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The Final Curtain : BOD - running amongst mere mortals

  • 22-05-2014 10:14PM
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,138 ✭✭✭


    I can only assume that the boards.ie population are either too overcome by grief to post, or are in traumatic denial of the truth.

    Folks, Brian O'Driscoll has only 9 days and one game left as a rugby player. And not a thread to be seen on the topic ! Shame on you.

    Ireland's greatest ever. Not only that, but a player of all-time world greatness; in contribution to his teams at the highest level, moments of beauty, sublime skill, thrilling match-winning moments, and stunning instances of once-off instinctive rugby genius.

    By Jove, what a privilege to have watched him play.

    We saw the trophies roll in in the latter years. We had our one more year. We had our Gotterdammerung of the final salute from the Lansdowne Road faithful complete with giant banner. But the final act is at hand.

    Watch the you tube highlights, your old match recordings, your DVD collections.
    And shed a tear for the passing of greatness. You will not be seeing his like again in a hurry.

    Show the love. With one voice : "I love you Brian".



«13

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 10,924 ✭✭✭✭Pudsy33


    Shhhh! :mad:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,114 ✭✭✭fire_man


    Haven't we heard enough about his retirement already. Hasn't done much in last 2 years in my opinion.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 10,924 ✭✭✭✭Pudsy33


    fire_man wrote: »
    Haven't we heard enough about his retirement already. Hasn't done much in last 2 years in my opinion.

    Ah yes, bar that 6 nations championship and all that. Christ.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,308 ✭✭✭✭.ak


    Pudsy33 wrote: »
    Ah yes, bar that 6 nations championship and all that. Christ.

    Show pony.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,114 ✭✭✭fire_man


    He has been a fantastic player but he was average in six nations imo and last 2 years.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,308 ✭✭✭✭.ak


    fire_man wrote: »
    He has been a fantastic player but he was average in six nations imo and last 2 years.

    Average by his standards, maybe.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 616 ✭✭✭NoelJ


    .ak wrote: »
    Average by his standards, maybe.

    His performance against Italy was terrible. He only played a vital part in three of the tries.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,636 ✭✭✭✭Tox56


    Just insane. How does one player possess so much skill and awareness but also have the ability to hit so hard, at some stage in his career he must have been pound for pound the hardest hitter in the Irish squad, have the mentality to create something from nothing when the team needs it over and over (clichés I know but he did it all the freaking time).. quick without being absurdly fast but knew how to take a gap, but then at the same time he could legitimately be used as a bosh centre due to his low centre of gravity and absolute commitment (Ireland used him extensively to truck it up in the latest 6 Nations to great effect). Not bad at the breakdown either. We take it for granted at this stage but he just did everything

    The only area of his entire game you could say was 'meh' is his kicking, but later in his career he certainly sharpened it up. All the physical tools AND the best possible mentality a rugby player could have, that's just freakish, we won't see many more like him


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 55 ✭✭trancemuzic


    The greatest centre ever to play the game

    A privilege to have witnessed his career

    Imagine what Joe could have done with a young Bod in the centre coming up to the next World Cup 😂


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 30,502 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    I was renowned for having a better outside break and softer hands than BOD.

    True story.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,308 ✭✭✭✭.ak


    Whilst NZ fans would probably disagree with me I think he deserves the title GOAT, for the very reason he wasn't blessed with an athletic of physical prowess like McCaw has. He worked so hard to get to that level but anyone who seen him play at schools level will tell you he was a bit of a chubser.


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 30,502 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    I think getting into discussions of greatest of all time is a little silly - particularly in rugby where different positions are so different.

    All I'll say is he is the best player I've had the privilege of watching live and I will bore the **** out of my kids about him.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,415 ✭✭✭Swiwi.


    .ak wrote: »
    Whilst NZ fans would probably disagree with me I think he deserves the title GOAT, for the very reason he wasn't blessed with an athletic of physical prowess like McCaw has. He worked so hard to get to that level but anyone who seen him play at schools level will tell you he was a bit of a chubser.

