Headlines....

12/04/09 – From Peter Badel of heraldsun.com.au - MELBOURNE superstar Greg Inglis has hit back at claims he is overweight, saying he has no intention of accepting the advice of Queensland legend Wally Lewis to downsize his monster frame. Speaking out after a month of scrutiny over his 105kg physique, Inglis said his erratic early-season form had more to do with niggling injuries than any ongoing issues with his weight... "I don't see my weight as an issue at all,'' says Inglis, who was 99kg at the start of last season.

I hate to disagree with the Magic Johnson of rugby league, but Inglis’ weight gain is not an issue. If anything, it’s a foreseeable and eagerly awaited evolution of his career.

It’s traditional in rugby for backs to move from the outside (wing, fullback) to the inside (five-eight, halfback, hooker) as their careers progress. Inglis just did this—like everything else in his career—faster then everybody else, and in this case, faster then his own body.

Inglis is a new breed of Australian athlete. He is somewhere between the old (Mark Gasnier) and the future (think NFL player). 105kg is his real weight. Anything less than 100kg is his teenage weight. Do you still weigh the same as you did when you were 19?

The guy is a freak, and like any freak he has, and should have, a “monster” body.

People forget this guy is only 22 (as of January this year). They forget because he has been prevalent for so long already and has accomplished so much.

Since he entered the league in 2005: he’s been to 3 grand finals, won 1, won a Clive Churchill medal, won 4 Dally M medals, played 7 Origin matches, 11 Tests, and played in a World Cup final. He is the Shia Lebeouf of the NRL.

Biologically, he was due to fill out. Everybody fills out in there early 20s. I bet the Storm were counting on this when they moved him to 6. They knew he was talented enough to handle the role and they knew he would grow into his body and resolve any size issues Cronk gives them in the middle of the park.

People should be excited about this. The way LeBron James has asserted himself and his career as he has filled out in his early 20s, people should expect Inglis to do the same. Size is just another asset in his rugby league repertoire.

No play exuberates this new strength better then his offensive shoulder charge on Jamie Soward in round 1. When he has his hands on the ball he is the most dangerous player in the game. No argument.

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And THAT is the true root of his form issues.

He doesn’t touch the ball nearly enough.

NRLstats.com rank him 62nd in total runs. They also rank him 15th in broken tackles and 21st in total meters. This means, offensively, he has been superb when he has got a hold of the ball. We just aren’t seeing it because he doesn’t get involved enough.

Beyond his athletic skill set, his value is his intangible prowess. When he touches the ball things just happen. Andrew Johns value was in his intuitive prowess; he always took the right option because he could read the game so well. Inglis doesn’t always take the right option but it always seems to work out for him. His process is intangible.

Either way, stars need the offense to run through them. They can run great lines all day, but they will only be truly effective when the ball is tied to their fate. If they are fated for great things then what they carry with them on their journey will receive the same blessing. It’s the same reason people choose actors before they write scripts.

(Despite how that reads, I’m not really that religious. I was merely trying to expand on the idea that “things happen” when he touches the ball.)

Five games into the season, this seems to be more a game planning problem, then a execution problem. The Storm are too content to put him in distributing positions. He needs to be involved around the edges of the play-the-ball, and on the sideline in the red zone as a Folou-esque aerial threat.

The worst thing the Storm can do is try and mold him like a traditional five-eight. He needs the hit-and-miss freedom that Benji Marshall has. Similarly, the media and the fans need not to judge him like a traditional five-eigth. He wears 6 but he should wear ∞ (the infinity sign) because you can’t define intangible.

Brisbane Sports Fan