Quote: Twentyman "Turner is all sword and no shield unfortunately.'"
Turner saved two tries against Leeds. He saved the game against Warrington. I'm not suggesting he's the greatest defender since Gary Connolly - but he's nowhere near as bad as many in here suggest.
Saints' defensive strategy often leaves Turner in a very difficult position. With so many guys brought in tight he's forced into making 50-50 judgement calls which look great when they come off and terrible when they don't. But we must not lose sight of the fact that overall our defence has been FAR STRONGER this season than our attack. I've lost count of the number of games in which we've scrambled heroically three or four times to scrape out a tight result.
Part of the reason we have defended so well is precisely because we are prepared to give up one or two tries out wide if it means we close up the midfield.
I think Percival is as good a defender as anyone in the league (that quasi-judo throw he's recently perfected whereby he attacks the far shoulder with both hands and pivots the runner over his centre of gravity is an incredibly difficult skill to master). But switch him with Turner and I guarantee he'll miss more tackles than he does on his current side.