    If that's your criteria, then sorry .ak, but Piri Weepu wins by a country mile...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,264 ✭✭✭✭Fireball07


    Swiwi. wrote: »
    If that's your criteria, then sorry .ak, but Piri Weepu wins by a country mile...

    Yeah, I don't think being fat in the past means he should be greatest player ever.


    Obviously he worked very hard, but that's not what him the best, most players who get to the top have put in almost unbelievable amounts of efforts.... what made him the best was the pure, unbelievable skill, the intelligence. Being able to do things no one else could do. And being able to do the things that everyone else did better than the others.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,308 ✭✭✭✭.ak


    Swiwi. wrote: »
    If that's your criteria, then sorry .ak, but Piri Weepu wins by a country mile...

    It's not my only criteria, but it's something that sets him apart from McCaw.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,415 ✭✭✭Swiwi.


    .ak wrote: »
    It's not my only criteria, but it's something that sets him apart from McCaw.

    Ah yeah I was just pulling your leg. I'm
    not really into comparing players across countries but BOD certainly one of the greatest, so many tries for a centre it's unreal.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,636 ✭✭✭✭Tox56


    .ak wrote: »
    It's not my only criteria, but it's something that sets him apart from McCaw.

    To be honest at that level (greatest of all time) I don't think there's anything to separate any one player from the next, we're talking about insanely good rugby players here, the fact they play different positions just further complicates things. That's before you get to different eras, with very few people around who would have seen the entire careers of players like Edwards and BOD. I prefer to do it by putting a group of guys (Carter, BOD, McCaw among them of the modern players) on the very top level rather than picking one out from the rest


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 45,433 ✭✭✭✭thomond2006


    I believe D'Arcy's legacy is now equal to O'Driscoll...







    ....because of The Beard.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,954 ✭✭✭✭thebaz


    fire_man wrote: »
    Haven't we heard enough about his retirement already. Hasn't done much in last 2 years in my opinion.

    was it just co-incidental that Ireland conceded to the All Blacks when O'Driscoll was of the pitch - why do i respond to the BOD jealousy - good luck Brian , best Irish player in history - class act


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,461 ✭✭✭Clearlier


    Fireball07 wrote: »
    Yeah, I don't think being fat in the past means he should be greatest player ever.


    Obviously he worked very hard, but that's not what him the best, most players who get to the top have put in almost unbelievable amounts of efforts.... what made him the best was the pure, unbelievable skill, the intelligence. Being able to do things no one else could do. And being able to do the things that everyone else did better than the others.

    I always thought that the key to him was his mentality. He came into an Irish squad that had a losing mentality. Woody was trying to change it but one of the stories I like best about him was when at the 99 world cup somebody (sports psychologist I think) was having a meeting and asked who thought Ireland could win the world cup. He was the only one to put up his hand.

    There were others too but he was in the vanguard of the change in mentality of Irish rugby. He was a winner who lead the way in setting high standards and that's probably his greatest legacy. His impact has been profound and it wil continue to reverberate long after his retirement.

    On a side note it's a pity that there's no footage (that I'm aware of) of his early years with Leinster. In the days before rugby league coaches came into and implemented defensive systems he had the freedom of the park and took it more or less as he pleased.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 492 ✭✭TrapperChamonix


    His Greatness will not be truly recognised till he has gone


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,374 ✭✭✭Eponymous


    I have to admit to a bit of BOD Retirement Fatigue. It's dragged on too long.

    Last HEC, Last 6N, last game for Ireland in the Aviva, Last game for Leinster in the Aviva, last Rabo Home game, except for the following week which was his last Rabo Home game and last Rabo semi-final and now we have next week which is definitely his last game.

    I'm sure that at this stage even he finds it embarrassing. Even more than the cringeworthy Des Cahill interview on the pitch after the Embra game.

    That's not to take anything away from one of the true greats of the game, but I'll almost be happy now when it's done.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 174 ✭✭Midnight64


    There is not a single coach / team manager in the world who would not have given their right-arm for the ability to select him at 13.

