Quote: BrisbaneRhino "To be fair that's the sort of approach that ought to be taken where possible with halfbacks. With Sinfield/McGuire/Burrow we lucked out with having a combination that worked well together, but none of them were individually fully-formed halfbacks even when they were stars at a young age.
The way the game's played nowadays with much more emphasis on set plays and an absolute requirement to be able to tackle, its hard to see a Goulding come through aged 18 or 19.'"
And how many half backs have been ruined or had to go down the leagues and rebuild their career because they were entrusted too early on, quite a few over the last few years i reckon. Either that, or if they have a bit of pace converted to full back at the earliest opportunity. It's ok putting young lads 18/19/20 in if they look the biz, but you are never going to get the consistency at that ageo ver the course of a season and if you are having a bad day at the office in the halves where the strings are pulled it stands out a hell of a lot more.
Even some modern great half backs like Schofield, Fitler, Daley, Johns started out life in different positions with less responsibility for their first few years.I'm not Saying Lilley is ever going to mentioned in the same breath as those guys, but a year or two more of honing his skills away from the microscope would be best for all concerned imo.