Cronin the Barbarian

FridaysWell

Heard alot about this fella from the Wild Wild West... Is he the business though? I haven't been able to watch him

I think it would be ideal to have a third international standard hooker in our ranks. Some say, so I've heard, he could be better then Flannery and Best!
Is he though? Is his playing with Connacht hindering him?

Hmm


Cronin the Barbarian with faithful steed Gavin Duffy. Only two Connacht players in the Ireland squad...

pappyodaniel

He's a quality hooker, he'd definately make the Leinster starting line up, and would start for Munster after Fla. His throwing is top notch and what he does in the loose is outstanding.

I'm also a big fan of Brady up in Ulster and he done a great job in the absence of Rory Best. All a guy needs is a lucky break, which usually comes round in the guise of injury or suspension to the player in front of him.

How Munster could be doing with Cronin right now!

thomond2006

pappyodaniel wrote: »

How Munster could be doing with Cronin right now!

+1

Hype710

Would love to see him at Leinster next season, would be a fantastic asset for both Leinster and Ireland in the long run. But he's signed an extension at Connacht as far as I Know which is a shame

PhatPiggins

Hype710 wrote: »

Would love to see him at Leinster next season, would be a fantastic asset for both Leinster and Ireland in the long run. But he's signed an extension at Connacht as far as I Know which is a shame

And we're taking him home the year after that so dont go getting any notions.

That is unless you'd be willing to trade Sean O Brien?

myflipflops

PhatPiggins wrote: »

And we're taking him home the year after that so dont go getting any notions.

That is unless you'd be willing to trade Sean O Brien?

You can have Stephen Keogh and we'll call it even after the Felix Jones incident!!

The thing I like about him is he has real dynamism.

If you look at the top 3 teams,they up the intensity and go non stop,all their players can do it.They have an extra gear.

We simply dont have the players like this up front but we are slowly bringing through some guys that do,like Healy and Cronin.

He reminds me of Wood in that he has good aceleration,something Flannery and Best lack imo.

gavkm27

Try from last summer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDlG27ny5N4

His try the last night against Ospreys was immense,when i saw it thought it was Mathews,he took ball at pace and finished it like a center

d'Oracle

pappyodaniel wrote: »

He's a quality hooker, he'd definately make the Leinster starting line up, and would start for Munster after Fla.

Better than Jackman?:eek:

anonymous_joe

d'Oracle wrote: »

Better than Jackman?:eek:

Probably.

WeeBushy

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Probably.

Definitely.

PhatPiggins

d'Oracle wrote: »

Better than Jackman?:eek:

The Jackman we see this season isn't the same guy who made such a big contribution to Leinster rugby for the four seasons prior.

I admire the guy for what he's done. He was looking destant for the AIL not 6 years ago.

d'Oracle

PhatPiggins wrote: »

The Jackman we see this season isn't the same guy who made such a big contribution to Leinster rugby for the four seasons prior.

I admire the guy for what he's done. He was looking destant for the AIL not 6 years ago.

In all seriousness, he is a handy player around the park, good ball carrier and good in rucks and malls. He can't throw for fudge though and will probably be over stepped when a real hooker comes along.

I like the guy, but he is limited.
He is also a master of sport bull****. Literally amazing how much that man can talk/write without actually saying anything of any use.

anonymous_joe

d'Oracle wrote: »

In all seriousness, he is a handy player around the park, good ball carrier and good in rucks and malls. He can't throw for fudge though and will probably be over stepped when a real hooker comes along.

I like the guy, but he is limited.
He is also a master of sport bull****. Literally amazing how much that man can talk/write without actually saying anything of any use.

I love Jackman, but injuries have really taken him apart at this stage.

FridaysWell

gavkm27 wrote: »

Try from last summer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDlG27ny5N4

His try the last night against Ospreys was immense,when i saw it thought it was Mathews,he took ball at pace and finished it like a center

Cronin = Beast

Lovely try.
Please give him a shot against England! Let the Maamturk Barabrian free :P

PhatPiggins

d'Oracle wrote: »

In all seriousness, he is a handy player around the park, good ball carrier and good in rucks and malls. He can't throw for fudge though and will probably be over stepped when a real hooker comes along.

I like the guy, but he is limited.
He is also a master of sport bull****. Literally amazing how much that man can talk/write without actually saying anything of any use.

No he's finished and we all know it, but he was staring amateur rugby in the face and basically went "fck this I'm not done yet" and went on to play for his country. An inspiration for all us lardy daydreamers out there and not to be judged on what we see this season.

You right he does talk a lot of smack, would be good craic for a few pints I'd say.

siltirocker

PhatPiggins wrote: »

No he's finished and we all know it, but he was staring amateur rugby in the face and basically went "fck this I'm not done yet" and went on to play for his country. An inspiration for all us lardy daydreamers out there and not to be judged on what we see this season.

