Heaslip Retiring / Appreciation Thread [MOD WARNING: POST 1]

molloyjh

AnneFrank wrote: »

he was always full of it, no doubt we'll have to listen to him now as a pundit

Excellent input. Yes, very good.

I worried this thread would turn into a shít show.

Bit depressing to be proved right.

Burkie1203

Larbre34 wrote: »

He was a player ahead of his time, and he must be jointly the most decorated in the history of the Irish game?

Leinster

Heineken Cup (3): 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12
Pro12 (3): 2007–08, 2012–13, 2013–14
European Challenge Cup (1): 2012–13

Ireland

Six Nations Championship (3): 2009, 2014, 2015
Triple Crown (2): 2007 & 2009
Grand Slam (1): 2009

British and Irish Lions tours (2): 2009, 2013,

No other irish player has matched his winning record. He is the most decorated player which is remarkable given his generation.

stephen_n

Deusexmachina wrote: »

Exactly what I was referring to. He even said he sometimes doesn’t bother watching the matches when he is not involved.

Maybe you should listen to the left wing podcasts with him, when he addresses that misquote. Very informative.

Faugheen

Deusexmachina wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

It's a thread on a player retiring, not a memorial thread for a dead person. Rackard is stating their (unpopular) opinion but they're hardly being a dick about it. Perhaps you think there should be two threads about Heaslip's retirement, one for loving comments and one for a discussion about his career?

The way to respond to someone who you feel is being disrespectful probably shouldn't be snideness.

I have to agree with everything Buer has said though. He would have been key to Leinster actually coming away with something last season.

Super post. Some posters on the Rugby forum hate any criticism of their heroes and get very bitchy, very quickly.
A discussion forum is a place for discussion, including dissenting views.

Because the people who were his detractors have no basis for their arguments about his ability other than the fact that they didn't like him.

Someone said earlier his WPOTY nomination was a surprise. A load of ex rugby greats must have been all wrong then. Anyone who watches him without wanting him to f*ck up could see how great he was.

That's actually it, so many people were begging for him to make an absolute balls of it so they could justify themselves. Last year he made more tackles than any other Irish forward and there was only centimetres per carry in it between him and Stander, yet people got all on their high horse about him missing the England game saying he was done and what have you.

I'm yet to see any valid conversation backed up by facts which suggest Heaslip was on the way out when he got injured or that he isn't missed by province or country.

You can have a pop about anyone defending him all you want, but some of the stuff written about Heaslip on these forums have been absolutely laughable and too many people were far too quick to jump on him. Look at the end of the England game last year and see how many comments were about Heaslip not playing and how they were vindicated.

Irish rugby fans deserve absolutely nothing if that's how they see one of the greatest players to wear the green jersey.

Deusexmachina

molloyjh wrote: »

He's clarified that elsewhere. He loves rugby. But he also loves other things. When he was "at work" he was fully switched on and loved every minute of it. When he's away from rugby he's also fully switched off from it. He seems to be a really well balanced guy. It's incredibly important to him but doesn't run his life.

He spoke about it really well on Fitzys Left Wing podcast a few weeks ago. Worth a listen as he's very interesting in how he approached the game and life outside it.

Yeah, I sat beside his Dad at a match just before the injury. He also said that Jamie was not a huge rugby fan. Appently his brothers are more so?
Anyway, no biggie. I mostly don’t like my work either!

Sangre

Heard an interesting analysis of Haskell (and other players) on another podcast recently. In short, the point made was that Haskell suffered a lot of criticism for many years for being a player who tried to break the mould somewhat and, from a very early age, made it obvious he had pursuits outside rugby. This included him playing abroad in several countries and a heavy online presence promoting his various business ventures. As time has gone on, I think Haskell has won over a lot of his critics. Partly because players now recognise that it is essential to create a life after rugby.


I think Heaslip falls in a similar bucket. Very much guy who knew what he was about and frankly didn't care what others thought of him. He was very focused on making a life outside rugby. As a result, he probably was the subject of quite a bit of unnecessary flak. Anyone who dislikes him can never point to a specific reason - given his on-field disciple (red card aside) and general lack of media presence - other than 'I just don't like him'.

stephen_n

Deusexmachina wrote: »

Yeah, I sat beside his Dad at a match just before the injury. He also said that Jamie was not a huge rugby fan. Appently his brothers are more so?
Anyway, no biggie. I mostly don’t like my work either!

Yet Jamie himself saying differently doesn’t count? Then again I doubt you are going to bother informing yourself by listening to it.

sydthebeat

Faugheen wrote: »

Irish rugby fans deserve absolutely nothing if that's how they see one of the greatest players to wear the green jersey.

i wouldnt class those detractors as irish fans, id imagine they are bitter provincial fans who are pissed off at how many times hes been on winning teams against them through the last decade... and all they have to moan about is head phones and sandals.

there are none as blind as those who refuse to see.

