Quote rhinoms="rhinoms"I disagree far too often we flogged him in games that were lost causes failed to rotate him and kylie and he suffered form wise if not determination and fire wise.
What do we gain by playing hm against Widnes or keeping him on the pitch for an hour against Wigan at home or Wire and ST's away when we battered??
He was very very good in the P/O's and the CC games (final aside) but whatever numbers are put out he showed his age and battle wear and tear more than once as did Kylie.
I'm not saying he should have every other week off or just play 10 minutes a half but we need to manage his gametime better.
We have to get more out of the other Props because no matter what anybody thinks he's on borrowed time and we need to get others involved to take up some of the workload as to not lose so much when the inevitable happens.'"
You say he lacked consistency:
Yet JP was our best and most consistent forward last season with performances up with the best props in SL.
You say that he should be rested more because we overplayed him and that had a negative effect on his form and performance yet:
JP was our best offloader and 2nd best in SL
JP was our 2nd best metre maker (only 9m behind WBW Hall!)
JP made the 2nd most carries and the most of any of our forwards
JP was our 2nd best tackler (249 more than our next best prop who incidentally is Kylie the other one you think should not play as often)
JP was our 2nd best marker tackler making 75% more than our next best prop.
I say again JP thrives on work and will not improve sitting on the bench. You imply the coach was "flogging" him but JP flogs himself it is the way he has always played. Playing did not effect his form and the proof was his form at the end of the season which rather disproves your point.
You say we should bring other lesser players in so we are ready when JP hangs up his boots. Well you could argue the same for Sinfield Burrow and McGuire.
Sure we can rotate the bigger squad more this year but for the majority of games I say pick the best team.