They played Sydney Rabbithos on adjacent field with the stadium some years ago and again last year. The university wanted to charge 7K to use it again this year so the teams opted to play on the pitch next door.

Agreed, but I suspect the club have any number of stats that help them make these decisions and up until now they have got them mostly right. There is nothing to suggest they won't continue to make the right calls and I've no doubt burrow will drop down the pecking order if it's the right thing to do.

It's also not as simple as measuring a player's contribution by just one skill set I.e. tackling.

Definitely agree with that, but I'd say the issue isn't really Burrow's tackling/defence in isolation but rather that it makes us have 3 players we have to cover in defence rather than 2.

If Burrow was coming on for either McGuire or Sutcliffe it wouldn't be an issue because you're just replacing one not great defender with another. But his coming on at hooker definitely weakens us defensively.

Now I'm not advocating getting rid of him, just acknowledging it's a bit of swings and roundabouts with him, and in some games it'll cost us and others it'll benefit us.
I'm also of the opinion the likes of Burrow, McGuire etc have earned the right to go out on their terms and play for as long as they want to (within reason). This is the clubs time to show loyalty to them.

True and they way people go on you'd think Burrow was the only match winner we had in the team. Watkins isn't too shabby and neither are Moon or McGuire and neither was Sinfield all of whom have/had to do more than usual when Burrow was on the field. And whilst Aiton might not fall under the name "match winner" for some because the things he does don't make for fancy highlight reel videos, he had plenty of performances that were integral to many wins in 2015.

That Burrow played less minutes last year (often not coming on until the 2nd half) was clear that even McDermott could see the better balance Aiton gave us who was clearly in our Top 3/5 best players in 2015 before injury.

Because of Sinfield getting 'dropped' (rested in reality) for a few games just before Cup games last year most have forgotten that Burrow was dropped for a couple near the start of the season beforehand. Sinfield was always going to come back into the fold so it would've been interesting if Sutcliffe hadn't gotten injured if Burrow would've even made the 17 as the season went on if Sutcliffe carried on doing well.

Interesting view.

I did not get the impression sinfield was being rested at all. I don't disagree that there was always a view that he would come into the side at pivotal moments/games but I read it as his 'first name on the teamsheet' days were numbered.

To me there was definitely a changing of the guard happening with sutty and we're it not for his injury sinfield would have played much less.

The cynical side of me also thinks sinfield saw this and it iinfluenced decision to move to union.

All somewhat irrelevant now of course.

that balance will tip for any half not just Burrow, nor is it particularly any more pronounced for him than anyone else.

As for his contribution, i couldnt disagree more, People were putting Aiton up for Man of Steel last year, yet when he was injured and Burrow was our only hooker we suffered no drop off, we comfortably beat Hull and Wigan and absolutely destroyed Hull KR, when Burrow was injured we then struggled until his return.

In a treble winning season, Burrow played every important game at the business end and played well,

Burrow's contribution is massively under-rated, not only because of his defensive issues, but also because of his spectacular play outshines the contribution he makes is less obvious ways. His sheer presence creates space, he makes defences nervous and makes them make poor decisions.