Deusexmachina

Deusexmachina wrote: »

Yeah, I sat beside his Dad at a match just before the injury. He also said that Jamie was not a huge rugby fan.=

That happened alright.

Deusexmachina

Deleted User wrote: »

That happened alright.

No, I made that up because this is so important to me.

JustJoe7240

Can anyone tell me what Kimmage actually tweeted? Seems to be gone now

Utah_Saint

Fantastic player, and great role model.  Changed my view on how a Number 8 should operate.  Its unfortunate it ended for him like this considering he was made of titanium most of his career.

.ak

MOD WARNING: This is now an appreciation thread. This is not something we wanted to do. Unfortunately as people don’t know how to behave like adults so there it is. You can keep your long harbinged grudges for another time...

pickarooney

harbinged... what is that even supposed to be?

CIARAN_BOYLE

Sadly Jamie's Heaslip was the most underappreciated Irish player of the professional era.

Congratulations Jamie on your career your were a great player and captain for both Ireland and Leinster.

irishbucsfan

pickarooney wrote: »

harbinged... what is that even supposed to be?

I think it's a food place down the end of Harcourt street, probably owned by Heaslip

dub_skav

pickarooney wrote: »

harbinged... what is that even supposed to be?

You'll have to forgive .ak, he's lighting candles in 3FE as we speak

Squatter

pickarooney wrote: »

harbinged... what is that even supposed to be?

I think it's the present, pluperfect, módh coinníollach, gerund of the verb to harbour.

Buer

Sangre wrote: »

Heard an interesting analysis of Haskell (and other players) on another podcast recently. In short, the point made was that Haskell suffered a lot of criticism for many years for being a player who tried to break the mould somewhat and, from a very early age, made it obvious he had pursuits outside rugby. This included him playing abroad in several countries and a heavy online presence promoting his various business ventures. As time has gone on, I think Haskell has won over a lot of his critics. Partly because players now recognise that it is essential to create a life after rugby.

Haskell showed terrific aptitude as a film maker in his youth before turning his attentions to rugby.

irishbucsfan

Buer wrote: »

Haskell showed terrific aptitude as a film maker in his youth before turning his attentions to rugby.

Careful now

molloyjh

Deusexmachina wrote: »

Yeah, I sat beside his Dad at a match just before the injury. He also said that Jamie was not a huge rugby fan. Appently his brothers are more so?
Anyway, no biggie. I mostly don’t like my work either!

Jamie himself has said that he didn't watch much rugby when he played. He was living it enough as it was and had other things to be doing than sitting watching even more rugby. I'm sure that's what his dad was getting at. Since his injury he's actually started watching it again (this is from the horses mouth) and enjoys that aspect now.

Basically when he was playing it was taking up most of his time and he didn't want to lose more time to the game. When he stopped playing he starting watching as a fan again. When asked about his future in the game after retiring he said he probably wasn't going to coach or become a pundit. However he said he did like the podcast format where it's a bit more conversational and inferred he might be interested in getting involved in that somewhat.

Squatter

Buer wrote: »

Haskell showed terrific aptitude as a film maker in his youth before turning his attentions to rugby.

Bless your memory, I had forgotten all about that!

Larbre34

joecass123 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what Kimmage actually tweeted? Seems to be gone now

He retweeted a not so droll tweet from Aidan O'Hara also of the indo-rag, something about Heaslip's lack of engagement with the media over the years.

Larbre34

:D

Buer wrote: »

Haskell showed terrific aptitude as a film maker in his youth before turning his attentions to rugby.

molloyjh

Larbre34 wrote: »

He retweeted a not so droll tweet from Aidan O'Hara also of the indo-rag, something about Heaslip's lack of engagement with the media over the years.

Jaysus, how dare a person dictate the level of publicity they engage in. :rolleyes:

JustJoe7240

Larbre34 wrote: »

He retweeted a not so droll tweet from Aidan O'Hara also of the indo-rag, something about Heaslip's lack of engagement with the media over the years.

I think that's in reference to Heaslip blocking them, But that's still on his page, I'd imagine it's a reference to Heaslip doping or some other nonsense he won't let go of.

CatFromHue

It's not that he didn't do media, it's that he blocked a pile of journalists on twitter.

Spudmonkey

Pity that for a guy who was never out through injury that it was an injury that finally got him. Great player for Leinster and Ireland.

That try against France was the first thing that came to mind for me too.

the kelt

A player who’s excellence will be far more appreciated amongst the supporters of other rugby playing nations simply because he happened to take the approach of not conforming strictly to how an Irish rugby player should be seen to be.

