Originally Posted by
tic
Wow, thanks Professor Freud, I feel so...analysed.
Its no defensive mechanism. I fully understand MMM's talents. But the truth is that he was a huge injury risk. In the last four years. I believe he would have played about one in every three or four matches. From that point of view, his loss may not be that huge.
As for Barnes, he is a composed player with good defence and a good kicking game. But he is no superstar like O'Connor or Giteau. He has substantial limitaions in attack, and when he does make a break, he is often inclined to not find a support player. Maybe he can improve in these areas, but he certainly needs to.
Personally, I think Quade Cooper will be a better fly half once he matures. He obviously also has weak spots, but I think he has a far more inventive attacking game. Some in rugby circles also believe Ben Lucas has more ability than Barnes, but he has not yet been tested enough.
So overall, there are no rose coloured glasses here - I just realise that the world hasn't collapsed because Barnes is gone. The sun will be up again tomorrow.