Jeremy Guscott: New slimline Banahan can be lethal but has to stay fit

Matt Banahan came onto the scene in a big way four seasons ago for a number of reasons – the first of which is that it's impossible to miss someone who is 6ft 7in tall and covered in tattoos. The other thing was that having arrived at Bath from the London Irish academy someone decided to put him on the wing, and he was immediately labelled as a new Lomu.
The difference with Banahan was that he lived up to the billing because when you score 16 tries in your first season it puts you on the map even if you are not a Jersey giant. He also created a good impression, and when I've spoken to him he has always been polite, a real gent, who carries himself well, and he soon earned a reputation as being a good pro who was not one for late-night sorties.
Banahan went through a steep take-off to success, winning 16 caps for England during Martin Johnson's period as England coach before things took a bit of a dive after the 2011 World Cup – and he has not made a Test appearance since then. Even more disappointing for him, he was dropped from the 64-man elite player squad (EPS) and Saxons squads announced recently by Stuart Lancaster, and given a clear message that he needed to be fitter and sharper to be in contention.
All the signs are that Banahan has responded in exactly the right way, shedding over a stone in weight, coming in at 17st 6lb in preparation for the new season. He is 25, and some might argue that he should have worked out that he needed to be lighter and fitter before now – but life isn't always that simple as a sportsman.
If he has the right attitude, which he appears to, he will bid for international honours again. He's no rugby league convert, but the back five forward who has had the athleticism and skill to learn to play on the wing or at centre at Test level. I've seen Banahan make long weaving runs, short battering-ram runs, make offloads that have worked, and others that have gone horribly wrong.
However, we've seen enough to know that he can play wing or inside-centre to international standard, and if he is quicker but still as strong after losing a stone then it is a big plus. However, it is essential, mentally, that he feels that he is at his correct fighting weight rather than struggling to maintain it, because otherwise it becomes an unnecessary pressure.
There is no question that the fitter Banahan is the better he will be, basically because he will be more available and will have the ball in his hands more often. For instance, Francois Louw was always on the ball when he first arrived from South Africa because he was fitter than the rest of his Bath team-mates, and Chris Robshaw has shown the same qualities for Harlequins.
The frustration for the player, and the fans, will come if Banahan does not develop on the wing, or at centre, into the threat that he should be. As a centre he has all the equipment to be as effective as Jamie Roberts, and that ability to step off the line late, as the Wales and Lions No.12 does, is not something that takes too much training or thought, while on the wing Banahan can be devastating if he is given a free role and comes onto the ball late.
The downside is that you only have to make a couple of poor offloads in tight games that are lost, and everyone marks you down. It means that your success rate if you offload out of the tackle has to be high – or it has to come very close to working. Sonny Bill Williams is not successful with every offload attempt, but the reason he is so effective for the Chiefs and the All Blacks is because everyone is in tune with him.
SBW's attempts are almost always made when his support runners are in ‘sync', and that is why he has such a high success rate.
Banahan has not discovered his signature strengths yet, and that is something that every quality player has to do. For example, a Jonny Wilkinson – or Owen Farrell – kick-pass to the corner to a man of 6ft 7in should be a lethal match-winning weapon, and although it is essential not to become one-dimensional, it is also essential to be outstanding in a couple of areas and a very good everywhere else.
Banahan should be an absolutely lethal attacking weapon, but he has to be fit enough. What often happens with guys of that 16st-18st weight category is that the body is being stretched and they tend to get injuries more than most. However, conditioning is changing and so are body shapes. Sprinters used to be tanks, but now Usain Bolt has changed the game by being 6ft 5in and rangy, and in rugby you also have an increase in big fast men like Roberts, George North and Jack Cuthbert of Wales.
The crucial element in high-performance is that you have to have your mind right as much as your body, and for Banahan it's almost like starting again. I'm not surprised he was demoted from the England squad, because he's been playing in a poor Bath side, and not playing particularly well. In a sense, he has been seen as a big wing who has played well in bursts, but not consistently, and he has to change that by becoming fitter, leaner and meaner.
There is plenty of competition to be an England wing, and it is a tough environment, so you have to make the most of what you have. Banahan has it in him to have a big impact in every single game, rising high to claim cross-kicks – how can you defend a kick-pass against him? – roving around the pitch and coming onto the ball late, or smashing people in defence.
If he's looking for a model he could do worse than look at what Alesana Tuilagi did during his time at Leicester. There was a buzz of anticipation from Tigers supporters every time he got the ball because they knew he would make a big physical impact.
The Jersey giant is not an identical player, but we know he's got the aggression, and to get fit you have to be self-motivated. Maybe he lost some of that motivation after the 2011 World Cup, but the signs are that he is back on track.
Banahan is making the right moves in terms of being smack-bang-wallop fit for the start of the new season. He knows he needs to get in a winning Bath team to force his way back into the England side, and, if it all falls into place, put himself in with a chance of going on the Lions tour.