or just turning professional.

RuggieBear

halvey is the biggest waste of natural talent....hands down one of the mpost skillfull players i've ever seen. he could have been better than zinzan brooke.

but completely off topic.

i'm not a big fan of these "Autobiographies" (who wrote this one btw?) but i completely understand that players need to earn as much as they can during thier short careers...besides there is obviously a market for these things.

buck65

Denis Walsh wrote it I think but from the mouth of O Gara.

Amazotheamazing

I don't think foley is a wate of talent, he did what worked for him. If he'd gone down the gym route like so many others he might have ended up like Eric Miller, who was (afaik) a fitness freak and nearly always injured. Sometimes a person's body just can't take all the weights and training you wish it could. It's conjecture of course, but Foley lasted a very long time at the top, and is retiring with no serious injuries, how many others can say that?

Agree about Halvey, himself and Des Dillon are two players who should have, and probably easily, could have, achieved far more in their careers.

MikeHoncho

Foley had a bit of a problem keeping the ball from falling out of his hands for no reason when he put an Ireland jersey on.

phog

MikeHoncho wrote: »

Foley had a bit of a problem keeping the ball from falling out of his hands for no reason when he put an Ireland jersey on.

Cant say that I recall it being a huge problem but if it was then it's not saying much for the other backrowers around at the time, he got 62 international caps (55 at No.8).