Heaslip Retiring / Appreciation Thread [MOD WARNING: POST 1]

leakyboots

prawnsambo wrote: »

I thought you were going to pull him up for his spelling of Lansdowne. But that's a good point too.

For shame! :pac:

Yeah_Right

Right enough of this Heaslip love fest. A true legend of the game announced his retirement, Wyatt Crocket. I know he never got fancy player of the year nominations or wore headphones or flip flops with such panache. I don't think he even has Twitter or Instagram. He just played lots of rugby and won a lot of them


In all seriousness the two announcements are so different. Heaslip is forced from the game due to injury. Crocket has decided to retire from internationals now, the Crusaders at the end of this season and then finish off with two season for Tasman. A much nicer way to end a rugby career.

prawnsambo

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Right enough of this Heaslip love fest. A true legend of the game announced his retirement, Wyatt Crocket. I know he never got fancy player of the year nominations or wore headphones or flip flops with such panache. I don't think he even has Twitter or Instagram. He just played lots of rugby and won a lot of them


In all seriousness the two announcements are so different. Heaslip is forced from the game due to injury. Crocket has decided to retire from internationals now, the Crusaders at the end of this season and then finish off with two season for Tasman. A much nicer way to end a rugby career.

He has a twitter account but has never tweeted. But he has a pretty active Instagram account. :P

Rackard

Thought I was very complimentary of him and said I rated him but he is not above criticism either.
Maybe it was that he created too high a standard for himself that it was natural he could not maintain it for the last few years.

Burkie1203

Rackard wrote: »

Thought I was very complimentary of him and said I rated him but he is not above criticism either.
Maybe it was that he created too high a standard for himself that it was natural he could not maintain it for the last few years.

In his last full year he played all bar 20 minutes of irelands tier 1 games

We won in sa for first time
We beat nz and aus in november

He was WPOTY nominee.


He was setting the standards right up until he got injured. At the highest level.

Rackard

Burkie1203 wrote: »

We won in sa for first time
We beat nz and aus in november

All thanks to Heaslip.

Fair enough if you (and others) believe he was maintaining his standards to the end but with my Leinster/Ireland blinkers off, he frustrated the hell out of me the last few years watching him and I certainly wasn't one of those that would be wishing him to mess up.

Like a previous poster said, I'm sure he'll sleep well at night all the same.

molloyjh

Rackard wrote: »

All thanks to Heaslip.

Fair enough if you (and others) believe he was maintaining his standards to the end but with my Leinster/Ireland blinkers off, he frustrated the hell out of me the last few years watching him and I certainly wasn't one of those that would be wishing him to mess up.

Like a previous poster said, I'm sure he'll sleep well at night all the same.

We understand your opinion. Do you not think that if multiple rugby professionals thought he was good enough to deserve a WPOTY nomination that it may be worth reevaluating that opinion? I mean surely you have to admit that those people know better than you or I? I mean, this isn’t even about Heaslip really. It’s about acknowledging that people professionally involved in the game probably know better than people not involved to that level.

Rackard

molloyjh wrote: »

We understand your opinion. Do you not think that if multiple rugby professionals thought he was good enough to deserve a WPOTY nomination that it may be worth reevaluating that opinion? I mean surely you have to admit that those people know better than you or I? I mean, this isn’t even about Heaslip really. It’s about acknowledging that people professionally involved in the game probably know better than people not involved to that level.

God yeah - I would bow to greater knowledge there obviously but just remember being hugely shocked at his nomination.
Sometime these things are personalty contests too. Back in the day Beckham was often shortlisted for Ballon D'Or while Keane never got a look in.

Podge_irl

I often thought it Heaslip wore 7 on his back rather than 8 he would have been lauded a lot more over the last few years. He has adapted his game so many times over the years and is the perfect player to allow his backrow colleagues to play their own game. His work on the deck was as good as any backrow out there and he was excellent at cleaning up scrappy ball with intelligent carries. It was a world away from his free-running style that he broke onto the scene with.

You could conceivably clone the man and play three of him across the backrow and end up with a pretty balanced team.

Guy:Incognito

Teferi wrote: »

My favourite player. Devastated to see him go, would have loved to see him retire with a World Cup medal in his back pocket. .

