There are always a lot of promising young players up for grabs.
It's always a bit of a crap shoot with outside backs. They might look like men against boys in the lower grades due to their extra pace and/or size, but whether they have the mentality top realise their potential, or whether they have the ability to learn those additional skills required for 1st grade is often up for questioning.
Look how many 'next big things' we went through over the past 10-15 years or so - Sisa Waqa, Tautau Moga, Setimata Sa, Ryan Williamson, Mcdonald, Momirovski, Langi, Henry, Tagivie ........... the majority of whom had massive wraps on them coming through. "The next Folau" was uttered in reference to at least three of the above. The only three home grown outside backs for us that REALLY were the next big thing were RTS, Latrell and Toupo. (Ferguson, Morris etc dont count as they were produced elsewhere). And of those two, it took a long time before Toupo really hit his stride, and it's still up for debate as to whether Latrell will become another flash in the pan like Ewan McGrady.
Presumably, even though talented, the coaching staff have seen something (small lack of effort, not quite the right attitude, issues with acquiring new skills or putting them into practice etc) that leads them to believe Tuipulotu is less worth the investment than some other options floating around.
It's always a bit of a crap shoot with outside backs. They might look like men against boys in the lower grades due to their extra pace and/or size, but whether they have the mentality top realise their potential, or whether they have the ability to learn those additional skills required for 1st grade is often up for questioning.
Look how many 'next big things' we went through over the past 10-15 years or so - Sisa Waqa, Tautau Moga, Setimata Sa, Ryan Williamson, Mcdonald, Momirovski, Langi, Henry, Tagivie ........... the majority of whom had massive wraps on them coming through. "The next Folau" was uttered in reference to at least three of the above. The only three home grown outside backs for us that REALLY were the next big thing were RTS, Latrell and Toupo. (Ferguson, Morris etc dont count as they were produced elsewhere). And of those two, it took a long time before Toupo really hit his stride, and it's still up for debate as to whether Latrell will become another flash in the pan like Ewan McGrady.
Presumably, even though talented, the coaching staff have seen something (small lack of effort, not quite the right attitude, issues with acquiring new skills or putting them into practice etc) that leads them to believe Tuipulotu is less worth the investment than some other options floating around.
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