Northampton_Saint wrote:
He was big and constantly up for biff in the 5 minutes he was on the pitch before being sent off basically so everyone thought he was great. It's a bit like pace being the only property most numpties are capable of being able to appreciate a back for - if a winger is quick he's good, otherwise he's rubbish. If a forward is aggressive and starts fights he's good etc. etc. FWIW I always thought overall he was more of a liability than anything else.
That's harsh on Matautia. He was a very aggressive man, to be sure, butI'll bet he didn't give away as many penalties as, say, Scott Moore or Ben Westwood. Also, as a guy who didn't much bother with the whole footwork-before-the-line approach of most modern forwards, he really battered the opposition tacklers, as well as putting in a few bellringers himself.
In any case, I'd never put him in an overall dream team ahead of the likes of Fairleigh or Ward, but I was just comparing him to his counterparts in today's squad. I'd have him ahead of any of our identikit not-very-big-not-very-fast-not-very-skilful bench forwards. Or indeed ahead of a starter like Perry.
Sounds pretty special, you've convinced me I should track down the dvd
