What if Terry Campese went injury free?

[greeneyed]

What if Terry Campese went injury free?

Unfortunately, there have been many incredibly promising careers stunted or even ended through injury. So what if Terry Campese stayed injury free?

Oh how different it would have been if that awful knee injury in 2010 didn’t occur. First and foremost the Raiders finished that game like a house on fire and if Campese had stayed on the field, I believe they win that game against the Tigers. They were more than a decent shot of upsetting eventual premiers the Dragons in the grand final qualifier.

Read more: https://www.zerotackle.com/what-if-wedn ... ree-54373/

[greeneyed]

I believe we'd probably have one more premiership.

[afgtnk]

He was for solid 5-6 years before his first one. He wasn't very good. Two patches of form (albeit brilliant form) which struggles to add up to a full season tends to blur thinking - he was quite average apart from that.

Even without the injuries from 2010 onwards I feel he would've struggled regardless with how attacks and especially defences became increasingly structured.

[-TW-]

I can't have seen us winning a comp, even with him injury free

The rest of the side was too average, and if you build a defensive gameplan around him it was all over

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[julian87]

He was for solid 5-6 years before his first one. He wasn't very good. Two patches of form (albeit brilliant form) which struggles to add up to a full season tends to blur thinking - he was quite average apart from that.

Even without the injuries from 2010 onwards I feel he would've struggled regardless with how attacks and especially defences became increasingly structured.

Disagree with most of this.

He came into his own as a first grader at about 23. It’s no knock to not have nailed it before that imo. 2009 he played broken all year from memory. And 08/10 he legitimately showed that he was an absolute gun.

To suggest he would’ve struggled despite injury is almost an insult to how good he was. AFAIC the game is spitting out way fewer genuine creative halves like him so the good ones actually run rampant against structure.

Sadly though he’s the most cruelled post injury player I’ve ever seen. I still remember reading the leaked medical report from the Canberra’s doctor ruling him out of the 2013 World Cup for Italy. He was just so cooked.

[Roger Kenworthy]

I can't have seen us winning a comp, even with him injury free

The rest of the side was too average, and if you build a defensive gameplan around him it was all over

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Agree that with the personnel we had it wasn't happening. I can see where alphabet is coming from but I think Campo's defence was actually his strong point, that was something that was consistent and outstanding. If you then paired him alongside a more consistent playmaker in the Luke Keary ilk then we would have been a perennial top 4 contender. The problem is in this hypothetical Dave Furner was already coach so it's almost certain he would have been paired with Josh McCrone.

[edwahu]

2012 we would've had a red hot crack at the comp. That was a quality squad with 9 players who played some Origin.

Also Sam Williams played great footy that year and especially in the semis. If he got the nod over McCrone then he and Campo would've gone very well together.

[yeh raiders]

I know one thing, had we played the Dragons in the 2010 grand final - we’d have obviously won.

[Botman]

I know one thing, had we played the Dragons in the 2010 grand final - we’d have obviously won.

We'd have played them in the semi, so at the very least we're in a GF against the Roosters and Todd Carney. That period we were so god damn dominant over the Dragons, and it was legitimately in each teams heads. I dont think there is any doubt we beat the Tigers and Dragons without the Campese injury. Given how Campese was playing that year... we'd have given that game a red hot crack, but i think we'd have been pretty big underdogs

There is a decent any given sunday, it's just one game chance we win the league that year without an injury to Campese. But i couldnt argue outside that we'd have won a comp. I agree with askjaska that we all (me included) sort of look back at Campese's career with a certain tint because of those two absolutely ridiculous runs... outside of those seasons he was a good NRL half, not a great one

[Roger Kenworthy]

I know one thing, had we played the Dragons in the 2010 grand final - we’d have obviously won.

We'd have played them in the semi, so at the very least we're in a GF against the Roosters and Todd Carney. That period we were so god damn dominant over the Dragons, and it was legitimately in each teams heads. I dont think there is any doubt we beat the Tigers and Dragons without the Campese injury. Given how Campese was playing that year... we'd have given that game a red hot crack, but i think we'd have been pretty big underdogs

There is a decent any given sunday, it's just one game chance we win the league that year without an injury to Campese. But i couldnt argue outside that we'd have won a comp. I agree with askjaska that we all (me included) sort of look back at Campese's career with a certain tint because of those two absolutely ridiculous runs... outside of those seasons he was a good NRL half, not a great one

Even within those seasons he was only a good NRL half for a few months.

[edwahu]

Julian spelt it out but that view is a bit off the mark. He really only came into grade mid 2007 and over the course of the next 70 games he was either good or amazing, then he was stuffed.

It's not like he had 2 good months in 10 years,he effectively had a 3.5 year career before injury ruined him, of which two seasons were elite level and the other 1.5 were still solid. If you have two absolutely top tier seasons out of 3.5 it's probably a pretty good chance you will repeat that again.

