Jonah

[LeTallecWiz]

Was just watching him and joost talking ... such respect between two legends.

Was Jonah the key to getting rugby to where it is today?

Was the a more devastating athlete ?

 

[The Nomad]

Lomu was ahead of his time but if he was playing today, I don't think he'd have been as devastating. Rugby caught up.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Lomu was ahead of his time but if he was playing today, I don't think he'd have been as devastating. Rugby caught up.

I think Rosco mentioned it back in the day, but he was the player that made rugby move forward into the modern era.
You couldn't be what you were pre-Lomu and compete.

 

[Squiggles]

It's hard to gage his overall impact, but he certainly inspired huge numbers of people to take up the game, and let's face it, if you're a pro rugby player seeing highlights of Lomu then you're hitting the gym double next week for your own safety. It's not long then for new cultures to develop.

The transformative athletes are the ones who regularly make professional colleagues look like amateurs. See Messi, Michael Jordan, Bolt, Warne/Lara/Tendulkar, etc. Lomu comfortably belongs in the very elite tier.

 

[Dreambeliever]

I played the rugby game religiously as a kid. Fuck it was good.

I wanted NZ to win that WC to cement him. He created as much buzz in rugby as Tiger did in golf and brought so many fans to the game while inspiring the next generation.
His health concerns were a travesty.
Legend.

 

[Judge Jules]

I loved playing rugby in my younger days too, and if I'd been bigger or more skilful it would probably have been my favourite sport ahead of footy, which I was ultimately better at. I still like watching it just as much most of the time if I'm honest - only LFC European nights consistently beat it for sheer enjoyment.

As for Jonah, he deserves all the plaudits. A cousin of mine met him a time or two in NZ and was very fond of him just as an individual. God rest him.