    The plaudits coming in from around the world reflect the high regard and respect he is held.

    Hopefully, I will get a ticket for Saturday week (#fingerscrossed)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,258 ✭✭✭✭Buer


    It's funny how it works out. At this point, the praise for BOD is arguably over the top. However, when he was actually in his pomp from about 2001-2007, I don't think he got the respect he deserved. He was genuinely a frighteningly good player throughout that period bordering on unplayable for opposition sides.

    But a lot of people didn't like him. A lot of people tried to denigrate him, mock him and downplay him as a player. Sadly a lot of those people were his fellow countrymen. It's odd to see some of those same people now fawning over him as they jump on the BOD retirement bandwagon.

    He's the best player I've ever seen. What he did, he did in an Irish team. Not the all conquering NZ sides that scored for fun or behind the freakish SA and English packs that delivered the game on a plate to their three quarters. Nor even the Aussies who had the most creative half back combination of the professional era delivering ball to their backs.

    He did it with decent and unspectacular test players around him. He did it with Kevin Maggs, Peter Stringer, Keith Gleeson, Victor Costello, Reggie Corrigan, Frankie Sheahan etc. He did it on his own, half the time. He had an uncanny ability to step up and deliver a big moment when needed. Not simply because he had the talent but he had the mentality to do so. When Ireland needed 3 points, he had no problem stepping back and popping a drop goal which he did in several very tight, massive games in his career. He backed himself.

    His defensive and breakdown capabilities made him a freakish specimen that, under other circumstances, he could genuinely have been a test level flanker given the time he came through at. Size has since made that hugely unlikely but he still never yielded an inch to opponents who had over half a foot and 25kg on him.

    In the last year or two, he hasn't been the force he once was but he still can deliver a moment of magic. His presence alone has proven of benefit to the sides he has been in. I don't think we'll see his like again, in this country. He's not a once in a decade player, or once in a generation player. He's not once in a life time player. He's a once in history player for us.

    And we won't see the likes of him again.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,697 ✭✭✭elefant


    Podge_irl wrote: »
    I was renowned for having a better outside break and softer hands than BOD.

    True story.

    That you Ross?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,999 ✭✭✭jacothelad


    Swiwi. wrote: »
    Ah yeah I was just pulling your leg. I'm
    not really into comparing players across countries but BOD certainly one of the greatest, so many tries for a centre it's unreal.

    I often wonder how the rugby world would have viewed BOD if he had been a N.Z. player, turning out in the best side on the planet rather than for a decent but ultimately limited Ireland. Imagine just how destructive offensively he would have been given the freedom they create. He would probably be right up there with Mike Gibson then......:D (joke). I think BOD IS the best player I've ever seen because he was so good at just about every facet of the game. He isn't the best prop, 2r, etc but that is a different argument.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,999 ✭✭✭jacothelad


    I believe D'Arcy's legacy is now equal to O'Driscoll...







    ....because of The Beard.

    No. He simply copied the strategy of iHumph with his Beard of Power that allowed him to tackle players and kick 60 metre goals...then the daft eejit shaved it off and became iHumph again.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,221 ✭✭✭Ugo Monye spacecraft experience


    Easily the most important rugby player in the History of the game in Ireland. And in my mind the best back of the professional era.

    Amazing and pretty sad that most of the undeserved flack he got came from the usual begrudgers in our own country. The amount of people gleeful when he was dropped (totally unfairly I might add) for that third test was horrible


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,181 ✭✭✭Iang87


    I was wondering what boards was missing today but thankfully someone made the obligatory BOD is about to play a match lets talk at how great he was thread


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,221 ✭✭✭Ugo Monye spacecraft experience


    Iang87 wrote: »
    I was wondering what boards was missing today but thankfully someone made the obligatory BOD is about to play a match lets talk at how great he was thread

    The most capped player in the history of the game is playing his last game this weekend. If that's not worthy of a thread I'm not sure what is?

    Also, if you're so uninterested in it why bother posting to tell us how uninterested you are?:rolleyes:


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