Quote tad rhino="tad rhino"the big problem with burrow at hooker is his passing from the floor is slow and sometimes sloppy. with aiton its crisp and gets wider quicker.'"
Aiton has played well and is an asset to the club and yes his floor pass is better and he makes more tackles. However in all other aspects of the game Burrow is superior. Burrow makes far more dummy runs, carries, metres, tackle busts and clean breaks. Burrow is a proven try scorer and match winner with a kicking game. Burrow does not fit in with some peoples idea of the archetype hooker but his unque individual skills as one of the best attackers in SL make him able to make a success in this role.
In truth Burrow is not that bad at acting half back (2nd choice for England) and as first choice hooker for the leading metre making side last year last year and the current metre leader so far this year his alleged lack of a floor pass has not prevented him from getting good metres out of our forwards and also giving them an all important rest (and the opposition forwards a nightmare) with his many runs from dummy half. This last point is totally overlooked by his detractors.
I have said many time that I would prefer Burrow at 7 but since Buderus left he has stepped up to be our first choice 9 and rarely lets the team down. Some say he should be on the bench but IMO that would be a tragic waste of attacking talent. Maybe in the future but not now because of all our key core players over the last 10 years Burrow is the one that has not lost his speed or had his ability diminished. IMO if fit he should remain on the field for the full 80 as usually he is as full of running in the last minute as in the first.
When Aiton is fit again I would prefer Burrow at 7 as we need his speed in the halfbacks. To give Aiton a break Burrow or Sinfield can cover the 9 spot for 10/15 minutes. So I would not go with a replacement hooker on the bench.