Lomu Comeback

WeeBushy

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/1029/1224257603727.html

100m in 10.9 sec and deadlifting 300kg? I fear for the other teams...

[Jackass]

I wish Denis Hickie showed the same determination to keep playing as Lomu has, especially sonce he's 3 or 4 years younger!

Ah it's good to see Lomu back, but I don't think he'd make much of an impact in the professional game now, but he's a legend of the game, singley handedly changed perception of the game and the use pf physicality out wide has given a new era of winger..

jack01986

There some serious figures, god help anyone against him.

chupacabra

[Jackass] wrote: »

I wish Denis Hickie showed the same determination to keep playing as Lomu has, especially sonce he's 3 or 4 years younger!

He's only a year younger than Lomu, but i know what you mean. 31 was a really young age to retire altogether. He had more to give.

streings

Drugs drugs drugs

Zzippy

streings wrote: »

Drugs drugs drugs

WTF? Care to elaborate on what you're on about? Are you on drugs or someone else?

Auvers

streings wrote: »

Drugs drugs drugs

wtf

*edit* hehehe Zippy beat me by a couple of seconds

PhatPiggins

[Jackass] wrote: »

I wish Denis Hickie showed the same determination to keep playing as Lomu has, especially sonce he's 3 or 4 years younger!

Ah it's good to see Lomu back, but I don't think he'd make much of an impact in the professional game now, but he's a legend of the game, singley handedly changed perception of the game and the use pf physicality out wide has given a new era of winger..

Seeing as he's playing in the amateur French third division I thing he'll do ok.

Can you imagine some eleven stone enthusiast with a slight hangover looking up on a wet sunday morning to see Jonah thundering down on him.....not good.

streings

I dont think its possible to weigh 116 kilos, be the fastest man in rugby and have probably the heaviest deadlift in rugby (pierre spies only does 240kg), all after having a kidney transplant, without a little bit of help

AlanSparrowhawk

streings wrote: »

without a little bit of help

milk and genetics

OldJay

streings wrote: »

I dont think its possible to weigh 116 kilos, be the fastest man in rugby and have probably the heaviest deadlift in rugby (pierre spies only does 240kg), all after having a kidney transplant, without a little bit of help

Highly libelous (and of course, utterly baseless) charge there.
I'd be careful.

andrewdcs

He's been taking part in weight lifting competitions in NZ for the past year, I'd imagine drug testing is part of that. Not too hard to slim down and get fit with personal trainers / dietician and no 9-5 to go to.
Fair play to him, he loves the sport.

eden_my_ass

andrewdcs wrote: »

He's been taking part in weight lifting competitions in NZ for the past year, I'd imagine drug testing is part of that. Not too hard to slim down and get fit with personal trainers / dietician and no 9-5 to go to.
Fair play to him, he loves the sport.

Also after having his career cut short with kidney disease, and after a transplant, does the accuser really think he'd be abusing his body like that? Cop on....and go find a Lance bashing thread, leave Lomu alone

RugbyFanatic

andrewdcs wrote: »

He's been taking part in weight lifting competitions in NZ for the past year, I'd imagine drug testing is part of that. Not too hard to slim down and get fit with personal trainers / dietician and no 9-5 to go to.
Fair play to him, he loves the sport.

He is definitely not on steroids. A freak of nature like him would look a hell of a lot bigger and much more toned than he did at his competition. Theres guys at my gym on the juice that look far bigger than Lomu and I highly doubt they have anywhere near his genetics.

streings

eden_my_ass wrote: »

does the accuser really think he'd be abusing his body like that?

Some people go to extreme lengths.. but it was a ridiculous claim as I have no proper reason to believe it so i apologise. I just find it a bit unbelievable.

Size=everything

streings wrote: »

I dont think its possible to weigh 116 kilos, be the fastest man in rugby and have probably the heaviest deadlift in rugby (pierre spies only does 240kg), all after having a kidney transplant, without a little bit of help

I could deadlift 250kgs at 19 with only 3 years training without steroids, its definitely not unreasonable to suggest Lomu with his genetics could get 300kgs. Remember he was bodybuilding up until now so he was more than likely doing a very heavy weight, low set programme along with a bodybuilding diet that would of seen his strength sky rocket. Obviously his strength will go down once he goes back to eating and training like a rugby player again but for now I'd definitely believe it.

eden_my_ass

streings wrote: »

Some people go to extreme lengths.. but it was a ridiculous claim as I have no proper reason to believe it so i apologise. I just find it a bit unbelievable.