You right he does talk a lot of smack, would be good craic for a few pints I'd say.

6 years at Connacht. Flannery & Cronin got off the ground there too. It's been said before but there has been some cracking Hookers developed out west as of late.

almighty1

Cronin is a beast in the loose but his darts arent as good as Fla's or Best.
3rd choice hooker for Ireland I'd say but he is definitely in line for a long international career.

Diom

Cronin made a great choice in staying with Connacht for one more year. He's been starting every ML game, and can concentrate on getting his game right without worrying (too much) about being forced out of the team. If he were at Munster he'd be behind Flannery and battling Fogs jnr for 2nd place. At Leinster he'd be behind Fogs snr and battling Jackman.
I'll be sad to see him go, but let's hope that there is a season of HEC for him at Connacht next year before he moves on.

siltirocker

Diom wrote: »

Cronin made a great choice in staying with Connacht for one more year. He's been starting every ML game, and can concentrate on getting his game right without worrying (too much) about being forced out of the team. If he were at Munster he'd be behind Flannery and battling Fogs jnr for 2nd place. At Leinster he'd be behind Fogs snr and battling Jackman.
I'll be sad to see him go, but let's hope that there is a season of HEC for him at Connacht next year before he moves on.

Don't know about that myself. Fogarty was brought in to replace Flannery but was well behind Jackman at Connacht, when Jackman left JF slowly lost the no. 2 jersey to Flavin who improved drastically but he found himself behind Cronin when he joined. And if Jackman was the Jackman of '04 or '08 i doubt Fogarty would be near that team.
If this was really the case JF would have a no. 16 jersey on Saturday.

shawpower

siltirocker wrote: »

Don't know about that myself. Fogarty was brought in to replace Flannery but was well behind Jackman at Connacht, when Jackman left JF slowly lost the no. 2 jersey to Flavin who improved drastically but he found himself behind Cronin when he joined. And if Jackman was the Jackman of '04 or '08 i doubt Fogarty would be near that team.
If this was really the case JF would have a no. 16 jersey on Saturday.

Couple of things. You might be right about JF looking back through the past few years, but it has to be said that he has been a huge revelation this year with Leinster. Rock solid darts, and decent in the scrum and around the park. Clearly first choice. As such, Cronin mightn't get straight in ahead of him for Leinster.

However, for Ireland Cronin clearly has the advantage of youth. Why bring in a 30+ year old hooker as 3rd choice, when you can introduce a Twentysomething with huge promise to blood him for the years ahead.

andrewdcs

He'll pick up a cap on Saturday at Twickenham which will be brilliant. Having a nickname like "Cronin the Barbarian" won't hurt his media coverage either.

siltirocker

shawpower wrote: »

Couple of things. You might be right about JF looking back through the past few years, but it has to be said that he has been a huge revelation this year with Leinster.

Hell yes!

shawpower wrote: »

Rock solid darts, and decent in the scrum and around the park. Clearly first choice. As such, Cronin mightn't get straight in ahead of him for Leinster.

Of course i agree he wouldn't walk in, but i reckon he would be the current number 2 if he was with Leinster atm.

shawpower wrote: »

However, for Ireland Cronin clearly has the advantage of youth. Why bring in a 30+ year old hooker as 3rd choice, when you can introduce a Twentysomething with huge promise to blood him for the years ahead.

This i completely agree with you, but i don't think Kidney really cares for this. He has already said his squad selection are being based on form. i.e Cullen, Trimble, McLaughlin, Henry etc. So i truly believe if he thought he was a better player than Cronin, Fogarty would be in.

FridaysWell

andrewdcs wrote: »

He'll pick up a cap on Saturday at Twickenham which will be brilliant. Having a nickname like "Cronin the Barbarian" won't hurt his media coverage either.

Yes, hopefully he will get a cap. A start maybe for Scotland? Me hopes. . .

You like it?;)

2040

FridaysWell wrote: »

Yes, hopefully he will get a cap. A start maybe for Scotland? Me hopes. . .

You like it?;)

Did you just make it up? I'm going to use it from now on. Be funny if it catches on.

SomeFool

FridaysWell wrote: »

You like it?;)

Yeah, but thought he'd been selected for a Ba bas side when I read the thread title!!!

FridaysWell

2040 wrote: »

Did you just make it up?

Yep came up with is in training the other night. Our hooker looks like a cross between Augustus Gloop and Cronin, and we've another player that is basically He-Man. So *plop plop* *ding ding* goes my head, hes from the Wild Wild West, probably got breeded by Connacht in the Maamturk mountains after breaking out of Munster front row nursery, so, Cronin The Barbarian...
Looked up the Internet there was a small time hockey player called that...

But our Cronin's no small timer :P He has potential. Hope he delievers