SA Footy

Me and a mate were talking and saying imagine how good it would be to see Lebron James vs Lance Franklin against each other in a marking contest. In fantasy land what sports stars would you like to see switch codes. Ill start with

Lebron James (AFL)
Lance Franklin (wide reciever NFL)
Usain Bolt (winger NRL/super 14's)
Adam Gilchrist (Major League Baseball)
Willie Mason (NHL)

any nba baller between 6'6'' and 7'0''. could just imagine dwight howard vs lebron james in the ruck.
the best two would be greg inglis and israel folau from rugby league. both have spent time in melbourne and there marking prowess rivals any of the afl's forwards. inglis even kicked a goal last night (even if it was a drop kick). they would both be awesome

whufc wrote:Willie Mason (NHL)

It takes a lot skill to 1/ skate,2/ skate with a stick, 3/ skate with a stick and control a puck and 4/ skate with a stick,control a puck and not get hammered.
I doubt whether Willie could even tie up a skate!

bryce gibbs for Wests Tigers in the NRL
Gary Ablett in the EPL
John Barnes in the EPL

Getting a bit carried away with some of these IMHO. The basketballers would be amazing to watch leap and jump to catch the ball. Lebron would be able to jump clear over most defenders. But not much good if you can't kick a ball!

Folau and Inglis have good marking ability for rugby players but wouldn't rival too many really. They look good in NRL because nobody even tries to take the ball overhead, nobody tries to spoil, and nobody blocks their run at the ball!

Mason an ice hockey player, Gibbs a rugby player and Ablett/Barnes soccer are just so stupid it's either sad or a monumental joke!

Really, most people who are going to be able to "switch" games either will have history in that sport, the sport be VERY similar to their own or perform a very specific role. Like a distance runner might make a good tagger but not much else in footy. Hurdlers used to be called into college football teams for the very odd times they were less than 5 yards from the line but wouldn't be used for anything else.

Grahaml wrote:Getting a bit carried away with some of these IMHO. The basketballers would be amazing to watch leap and jump to catch the ball. Lebron would be able to jump clear over most defenders. But not much good if you can't kick a ball!

Folau and Inglis have good marking ability for rugby players but wouldn't rival too many really. They look good in NRL because nobody even tries to take the ball overhead, nobody tries to spoil, and nobody blocks their run at the ball!

Mason an ice hockey player, Gibbs a rugby player and Ablett/Barnes soccer are just so stupid it's either sad or a monumental joke!

Really, most people who are going to be able to "switch" games either will have history in that sport, the sport be VERY similar to their own or perform a very specific role. Like a distance runner might make a good tagger but not much else in footy. Hurdlers used to be called into college football teams for the very odd times they were less than 5 yards from the line but wouldn't be used for anything else.

Spot on.

The ability to switch sports at a high level would be a remarkable feat in itself, while some may have the attributes to be a good player in another code it very rarely could eventuate even if they did try. The differences in games are so large that even the most elite athlete would have trouble adjusting to a new sport.

Switching from League to Union or Vice Versa is one thing but a rugby league player trying to play AFL or a AFL player trying to play Premier League would be one in a million.

If we are talking about who has the attributes to play another sport fine but if people realistically think they could play these at the highest level then you are pretty well off the mark IMO.

I agree with that. I have read comments from people on Big Footy that Inglis could play and dominate AFL. Thats just absolute rubbish as far as i'm concerned.

Sorry but i didn't intend this topic to be a serious anlaysis just a bit of fun on on who could come up with some players who may/may not/ wouldn't/ couldn't play another sport.

Grahaml wrote:Getting a bit carried away with some of these IMHO. The basketballers would be amazing to watch leap and jump to catch the ball. Lebron would be able to jump clear over most defenders. But not much good if you can't kick a ball!

Folau and Inglis have good marking ability for rugby players but wouldn't rival too many really. They look good in NRL because nobody even tries to take the ball overhead, nobody tries to spoil, and nobody blocks their run at the ball!

Mason an ice hockey player, Gibbs a rugby player and Ablett/Barnes soccer are just so stupid it's either sad or a monumental joke!

Really, most people who are going to be able to "switch" games either will have history in that sport, the sport be VERY similar to their own or perform a very specific role. Like a distance runner might make a good tagger but not much else in footy. Hurdlers used to be called into college football teams for the very odd times they were less than 5 yards from the line but wouldn't be used for anything else.