Oh and because of good old fashioned begurdgery!

Top player and decent bloke to boot.

irishbucsfan

CatFromHue wrote: »

It's not that he didn't do media, it's that he blocked a pile of journalists on twitter.

I also don't think that's what people were complaining about, was there not a tweet that was deleted (I don't actually know, but thats what I assumed)

Larbre34

The man lifted 10 senior competition trophies, no matter what anyone in the media says or does or begrudges, that will never change.

Well done James and good health in the future.

CatFromHue

Aidan O'Hara, who writes for the Indo, tweeted

“This tweet is unavailable” has retired

which Kimmage retweeted.

he, O'Hara, then went on to say

About 10 straight tweets on my TL were QT, paying tribute to “this tweet is unavailable”. It looked funny. That’s about the height of it

It’s funny, peculiar to have people paying tribute to a tweet you can’t see. Again, that’s about it. Where do you get that I think his retirement is funny? I’d say that’s not your finest work

I think, could be wrong, that if Heaslip had blocked O'Hara then on his timeline he wouldn't be able to see what Heaslip tweeted (this tweet is unavailable), only what other people were saying.

joecass123

joecass123 wrote: »

I think that's in reference to Heaslip blocking them, But that's still on his page, I'd imagine it's a reference to Heaslip doping or some other nonsense he won't let go of.

Won't comment about it in this thread, but that's what I saw.

irishbucsfan

Deleted User wrote: »

Won't comment about it in this thread, but that's what I saw.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking

dubal

A huge loss to Ireland and Leinster. Its amazing how he maintained his level and adapted to the changes in Rugby for such a long career.

shootermacg

Truly a great, he'll be missed.

vienne86

Really sad to see Jamie Heaslip have to end his career in this way - he seemed bullet proof for almost all of this playing days.

Thank you, Jamie, for the great service you gave to Leinster, Ireland and the Lions - I hope you have a long, happy and healthy life.

Burkie1203

329 senior appearances

95 for ireland
5 for lions
229 for leinster

We are unlikely to see that again in Ireland

.ak

pickarooney wrote: »

harbinged... what is that even supposed to be?

It’s a perfectly cromulant word.

Buer

Burkie1203 wrote: »

329 senior appearances

95 for ireland
5 for lions
229 for leinster

We are unlikely to see that again in Ireland

Healy is only 30 and has 260 appearances. I'd expect him to push that close if not beat it. 70 appearances in 4-5 years is very achievable.

Burkie1203

We never did get to see this combo enough

https://twitter.com/patmccarry/status/968086094834229249

irishbucsfan

At the time people complained about how they weren't balanced. Probably just because they heard the term on telly!

awec

Burkie1203 wrote: »

We never did get to see this combo enough

https://twitter.com/patmccarry/status/968086094834229249

That backrow is so good that if all three of them were fit and available they'd still be the first choice for Ireland 7 years later.

Burkie1203

Buer wrote: »

Healy is only 30 and has 260 appearances. I'd expect him to push that close if not beat it. 70 appearances in 4-5 years is very achievable.

Did a quick look at players records and never considered Healy as he had a few years off with injury. Kept forgetting he made his debut so young.

dublinman1990

He was a wonderful rugby player for Leinster & Ireland. Best of luck in your retirement Jamie. You were a real pro on & off the pitch.

BBDBB

conjugate the verb

I harboured
You harbinged
They cant resist taking a pop at a highly respected servant of province and country

Yeah_Right

Always a shame when an injury ends a player's career. Over the past 10 plus years living in Ireland I came to appreciate Heaslip more and more. Loved how his game evolved. I'd rate him as one of the top ten number 8s I've ever seen.

I've even forgiven him for kneeing McCaw in the head 😆

One of my favourite memories of Heaslip was a random league match against Ulster (I think) at the RDS sometime around 2009-11. My flatmate and I were watching game, having a few beers and maybe a little bit of whacky-backy. Heaslip took off on a storming run down the sideline, a young Ulster (?) back charged across to make the covering tackle and received a big "don't argue" to the face. One of the best fends we'd ever seen. We spent about 10 minutes rewinding it and laughing. Ok, yes there was definitely some Maryjane involved.

The comment about him not watching rugby. I've heard that from a few of my mates who played at pro level. They just didn't enjoy watching games in their down time apart from big test matches. After they retired, they have started to enjoy watching it as a fan again.

prawnsambo

awec wrote: »

That backrow is so good that if all three of them were fit and available they'd still be the first choice for Ireland 7 years later.

Horrible to think that two of them have been forced to retire through injury, Ferris far too young and SOB's career seems to be hanging from a thread now, also because of injury.

Stheno

Sad news

Thanks for the memories Jamie

Best wishes to him for the future