Yeah but if someone told you a guy with a debilitating kidney disease (one interview quotes him saying he always thought the pain in his legs after training was normal back then....all gone now) was capable of the likes of performances Lomu produced at his peak, would you have believed it. Its nice sometimes to just believe in the strength of character (and breeding) of some people, otherwise lifes just boring/cynical...hope he does well in his comeback.

justsomebloke

truthfully his numbers are only relevant if you are comparing them to the number he had before he had the kidney problems. Muscle memory from before coupled with him training for bodybuilding comps would indicate to me that 300kg deadlift wouldn't be that astonishing.

However the photos I saw from the bodybuilding comp where he came 2nd where pretty bad and no where near what I would expect from a decent bodybuilder and truthfully I'm afraid any attempt to come back to rugby will be just as underwhelming.

I do thing his dedication to try and get back into the sport is something that a lot of people could learn from however I just don't think he can make a comeback at this point

streings

Size=everything wrote: »

its definitely not unreasonable to suggest Lomu with his genetics could get 300kgs.

I don't doubt he can do it, it's just that along with his claim to do 100m in 10.9 seconds that I found strange. It's a staggering feat for someone who has had such problems with their health. Maybe I'm just too pessimistic.

if someone told you a guy with a debilitating kidney disease (one interview quotes him saying he always thought the pain in his legs after training was normal back then....all gone now) was capable of the likes of performances Lomu produced at his peak, would you have believed it.

no probably not

peterako

streings wrote: »

I dont think its possible to weigh 116 kilos, be the fastest man in rugby and have probably the heaviest deadlift in rugby (pierre spies only does 240kg), all after having a kidney transplant, without a little bit of help

I'm not 'world class' and I've done 240kg Deadlift at 90kg.

Been a (long) while since I've broken 11s in the 100m but then I AM 43 now

300kg DL at 116kg is WELL within drug free lifting parameters.

Anyone here heard of Ger McNamara?

http://www.limerickindependent.com/limerick-profile/limerick-profile/ger-mcnamara-%11-world-champion-powerlifter/

360kg (drug free) DL at 75kg.

And Lomu is in a totally different league to ME.

As regards his 10.9 claim.

A possibility.

I remember the first time I saw John Regis run.

Junior AAA (UK champs) where he was beaten into second place by my then training partner.

He was FAT and remained BIG for his whole career, picking up the nickname Johnny Two-Chests as well as a World Title and more

Ah! The memories

Ceartgoleor

Really hope it works out for him, some of my earliest memories of rugby were being an 8 or 9 year old watching him literally run over the English in the '95 World Cup, and he's been absolutely brilliant for the game of rugby.

Some day we'll look back on this era of rugby and the players we got to see playing at their peak (Lomu, Drico, Jonny Wilkinson, Fourie du Preez, George Gregan etc) and say just how lucky we were.

Podge_irl

Joe the Santa wrote: »

I do thing his dedication to try and get back into the sport is something that a lot of people could learn from however I just don't think he can make a comeback at this point

He's playing for a French amateur team. He's not trying to break back into the All Blacks. I think its great that he has the determination to get back into the sport, even at that level.

WeeBushy

Podge_irl wrote: »

He's playing for a French amateur team. He's not trying to break back into the All Blacks. I think its great that he has the determination to get back into the sport, even at that level.

Well he did say that he still wants to play for the ABs.... Probably a bit ambitious, but if he can get back playing it would be nice to see him being picked for the national side once, just as a recognition for everything he's done.

Podge_irl

WeeBushy wrote: »

Well he did say that he still wants to play for the ABs.... Probably a bit ambitious, but if he can get back playing it would be nice to see him being picked for the national side once, just as a recognition for everything he's done.

