Dan Carter, Over-Paid Pretty Boy? | Thebigtip

 New Zealanders in general, but particularly New Zealand sporting fans of any code have what seems like an insatiable apetite to criticise,  bag or just plain slag off our top sport stars or teams. The tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in NZ.

If we lose a game then the coach and players need to be sacked, if we win a game then we should have won by more and the coach and players still need to be sacked, and if we completely thrash a  team then they were just a bunch of chumps and we only needed to turn up to win, oh and we'll give the coach and players one more week to prove themselves.    

Proof that the tall poppy syndrome is alive and kickiing in NZ could be heard loud and clear if you took 5 mins recently to listen to sports talk back after the recent re-signings of Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw by the NZRFU. It brought out the usual tall poppy syndrome type comments on talk back and rugby forums, but what blew me away the most was that even some high profile journalists got involved and somehow only had criticisium for the NZRFU for re-signing DC and McCaw.

Some local hacks questioned whether McCaw was past his best, obviously forgetting that he had one of his most dominant seasons ever last year. Many openly stated that DC was only in it for the money and that the NZRFU spent way to much on getting his signature, again obviously forgetting that DC could have recieved 3 times more if he had signed to play in France. Comments on talk back were a bit more colourful, one idiot I heard on talk back said "Carter is nothing more than a pretty boy who is in it for the money, I hope he goes out on the field on Saturday and gets his arse knocked out". Are you serious?? Thats the thanks DC gets from one of his own countryman after turning down millions and millions of $$ to remain in NZ for the next 4 years and wear black. 

Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter are the 2 best rugby players in the world. Without those 2 on the field the AB's are dragged back in to the pack, where the likes of Aussie, France and England would be in with a good chance of regularly beating the AB's.

Heaven forbid if either, or worse both, get injured before the World Cup!

The idea that anyone, let alone so called rugby writers could find more negatives than positives in the re-signing of those 2 is beyond me. Having DC and McCaw in New Zealand for the next 4 years ensures that not only do we get the 2 best players in the world playing for the AB's, but that the next generation of player coming through will have an opportunity to learn, copy, and follow 2 of the all time greats of the game.