[gerg]

I know one thing, had we played the Dragons in the 2010 grand final - we’d have obviously won.

We'd have played them in the semi, so at the very least we're in a GF against the Roosters and Todd Carney. That period we were so god damn dominant over the Dragons, and it was legitimately in each teams heads. I dont think there is any doubt we beat the Tigers and Dragons without the Campese injury. Given how Campese was playing that year... we'd have given that game a red hot crack, but i think we'd have been pretty big underdogs

There is a decent any given sunday, it's just one game chance we win the league that year without an injury to Campese. But i couldnt argue outside that we'd have won a comp. I agree with askjaska that we all (me included) sort of look back at Campese's career with a certain tint because of those two absolutely ridiculous runs... outside of those seasons he was a good NRL half, not a great one

Even within those seasons he was only a good NRL half for a few months.

Good? He was the dominant player (not half. Player) by a big margin. Him going down in that Tigers game was tragic. We win the comp that year, no team was stopping us. Of course that is purely hypothetical but there wasn't a team in the comp that didn't fear us and the confidence in that side was incredible.

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[Roger Kenworthy]

I know one thing, had we played the Dragons in the 2010 grand final - we’d have obviously won.

We'd have played them in the semi, so at the very least we're in a GF against the Roosters and Todd Carney. That period we were so god damn dominant over the Dragons, and it was legitimately in each teams heads. I dont think there is any doubt we beat the Tigers and Dragons without the Campese injury. Given how Campese was playing that year... we'd have given that game a red hot crack, but i think we'd have been pretty big underdogs

There is a decent any given sunday, it's just one game chance we win the league that year without an injury to Campese. But i couldnt argue outside that we'd have won a comp. I agree with askjaska that we all (me included) sort of look back at Campese's career with a certain tint because of those two absolutely ridiculous runs... outside of those seasons he was a good NRL half, not a great one

Even within those seasons he was only a good NRL half for a few months.

Good? He was the dominant player (not half. Player) by a big margin. Him going down in that Tigers game was tragic. We win the comp that year, no team was stopping us. Of course that is purely hypothetical but there wasn't a team in the comp that didn't fear us and the confidence in that side was incredible.

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Hmm. If everyone feared us then how did the Tigers blow us off the park to start that match?

[gerg]

I know one thing, had we played the Dragons in the 2010 grand final - we’d have obviously won.

We'd have played them in the semi, so at the very least we're in a GF against the Roosters and Todd Carney. That period we were so god damn dominant over the Dragons, and it was legitimately in each teams heads. I dont think there is any doubt we beat the Tigers and Dragons without the Campese injury. Given how Campese was playing that year... we'd have given that game a red hot crack, but i think we'd have been pretty big underdogs

There is a decent any given sunday, it's just one game chance we win the league that year without an injury to Campese. But i couldnt argue outside that we'd have won a comp. I agree with askjaska that we all (me included) sort of look back at Campese's career with a certain tint because of those two absolutely ridiculous runs... outside of those seasons he was a good NRL half, not a great one

Even within those seasons he was only a good NRL half for a few months.

Good? He was the dominant player (not half. Player) by a big margin. Him going down in that Tigers game was tragic. We win the comp that year, no team was stopping us. Of course that is purely hypothetical but there wasn't a team in the comp that didn't fear us and the confidence in that side was incredible.

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Hmm. If everyone feared us then how did the Tigers blow us off the park to start that match?

Tigers had their own (St George esque) hoodoo on us for about a decade but we were the form team and I have absolutely no doubt we beat them if Campo doesn't go down. Everyone in the crowd that night knew it, even Tigers supporters, even probably the Tigers players. They were toast.

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[FuiFui BradBrad]

Its a tough one. We might have had some more finals appearances, but I don't think the sides we had were strong enough that we only needed a fit Campo to be threats.

I'd also be looking at it from the view, if we had a perfectly fit Campo, what players wouldn't we have been able to afford or would have left. There is a good possibility the 2019 GF wouldn't have happened because we'd either A. Have a 35 year old 5/8 instead of Wighton or B. Somewhere in our Ricky era we'd have a retired Campo and a rebuild.

It is an interesting thought though. If we had Campo, we might not have been able to afford Hodgo, meaning he could have taken the Roosters deal offered to him

[afgtnk]

He was for solid 5-6 years before his first one. He wasn't very good. Two patches of form (albeit brilliant form) which struggles to add up to a full season tends to blur thinking - he was quite average apart from that.

Even without the injuries from 2010 onwards I feel he would've struggled regardless with how attacks and especially defences became increasingly structured.

Disagree with most of this.

He came into his own as a first grader at about 23. It’s no knock to not have nailed it before that imo. 2009 he played broken all year from memory. And 08/10 he legitimately showed that he was an absolute gun.

