Quote: Juan Cornetto "Disagree. Burrow has in the past defended down the middle and did it well and it was not suicide....remember he is a good tackler. However when he does this the opposition run at him to tire him out and to lessen his match winning abilities. I maintain the coaches have worked out a way to play Burrow at the breakdown for distribution and attack and out wide on defense thereby keeping a key man on the field for the full 80 so they do it for positive reasons and not negative ones.'"
Burrow is a great tackler (and I have a ton of respect for how well he does in defence), where he defends. He wouldn't cope however with defending in the middle though and this is why they don't put him there. If it was about energy levels and keeping him fresh then why not give him 15 mins on the bench at the start of the 2nd half? Those tired forwards of the opposition have just had a nice half time breather and we aren't as noted for starting halves as well as other teams. Even in the successful 4 Playoff games of 2012 we conceded the first try in 7 of the 8 halves of rugby we played, also all 4 halves of the CC/WCC Finals, especially early in the 2nd half.....
Wakefield - 42 mins
Catalans - 48 mins
Wigan - 42 mins
Warrington GF - 44 mins
Melbourne - 44 mins
Warrington CC - 48 mins
Anyone else spotting a pattern here that needs working on????
Quote: Juan Cornetto "I agree with you in principal and I am sure that could happen if McShane were to be relied upon to give that regular impact off the bench. As it is, the risk of not having Burrow on the field is too high because he is one of our main strike players. So when McShane comes on (and Lunt came on) it is usually for a back rower.'"
I think the biggest risk is highlighted above in my previous answer. Does having a back rower coming off after 30 mins for an extra hooker really work? Burrow is one of our main strike players, but after half-time it's usually the opposition that is striking.
Quote:
Juan Cornetto "Agree with you re
Why the last 20 mins to bring McShane on though? That leaves him sat on the bench a long long time since the original warm-up. Why not give Burrow 15-20 mins on the bench to recharge his own batteries and also talk over plans with McDermott/Lowes for when he comes back on, if keeping him defending wide is saving his energy imagine how fresh he'll be for the final 20-25 mins (hopeful) onslaught with a slight breather.
Quote: Juan Cornetto "However you do want your best players on the park for the maximum time possible particularly the ones with the best rugby skills. We have several of the first choices who have great stamina and only need a short break if indeed any, so equal use of the subs is not a given in my view and I do not subcribe to the belief that you always have to use them all... as the state of the game and the form and fitness of those of the field at a point in time can overide the original game plan.'"
You want your best players out there at the right time and an appropriate amount of time and not sacrifice structure for it (losing a back rower in defence). I do subscribe to the belief that you should use all your subs, it's no coincidence that we won the playoffs with much better interchange rotation and also the CC Semi. Whilst twice we lost when leaving 1 sub unused against Wigan (away) and Saints at home. Not only did we not use Lunt against Saints but we also waited until the 50 mins mark to bring on Griffin too (he and Clarkson barely getting 15 mins each game time) and from leading 18-12 in the 48min we lost it 18-31.