Not sure even an injury free Jamie had decades left in him.

ectoraige

Podge_irl wrote: »

I often thought it Heaslip wore 7 on his back rather than 8 he would have been lauded a lot more over the last few years. He has adapted his game so many times over the years and is the perfect player to allow his backrow colleagues to play their own game. His work on the deck was as good as any backrow out there and he was excellent at cleaning up scrappy ball with intelligent carries. It was a world away from his free-running style that he broke onto the scene with.

You could conceivably clone the man and play three of him across the backrow and end up with a pretty balanced team.

Before his injury, I thought it would have been great to see him as blindside with the Lions alongside Vunapola (sp?) and SOB, it's a shame how things came to pass.

I always admired the work Heaslip did defensively, whenever Ireland or Leinster were cycling through the tackles, I was always looking to see if Heaslip was back on his feet, because you knew he wasn't going to miss a tackle. As a ball-carrier, he was one of those players who always had the strength to eke out one more stride as before going to ground. And as an all-round player, he always had great positioning, and was probably the most intelligent No. 8 we've had since Foley.

I wish him well in his retirement, he had the career most players can only aspire to achieve.

tototoe

leakyboots wrote: »

we can't all get giant posters of ourselves floating around Landsdowne.

As brilliant as bod was, that was completely cringey and ott, it should never ever happen again or anything of that ilk. Loads of great players have retired for various reasons including injury and never were acknowledged in that kind of fashion. I don't remember floating giant balloons for poc for example, nor anything else...and as good as heaslip was, it shouldn't happen here either. If Leinster want to do it, work away but shouldn't happen by Ireland imo. Sh!t happens, players retire...but that giant balloon was ridiculous imo

Burkie1203

Rackard wrote: »

All thanks to Heaslip.

Fair enough if you (and others) believe he was maintaining his standards to the end but with my Leinster/Ireland blinkers off, he frustrated the hell out of me the last few years watching him and I certainly wasn't one of those that would be wishing him to mess up.

Like a previous poster said, I'm sure he'll sleep well at night all the same.

We beat SA with a two man backrow for an hour. He was outstanding that day. He was also very good in Chicago. When we conceded scores you could see him behind the posts getting heads up and focused on the next play.

Several players also spoke about his leadership in those games at critical times. Some players could easily panic in those situations. Heaslip was very process driven.

Heaslip 2016 was a far cry from Heaslip of the late noughties but he changed his game hugely to adapt to become a more rounded player with a game to suit those around him.

The WPOTY nominations are IIRC down to former players rating players performances over the year in international rugby. He was nominated twice. Both times in years when Ireland created little bits of Irish rugby history.

2009 - Slam
2016 - Away win in SA and beat NZ.

molloyjh

I love how Drico got lauded for changing his game over the years but Heaslip gets crap from some quarters for doing the same.

Teferi

tototoe wrote: »

I don't remember floating giant balloons for poc for example,

Because he was injured in a World Cup game.

Buer

tototoe wrote: »

As brilliant as bod was, that was completely cringey and ott, it should never ever happen again or anything of that ilk. Loads of great players have retired for various reasons including injury and never were acknowledged in that kind of fashion. I don't remember floating giant balloons for poc for example, nor anything else...and as good as heaslip was, it shouldn't happen here either. If Leinster want to do it, work away but shouldn't happen by Ireland imo. Sh!t happens, players retire...but that giant balloon was ridiculous imo

Wasn't that balloon for the caps world record? That wasn't his last game for Ireland or Leinster.

tototoe

Buer wrote: »

Wasn't that balloon for the caps world record? That wasn't his last game for Ireland or Leinster.

Last home game for Ireland as far as I remember.

http://www.the42.ie/ireland-italy-match-report-sexton-odriscoll-1351720-Mar2014/?amp=1

prawnsambo

tototoe wrote: »

Last home game for Ireland as far as I remember.

http://www.the42.ie/ireland-italy-match-report-sexton-odriscoll-1351720-Mar2014/?amp=1

Last home game I think.

Damn! Another ninja edit.

I hope they have a massive set of inflatable headphones at the Aviva on Saturday week and Heaslip drives out onto the turf in a 181 audi branded entirely with just his own face and starts doing doughnuts to the sound of Justin Timberlake's cry me a river.

tototoe

Teferi wrote: »

Because he was injured in a World Cup game.

Not the point.

prawnsambo

tototoe wrote: »

Not the point.

I thought I knew what the point was, but now I'm just confused.

