Quote nathan_rugby="nathan_rugby"When he was 13 years old... that was 18 years ago
Logan Tomkins and Iain Thornley also played the age above at St Pats, means a lot at the time but nothing once you get to the older ages.
Plenty of players dominate in the 13-16 year old bracket and then never make it at the higher level. Similar to the fact that there are many players who don't get picked up early on but make it at a later age (Makinson, Powell, Crosby).'"
I'm assuming from your post you didn't see him play. No one in living memory was as good at that age as OF. Playing an age up happens a fair bit. Good but not that noteworthy. Being comfortably the best player in the UK at the age above I've never seen happen with anyone else. It wasn't just physically developing early either (though clearly he had great genetics) his passing and kicking were both outstanding for a player of any age. I agree that may not translate Into Super League but we shouldn't just think of him as an RU convert either. He's spent time running rings around many of our current stars.