I disagree, first of all correct me if im wrong but both Kurt Tippett and Dean Brogan come from basketball backgrounds dont they? Folau and Inglis are natural athletes i think they would adapt no problems.

When you look at it there are plenty of players who have played different codes.

Kieran Jack, Ben Graham, Andrew Symonds, That guy who played for Canada rugby union at the swans. The irish gaelic footballers, Darren Lockyer was born in Vic and early childhood played aussie rules a bit. Joven Clarke (NRL) was a sprint champion.

These guys are athletes with amazing ability, i think you could put them in any sport and they would adapt well, given a bit of time & coaching.

Phantom Gossiper wrote:I disagree, first of all correct me if im wrong but both Kurt Tippett and Dean Brogan come from basketball backgrounds dont they? Folau and Inglis are natural athletes i think they would adapt no problems.

When you look at it there are plenty of players who have played different codes.

Kieran Jack, Ben Graham, Andrew Symonds, That guy who played for Canada rugby union at the swans. The irish gaelic footballers, Darren Lockyer was born in Vic and early childhood played aussie rules a bit. Joven Clarke (NRL) was a sprint champion.

These guys are athletes with amazing ability, i think you could put them in any sport and they would adapt well, given a bit of time & coaching.

Well because he played AFL as a kid he must be able to switch codes and play at the highest level . Just because players play other sports as juniors does not mean they are going to be able to play either at the highest level or switch codes. Surely you should know that.

Kieran Jack only played league until he was 14 so could hardly be listed as a player that has played both codes at a high level.

shannon hurn could play state cricket, possibly for australia?!

I reckon Craig Bradley would've been a very good cricketer...

Pup wrote:Well because he played AFL as a kid he must be able to switch codes and play at the highest level . Just because players play other sports as juniors does not mean they are going to be able to play either at the highest level or switch codes. Surely you should know that.

Kieran Jack only played league until he was 14 so could hardly be listed as a player that has played both codes at a high level.

True but i just think now days with the coaching and resources etc the gap between sports is a lot closer and i just think it wouldnt be out of the question to switch sports/codes.

Natural sportsmen will excel at most things they put there efforts into due to the inherent desire to suceed and be better then the rest and the talent that they have. Whilst not obvious, there are skills that transfer across totally different sports that do allow for a successful transition from one to the other.
When talking about sports that involve balls and positioning, the transferance of skills is not that big of a jump. You just need to look at locations like darwin, where every sport on earth is played to see that transitions can be made between sports and juniors that are successful in aussie rules tend to better rugby players, basketballers etc and vie versa. Whilst at a senior level this may be harder to accomplish due to the higher skill level needed, i believe that athletes such as buddy, izzy folau and lebron james could transfer the skills and be successful to a degree in any range of sports. IMO alot of people that disagree do so because they think there athletes are better and are protective of the supremacy of their idols in what they view as the superior sport.

Gary Ablett playing EPL is a bit out there. What does he do that would be good in soccer? If he cant kick a soccer ball i have as much chance of playing in the EPL.

Barry Bonds - 20/20 cricket
Peter Daicos / Alan Didak - soccer

Alwyn Davey - Soccer
David Rodan - Rugby

David Warner - Cricket

Regards,

BL

hackham_hawk_3 wrote:Gary Ablett playing EPL is a bit out there. What does he do that would be good in soccer? If he cant kick a soccer ball i have as much chance of playing in the EPL.

Gareth Ian "Gary" Ablett (born 19 November 1965) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a defender. He spent nine years with Liverpool, and went on to win the FA Cup with their city rivals Everton in 1995. He is the current Liverpool F.C. Reserves manager.

Strawb07 wrote:

hackham_hawk_3 wrote:Gary Ablett playing EPL is a bit out there. What does he do that would be good in soccer? If he cant kick a soccer ball i have as much chance of playing in the EPL.

Gareth Ian "Gary" Ablett (born 19 November 1965) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a defender. He spent nine years with Liverpool, and went on to win the FA Cup with their city rivals Everton in 1995. He is the current Liverpool F.C. Reserves manager.

Same goes for Bryce Gibbs playing NRL for Wests I assume he is still there?