He won't be. For the same reason he wasn't picked last time he attempted a come-back. He won't be good enough and they don't give away AB jerseys that cheaply. I think he's realistic, he doesn't actually expect to play for the ABs again. But we're all allowed dream and that's all he's doing. For the time being, I think he just wants to play some rugby.

trout

Seems to me he just loves the game of rugby, after all the health problems and all he has achived ... he simply wants to play to the best of his ability ... brilliant.

I wish him well ... we all should.

Oh ... and balls to the notion of pharmaceutical assistance.

WeeBushy

Podge_irl wrote: »

He won't be. For the same reason he wasn't picked last time he attempted a come-back. He won't be good enough and they don't give away AB jerseys that cheaply. I think he's realistic, he doesn't actually expect to play for the ABs again. But we're all allowed dream and that's all he's doing. For the time being, I think he just wants to play some rugby.

Well last time he didn't make a proper come back, he played 13 games in total. No, I don't think he expects to either. But if he can get back playing consistently I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the black jersey one last time...

NickNolte

Bodybuilders and muscle athletes peak years later than others. Sometimes as late as 40 (i.e. Serge Nubret). So there's your answer.

streings

peterako wrote: »

I'm not 'world class' and I've done 240kg Deadlift at 90kg.

Been a (long) while since I've broken 11s in the 100m but then I AM 43 now

300kg DL at 116kg is WELL within drug free lifting parameters.

Could you lift this while breaking 11seconds? Could you do both at the age of 34? If you got a kidney transplant just before you were meant to be at your peak could you have recovered from it and then to do both these?

If you read my previous posts you'll see I have no problem that a man of 116kg can lift 300kg, my problem is that Lomu can do that while breaking 11 seconds for 100m while carrying a lot of weight after having a kidney transplant which is a very serious operation (so serious that it warrants it's own olympic games to celebrate transplant receivers who are able to get active again). Individually his stats are impressive, but when you group them together i find it too unbelievable.

peterako

Me, no.

But I would guess someone of the (world) class of Regis/Lomu could.

But we're talking freaks of nature here

I would add though.....that the above in combination with the Rugby talent Lomu had (has?) makes him exceptional even among his peers.

I remember a spate of very fast (low, low 10s) sprinters entering American Football over the years and making little or no impression. They were fast....but not ball players

Spore

Damn these guys don't know when to retire - amateur rugby for Rugby's first global superstar? Come'on!

streings

peterako wrote: »

Me, no.

But I would guess someone of the (world) class of Regis/Lomu could.

That's where we disagree

peterako wrote: »

But we're talking freaks of nature here .

Well said:D. I agree 100% but I think that that can only take you so far.

peterako wrote: »

I would add though.....that the above in combination with the Rugby talent Lomu had (has?) makes him exceptional even among his peers.

I remember a spate of very fast (low, low 10s) sprinters entering American Football over the years and making little or no impression. They were fast....but not ball players

I would say "made him exceptional..." but yes I agree. Just like when Dwayne Chambers tried his hand at Rugby League. He was pants :pac:.

Spore wrote: »

Damn these guys don't know when to retire - amateur rugby for Rugby's first global superstar? Come'on!

+1

Ceartgoleor

peterako wrote: »

I remember a spate of very fast (low, low 10s) sprinters entering American Football over the years and making little or no impression. They were fast....but not ball players

You've clearly never heard of Bob Hayes then, who won the Gold medal at the 1964 Olympics and then went onto become a three time pro bowler, Superbowl winning, hall of fame wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys (the biggest team in football arguably), for whom he still holds the majority of their receiving records. Its reckoned in american football circles that the main reasons for the evolution of the zone defensive system, and the theories of bump and run coverage at the line of scrimmage was to counter Hayes' destructive speed at the time

peterako

No, don't remember Bob.

I was mildly obsessed with NFL in the 1980's and remember a few high class sprinters and hurdlers being signed and making no impression.

But, like Denis Hickie, there have to be a few with Football brains too

It's good to hear of another Hayes making an impact in a major contact sport

justsomebloke

this would indicate that he has always been a fast sprinter (it is inrelation to a 10m standing sprint of 1.6seconds) so given that he is only 34 I would assume he would have retained a good base level even after the operations. You also have to remember he is back training nearly 5 years at this stage people for both rugby and bodybuilding so it's not like he is getting these numbers from no where