Jack Kanoff

More from Girvan Dempsey on Heaslips struggle to get back...seems his retirement caught then all by surprise?

http://rugbylad.ie/leinster-detail-just-how-hard-jamie-heaslip-worked-to-try-get-back/

prawnsambo

Jack Kanoff wrote: »

More from Girvan Dempsey on Heaslips struggle to get back...seems his retirement caught then all by surprise?

I think you need to subscribe to Thomond2006's newsletter.

JustJoe7240

prawnsambo wrote: »

I think you need to subscribe to Thomond2006's newsletter.

V Curious now, If you could hit me up Thomond2006, That'd be great! :cool:

c.p.w.g.w

joecass123 wrote: »

V Curious now, If you could hit me up Thomond2006, That'd be great! :cool:

Can i also subscribe to this newsletter?

prawnsambo

PMs sent on behalf of Thomond. Just because it shouldn't just be him telling people. We all need to pass the info around.

prawnsambo

Murray Kinsella quoted Joe Scmidt in full on the subject of Jamie Heaslip. It's probably the best summation of the player I've seen:

Inevitably there are some real pressure points in games and Jamie doesn’t really do pressure points, he does opportunities, His outlook on how to solve problems was that ‘this is great, let’s get a solution here’.

His calm on the pitch when you have got young players is really important and I think we’ve got Pete [O'Mahony] and CJ [Stander] starting to extend that to the likes of the Jack Conans and Dan Leavys.

Josh van der Flier has it all on is own, he is a young man, he is calm and just loves any opportunity, any challenge on the pitch. But Jamie, he sees all those things as challenges.

He also sees the game incredibly well. I know he got World Try of the Year – if you look at that from the rear angle, he is almost last up out of a ruck on our 22, the ball goes to the edge, there is some interplay between Simon Zebo, Jared Payne, Fergus McFadden gets involved and then who’s tracking right up the pitch exactly where we need him to be? That’s him.

He does see the game very well and he’s just had that big engine that allowed him not just see it but to put himself in a position to contribute to it and that was always crucial.

He was incredibly good in the rolling maul, if he had a corner he was tough to shift. He was really good at leading the scrum and I know leading the scrum when you are the back of it doesn’t quite make sense but for us, it’s still a really important position.

There was just those aspects to his game. He would jump for us at the front of the lineout quite often and again was very skillful there, very reliable handling-wise.

That ability across the full spectrum of what’s required in a player… his decision-making in defence. You’ve got youngsters seeing the game late and then making the decision to catch up.

Jamie would see the game and he could kind of predict well enough what would happen next so that he could get in a position to contribute either side of the ball whether it’s scoring that try or getting back and making that tackle on Stuart Hogg [in 2015].

He had a habit. People say, ‘jeepers, Jamie was lucky there.’ Not according to Jamie, not according to us because you get lucky sometimes – he managed to have a knack of it.

That probably becomes an ability to read the game more than luck.

I guess I’ve ended up coaching Jamie – unfortunately for Jamie – for over half his professional career, so he’s had to have me chipping away at him. I think the best thing about Jamie is that he chipped away at himself, he chiselled himself, he made himself into one of the best players that I think exists in world rugby.

Against Scotland in the Six Nations win on Super Sunday [in 2015], his tackle on Stuart Hogg – we don’t win the Six Nations without moments like that, where he doesn’t give anything up.

He’s always been in the leadership group, in Leinster as well, captained the side a couple of times, continuously supporting Paulie when Paul O’Connell was captain, supported Rory Best equally.

It was great because he was so often an 80-minute player. I think in 95 Test matches, 72 of them were 80 minutes. That is massive in the modern day.

It was great to have that security. The hooker might often come out after 60 minutes and Jamie was there in those last quarters, those last quarters that probably haven’t been nailed on, Jamie would boss those last quarters and do a good job of it.

For all sorts of reasons, I think he’s a loss to Irish rugby. I know Jamie, he prepares incredibly well so I’ve no doubt he will make a success of another career beyond his rugby one.

God damn it.

Thomond, #me too.

prawnsambo

prawnsambo wrote: »

Murray Kinsella quoted Joe Scmidt in full on the subject of Jamie Heaslip. It's probably the best summation of the player I've seen:

That's an excellent quote from Joe, very thoughtful and revealing.

Shefwedfan

Most of my favorite moment, I think it was the first Sexton try v Northamption

If you watch Heaslip he blocks the Northampton player and Sexton can then score, if he didn't do that little block then I think the whole game was gone