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'Gypsy football player' joins his fourth Super Rugby side
By Online Editors
Rugby nomad Robbie Abel wants to be a calming voice to the youngsters at the NSW Waratahs, the latest destination on his sporting journey.
The 30-year-old hooker has been attached to three other Super Rugby franchises, Western Force, the Brumbies and last year with the Melbourne Rebels
He's also plied his rugby trade in New Zealand for Northland and most recently Auckland, with who he won the Mitre 10 Cup premiership in 2018, when he also represented the Maori All Blacks.
"I've been to a few teams so I've kind of become a bit of a gypsy football player," Abel said
"I'm always open to opportunities and exploring new things.
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"Being in this environment kind of suits me as well, to be able to bring something new to the team.
"I've learnt a lot along the way from different teams and franchises and I love to stay very open-minded so I look to continue to learn and grow."
Abel, who will be vying with Waratahs stalwart Damien Fitzpatrick for the starting hooker role, also shapes as a mentor for their young emerging forwards.
"It is a young pack, but for me that"s the exciting thing about it," Abel said.
"Being a little bit older, these young kids definitely give me a fair bit of energy and I love throwing a little bit of chat around with the young boys here
"I look to bring the things that I've learnt along the way, hopefully that maybe sometimes I can give a calming voice to some of those young boys, who are really good players and are going to be stars of the future."
Adjusting to the demands of the Waratahs new kiwi coach Rob Penney shouldn't be an issue for Abel, given his familiarity with rugby in New Zealand.
'"The mindset there is great, the positive way they approach their rugby," he said
"I've found that Rob brings that same enthusiasm, that same positivity to the way we approach our stuff here."
Abel is set to have his first run in Waratahs colours on Friday in a pre-season trial against New Zealand's Highlanders at Sydney's Leichhardt Oval.
There should be some family banter in the lead-up to the Tahs games with the Brumbies, with Able's father Tony, the operations manager at the Canberra-based franchise.
- AAP
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Latest Comments
No just because the personal is much better than last year. I've shown no antagonism of Crusader players, you must be confusing me with someone else.
I have critized Razor for picking players he knows occasionally?
I said I'm not surprised because of his style, he's more a grinder player like Cane, not going to show up on peoples radar until you see how bad the other choices are. This year players like Clarke have been on fire and just show a bit more.
Are you one of those posters continually taking it easy on Razor because he doesn't have his Crusaders stars available? Do you think the rugby world is going to up to him suddenly once Mo'unga returns? lol
Go to commentsJohn you have been beating this drum for a couple of years, if you get proven right get back to us.
The last recent and decent Aussie coach was Ewen McKenzie, he was undermined and forced out by a couple of slimy Aussie players who were given a free pass when they should have been disciplined.
So our history since McQueen is very checkered and it seems to make little difference whether we have an Aussie coach or a Kiwi coach. The players have been entitled for a long time and we had to hit bottom to get them back into reality and to stop thinking it is all about them.
Cheika was an OK coach but his 'go our and destroy the opposition' tactic worked for a while and then didn't.
Please give me a list of great Aussie coaches that I have missed.
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