Dally Messenger declared him the best player he ever saw. Jimmy Craig, a Balmain utility back, represented Australia, NSW and Queensland as a centre, halfback, five-eighth, fullback and even hooker over a 16-year career where he played every position on the field except front row.
None of today’s players could display such versatility. Not only was Craig a human scrabble blank on the field, he was invariably the most valuable. Pony Halloway, a Balmain teammate and later coach and winner of 11 premierships, claimed that in every game he saw Craig play, he was the best, irrespective of his position on the field.
While Newcastle’s Kalyn Ponga, the 2023 Dally M player of the year, is a gifted fullback and five-eighth and could fill in briefly in the back row, it is unlikely Dally’s fellow Immortal and ex-Knight Andrew ‘Joey’ Johns would be awarding him three Dally M points in every game, especially those played out of position.
Which raises a paradox in the modern game.
As the code’s administrators introduce rules which reward versatility, coaches encourage specialisation.
Scrums are no longer a contest, meaning NRL coaches are not required to spend an hour each training session on specialised front-row skills. Raking for the ball is illegal. (Rabbitoh George Piggins, an expert at retrieving the Steeden in a lazy play-the-ball, while also winning scrums, would now be used only Brandon Smith-like, burrowing through the forward line from dummy-half).
Jacks of all trades … Jimmy Craig and Kalyn Ponga.Credit: Illustration: Nathan Perri
The NRL’s replacement rule also encourages versatility. With only four players allowed on the bench, most coaches include only one back. Ideally, he is a player who can fill a multitude of backline positions. Cronulla’s versatile Nicho Hynes, the 2022 Dally M winner, has played fullback, centre (where he made a critical error at Origin level), half, five-eighth and in the middle of the field.
Yet today’s players are coached from an early age to specialise. Dividing the field into left and right hemispheres is partly responsible, with some right-side centres incapable of playing on the left. Forwards are divided into middle and edge, where the edge, or wider running ones, are further subdivided into right or left. An NRL training session is Kabuki theatre, the same polished routines over and over.
However, an NRL match demands versatility, especially with HIA. When a back is sidelined, he is often replaced by a forward, with players shuffled. The Warriors’ Tohu Harris, while with the Storm, played edge, middle and in the halves and centres. And always for 80 minutes! Yet the specialist players at NRL clubs receive the biggest pay packets. To be fair, the Storm’s highest-paid player, five-eighth (left-side half) Cameron Munster, could play hooker, given he doesn’t have to win the ball in the scrum. However, even Munster rarely knows what he is going to do with the ball, meaning he would be confusing everyone else when directing traffic from dummy-half. Furthermore, why take him away from the position where he is most lethal?
Still, while Jimmy Craig’s preferred position was fullback, he played hooker for Australia against both New Zealand and England when scrums were competitive; there was no replacement rule and he was the best player on the field. As captain coach of Wests aged 34, he selected himself as hooker and won an even share of the ball. A member of Balmain’s team during their golden period from 1915 to 1920, the Tigers’ only failure was the 1918 season when Craig was on military duty and they finished fourth.
The NRL’s replacement rule encourages versatility. Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes has played fullback, centre, half, five-eighth and in the middle of the field.Credit: Getty
He switched to play for Sydney University in 1922 (they were a NSWRL club until the rah rahs made it difficult) while studying dentistry and moved to Ipswich the following year.
His record for the Maroons against NSW was seven series wins from eight attempts, captaining the state from 1923-25, while also touring New Zealand as skipper.
Craig played seven Tests for Australia against England from 1921-28, captaining his country in the 1924 Ashes series. He coached both Wests and Canterbury to their maiden premierships, winning the Magpies inaugural title as captain coach in 1930 and the then the Berries’ first flag in 1938, only their fourth season.
Jim’s elder brother and Balmain teammate, Bob, was even more versatile. A dual international, Bob won a gold medal at the London Olympics in 1908 with the Wallabies, while also representing NSW in swimming, water polo and soccer.
Sure, these heroes of yesteryear played a slower game, compared to today where every rule in the Peter V’Landys-era has been to quicken it up, particularly the six-again revolution.
The most recent rule change – replacing a penalty with a play-the-ball for a kick-off which fails to travel 10 metres in the field of play – has been trumpeted as adding a rare contest for the ball.
It’s also another penalty excised from a game, with the 90 seconds to two minutes spent kicking a penalty goal extinguished.
But it does encourage specialisation, with the short high kicks suiting tall wingers contesting the ball. Wingers have already been advantaged by the corner post being removed from the field of play. Dylan Edwards, a specialist fullback, was caught out playing wing for Australia against the Kiwis. Wing is no longer a despised position where, up until two decades ago, some coaches excluded them from commenting at team meetings.
Craig’s inaugural first grade match was on the wing before his stellar talents saw him moved infield.
It’s highly unlikely Immortal ‘Joey’ Johns will ever declare a winger “the best player I ever saw” but it is the one position on the field where the rule-makers and coaches are working in the same direction.
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