Dan Carter attends a training session after announcing he is joining the Blues at Blues HQ on June 04, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Dan Carter attends a training session after announcing he is joining the Blues at Blues HQ on June 04, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Okay rugby, you've got our attention with this one. Well done.
Rolling out Mr Legend Dan Carter in the pandemic recovery era is one heck of a stimulus package.
But the national sport would be well advised to remember that the return of DC won't go close to providing thereal remedies the game is crying out for.
Rugby really needs a new Jonah Lomu - among many things - but in the absence of that an old Dan Carter will have to do.
Carter was already playing like a wily 38-year-old at the World Cup five years ago, so he's had a bit of practice at this sort of caper.
Some players, like Carter, have a game which could probably survive this sort of belated comeback, although in my opinion he's in for a tough time.
A football mate likened it to the return of the artful Paul Scholes at Manchester United. Very true, but then again Scholes didn't have missiles aiming his way, not if you don't count some of Sir Alex Ferguson's halftime speeches.
What made Carter so great? One word springs to mind - balance.
I can't think of a footballer with a better grip on terra firma than Carter. You could hit him with a sledge hammer or something even worse, like Brian Lima, and he'd still keep scuttling along. It gave him a wonderful base from which to direct operations as a No. 10 and tear teams apart when the opportunities arose.
New Blues rugby signing Daniel Carter, right, with coach Leon MacDonald, during the Blues rugby training session hled at their base at Alexandra Park. Photo / Brett Phibbs.
About the only bloke to really smash Carter was Bismarck du Plessis, with that wonderful tackle at Eden Park. It was a rare occasion when the elusive Carter was a sitting target.
All the tiny moves made him impossible to nail, and a big star. But that was a while ago.
Frankly, I think he's nuts coming back at this age.
After neck surgery, very little football (in second rate Japan) and no contact training, he's setting himself up to get the Bismarck treatment again.
Carter's prime was a very long time ago, a long time before he quit the All Blacks, when rugby was still rugby.
It will be fascinating to see how he copes, with the nostalgic element thrown in. His return is a Godsend for the national sport.
I predict he will struggle though, and there's the added concern for Blues fans his presence will muddy the waters in terms of Beauden Barrett being allowed to dominate proceedings.
Dan Carter during a Blues Super Rugby training session as rugby training resumes after the Covid 19 lockdown. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
With all the fanfare, there will be pressure on coach Leon MacDonald, who made this happen, to give Carter plenty of game time no matter how he is playing.
But apart from that, bring it on, and persevering will be worth heaps on a PR level.
Once this little sugar rush is over though, it will be back to the enduring problems of how rugby prepares itself for the future.
Who, it must be asked, is rugby's next great star? Superstar power is the essence of professional sport and rugby has run out of the big names.
League is getting all excited about a teenager named Joseph Suaalii, who was snared by the Rabbitohs from a top Sydney rugby school and is being compared to Greg Inglis, Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Folau.
Rugby is peddling the admirable but forgettable - against history's finest - George Bridge and co.
Loose forwards who all look the same and wings who can play everywhere else are not going to do the trick in a sport bogged down by so many stoppages it barely gives 35 minutes of action out of 80.
Carter is an icon of rugby's glory days, both good and bad.
He was an extraordinary footballer, but like his old Crusaders comrade Richie McCaw incredibly boring.
Rugby needs a huge cultural shift, so flamboyant characters emerge and others can at least connect with the public. Without that it will be dog tucker.
At his very best, Dan Carter would have found a way to do his talking on the field.
At the age of 38, he'll probably become another one of its victims.