To suggest he would’ve struggled despite injury is almost an insult to how good he was. AFAIC the game is spitting out way fewer genuine creative halves like him so the good ones actually run rampant against structure.

Sadly though he’s the most cruelled post injury player I’ve ever seen. I still remember reading the leaked medical report from the Canberra’s doctor ruling him out of the 2013 World Cup for Italy. He was just so cooked.

He was average for half of '08, 09 (don't recall him being busted) and half of '10. No doubt he would've been a lot better without his legs going, but I really don't think you can look at two short spurts of form and claim he had the ability to be a great player. Loads of players have talent of varying levels, Campo showed it in small but highly concentrated doses, but it's consistency over time that rules in this business.

Regarding creativity, I never saw creativity as his forte - in fact he was quite poor in that regard and maintain that he would struggle in ever increasing structures of play. Couldn't throw the ball left to right to save himself and his short game wasn't much better either. He was at running 5/8th and at his best when doing so, hence why he was completely ineffective once his knees were busted.

[-TW-]

He was at his best in broken play after early shifts

There were many games where he was basically useless against set defences where they shut down the early shift

Didn't help he had some of the most useless halves the club has had to partner him

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[Sid]

If only

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[afgtnk]

He was at his best in broken play after early shifts

There were many games where he was basically useless against set defences where they shut down the early shift

Didn't help he had some of the most useless halves the club has had to partner him

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At his peak I haven't seen many better than him in broken play. Austin probably comes close.

If he was to play Jack's role and stay injury free then I think he may have ended up with quite an accomplished career. Problem is we tended to play him more as an organising halfback, something he wasn't and I think 2013-2014 showed that pretty clearly.

[Botman]

Part of that problem was the club's inability to address that traditional halfback role... Campese was our halfback, and i agree it didnt really suit his skills at his best. But it was that or hand the keys over to Josh McCrone or SaMarc Dobnish

TC was the answer, and when he wasnt, we didnt find one until... well that's just the Sezer debate. Some might argue we're still looking given we havent had a good enough look at Georgey Boy yet.

[edwahu]

He was at his best in broken play after early shifts

There were many games where he was basically useless against set defences where they shut down the early shift

Didn't help he had some of the most useless halves the club has had to partner him

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At his peak I haven't seen many better than him in broken play. Austin probably comes close.

If he was to play Jack's role and stay injury free then I think he may have ended up with quite an accomplished career. Problem is we tended to play him more as an organising halfback, something he wasn't and I think 2013-2014 showed that pretty clearly.

He had the mobility of an arthritic with a double hip replacement by 2013-14. You can't read anything into his career post the Tigers game.

[dubby]

I can't have seen us winning a comp, even with him injury free

The rest of the side was too average, and if you build a defensive gameplan around him it was all over

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Agreed

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[Seiffert82]

He nearly bloody did it though. Credit it to him - in 2010 we had McCrone at halfback and Buttriss at hooker and we were 3 points off a Prelim Final against St George (who only beat Wests by 1 in that game). His injury in that game was one of the worst moments of my life as a Raiders fan.

He was a hell of a player at his peak. Seriously one of the best in the NRL in 2008-2010. Cruelled by injury at the top of his game. I think some of the criticism towards him is pretty harsh.

[greeneyed]

He nearly bloody did it though. Credit it to him - in 2010 we had McCrone at halfback and Buttriss at hooker and we were 3 points off a Prelim Final against St George (who only beat Wests by 1 in that game). His injury in that game was one of the worst moments of my life as a Raiders fan.

He was a hell of a player at his peak. Seriously one of the best in the NRL in 2008-2010. Cruelled by injury at the top of his game. I think some of the criticism towards him is pretty harsh.

A lot of people are underestimating his playmaking capabilities in this thread too. Sure he was a dynamic runner, a big man to have at five eighth. But he had a great passing and kicking game. I love watching him in Canberra Raiders Cup, even today, the way he orchestrates a match.

[Seiffert82]

He nearly bloody did it though. Credit it to him - in 2010 we had McCrone at halfback and Buttriss at hooker and we were 3 points off a Prelim Final against St George (who only beat Wests by 1 in that game). His injury in that game was one of the worst moments of my life as a Raiders fan.

He was a hell of a player at his peak. Seriously one of the best in the NRL in 2008-2010. Cruelled by injury at the top of his game. I think some of the criticism towards him is pretty harsh.

A lot of people are underestimating his playmaking capabilities in this thread too. Sure he was a dynamic runner, a big man to have at five eighth. But he had a great passing and kicking game. I love watching him in Canberra Raiders Cup, even today, the way he orchestrates a match.

Yeah, he really did have it all. Great runner, huge boot, best defensive half in the NRL at the time and as you say, he could actually organise the attack in the absence of an organising halfback or hooker.

As good as Wighton was in 2019, Campo was just as good and maybe better in 2010. Some people have short memories IMO.

[papabear]

Campo and thurling were likely Joey and Kennedy...