Glen Ella tips Kurtley Beale for league conversion

[The InnFORCEr]

GLEN Ella has predicted Kurtley Beale will become the best rugby player in Australia, but the former Wallaby fullback is convinced he will eventually switch to rugby league.

Ella, who discovered Beale while he was a schoolboy in Sydney and mentored him for several years, has been impressed with the way he has turned his career around in the past 12 months.

After struggling to establish himself as a starter for NSW Waratahs, Beale finished last year as the Wallabies' first-choice fullback and was nominated for the IRB's International Player of the Year award.

"He has had a few hiccups along the way, but he has learnt from those mistakes," Ella said.

"He knows if he keeps himself fit, he'll just keep on going. He'll be the best player in Australia by far. He is that good."

But Ella believes Beale will switch to rugby league after achieving what he wants to accomplish in rugby union.

Beale grew up playing rugby league in Sydney's western suburbs before attending St Joseph's College, one of Australia's greatest rugby nurseries, on an indigenous scholarship.

"I'd like to see him stay in rugby, but he's got a rugby league background," Ella said. "Once you've played a couple of World Cups and stuff like that, he would probably want to test himself out in the other code.

"Hopefully, that doesn't happen, but I can see him heading there eventually. He loves it. If you talk about Matty Johns and Benji Marshall, his eyes light up because he wants to be something like that.

"When he started he was a bit hesitant in defence. His defence has improved 100 per cent. That was the only part of his game that was a little bit shaky. His attack is fantastic."

Beale arrived on the Super Rugby scene with the Waratahs as a 17-year-old in 2007 amid tremendous fanfare.

He was compared to former Wallabies five-eighth Mark Ella (Glen's twin) because of his skills and Aboriginal heritage, but it has taken him a few years to live up to his promise.

Beale shifted between five-eighth and inside centre before a mid-season move to fullback where he emerged as one of the most exciting players in world rugby in 2010.

But Ella envisages Beale moving back to a playmaking role. "I think he will eventually go back to 10," Ella said. "Now that he has experience he is so much more confident in everything he does. He backs himself to the hilt.

"Whilst he is a fantastic fullback and should be selected there for Australia, it would be good to see him go back to 10 eventually.

"The more he has got the ball in his hands he is going to cause trouble. He's got a pretty good kicking game, he's got that acceleration to be able to go through a gap if it opens and he's got a great pass either side.

"He's got all the makings of a good 10. Let him enjoy himself at fullback for the moment."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226007204706

[TOCC]

the same Glen Ella who is a employee of Horton-Ella, Kurtley Beale's managment company??

Oh i see whats going on here!

[jargan83]

Oh i see whats going on here!

Nothing suss at all.....

[James]

Yeah I thought that too when I saw the headline.

It is shameless the way the Ella brothers play the league card with Beale.

[shasta]

Nasssssty, nassssty, little mungoses.........oh hang on.......my mistake.

[CunnamullaFulla]

Money talks
Mungoes have small cheque books

[GIGS20]

It's got nothing to do with bagging league here Shasta, it's all bout how you can't pay any attention to a single thing the Ella brothers say about rugby anymore, it's all a thinly veiled attempt to improve the marketing position of their clients.

You'd think after all the practice they've had they'd be better at it!

[CunnamullaFulla]

Bag league though
I have a few minutes to get fiercely involved

[The Ethicist]

I advocate mungo bashing

[Rex Messup]

Bring it on b1tches

[WARHORSE]

I'll bash anyone who bashes the mungoes

[brokendown gunfighter]

where's Dr G?

[shasta]

where's Dr G?

Still exploring.

[GIGS20]

Speedy Rex, that's a personality a minute!

[Lee Grant]

I saw Beale first as a 13 y.o. at Joeys in an U13 trial match (he's got a January birth date) and I was gob smacked. I looked for him the next week but he was playing in the U15 trials. They had kicked him out.

I can't disagree with anything Glen Ella said - and incidentally he said when Beale was 15 that he would be a Wallaby by the time he was 19. Would have been too on the 2008 EOYT had not he injured himself in the S14 final, then again later in the gym just before he was ready to get back on the park for his club. Cooper, who had an average year in the 2008 S14 got a trip instead, and look at him now.

People should not be shocked that Ella mentioned that Beale will most likely play league one day. He had never played union before he went to Joeys and has foretold that he will probably switch once he achieves his union goals. This is common knowledge in our neck of the woods and it gets a mention about once a year in the papers.

The ARU people who decide what salary he gets know this, and the people in the same position down the track will know it too. They know he is a natural league player - and that Cooper is too.

Player managers of rugby players play the league card all the time - and vice versa - but mention of the likelihood of Beale (or Cooper) switching to league will have no effect. The ARU already know about it.