Reinvent Oneself

Players who managed to reinvent themselves or rebuild their careers after people thought they were done.

 

I actually meant to do a dedication to Lillyman last year after he got screwed out of an Origin spot, particularly when Meninga added insult to injury by naming Kennedy as 18th man ahead of him.

Began his career as a spud second rower. How he got Origin caps in 2006, 2007 and 2008 is totally beyond me. Then he went to the Warriors and around 2011 he reinvented himself as an impact prop off the bench. Since then he has been absolutely fantastic in that role, even stepping up his game and making the transition to a starting prop, which I thought he'd struggle with.

His carries are excellent and since 2011 he has averaged 9-10 metres per hit-up on a consistent basis. In defence he still puts on some huge shots and makes very strong contact as the first or second man into a tackle. He still has the problems of the old Jacob Lillyman, which include the obligatory blunder each game, either a fumble or getting bumped off in a regulation tackle; however, overall he has reinvented himself from an overrated, dud backrower to a tremendous bench prop, a very good starting prop and a fringe Origin player.

 

Had to do this twice in recent years.

After being booted from the Roosters and branded as an insidious influence he went up to the Cowboys and proved he still had the goods as an excellent impact player off the bench, even after everyone had written him off an overrated, past his used by date etc.

Then he went over to Hull KR, played like a real dud tried to make a fist of it in French rugby before returning to Australia with his tale between his legs. Picked up by Newcastle and has rebuilt his career as a dependable front rower and a good team man. He has managed to remain as a fringe Origin player during that time and has amazingly shrugged off the overrated tag he had (unjustifiably in my opinion) and become relatively underrated by many. I still maintain that his influence on Newcastle's ruck defence is immense.

 

He's a good one. Front rowers usually develop later but he is an extraordinary case, both in how late he came onto the scene and how good he was when he finally did.

I believe he also spent a fair amount of his early 20s bouncing around in the centres and then the second row.

 

Sam Moa. Started at the Tigers, then tried Cronulla and was going nowhere for a regular NRL spot. He packed up and headed to the UK and played for Hull. The Chooks signed him up as a depth player on the cheap and he has turned into one of the games form props.

 

Isn't that the same case with most of the players mentioned on here? Show me someone mentioned on this thread who actually became a worse player.

 

The original intention of the thread and most of the players listed so far were players who became better after some adversity or through some shift in position/playing style etc.

As Boobidy said, Sam Moa never really reinvented himself. He was always a developing front rower and turned himself into a very serviceable player at Hull. The only surprising thing about Moa is how good and completely unexpected his breakout year was. It seems more like a tremendous breakout than a reinvention or rebuilding of a career.

That said, he isn't a bad addition to this thread. He's a fantastic player and an interesting case.