Looked physically up to Super League to me tonight, but where on earth does his future lie positionally? I was looking forward to seeing him play centre as we've got 2 berths wide open there for me, none of our centres and I'll include Turner in that look set in the positions permanently. He looked okay, did well defensively, but his decision making on the break at the end was horrific, the complete opposite of natural centre play. Either run straight and put Makinson in for an easy try or run straight and put Wello in for another belly flop over the line under the posts. Those were his two options. Instead he chose to zigzag up the pitch and be bundled into touch. Demonstrates I guess what having a fullback who can run does as well, superb work from Owen.

I liked the look of Griffin as well, he's certainly got the physical attributes and pace to be a top player.

Congratulations - you managed to get two sly digs in at Wellens (one of our best performers on the night) in a post ostensibly about another player. Well done!

Swift looks better suited to full back looked comfortable under a high ball and very evasive in open play.
However the wannabee full backs have one problem taking the shirt off Wellens, he played another superb game last night.
Swift plays with a lot of enthusiasm but as already pointed out is inexperienced in decision making at Superleague level.

I'd have said fullback myself , Jones looks a natural centre and hopefully Turner will fill the other side. Wellens had one of his better games but it still changes nothing re him being well past his best

I'm not sure yet, possibly full back but he is absolutely rapid in open space. Swift and Makinson lit up an absolutely horrible game and it was a shame he chose the wrong option on the hooter because that would've been try of the season. We've been crying out for some excitement at the back and it was nice to actually see us run the length twice (Makinson try and Swift no try).

Swift is a long term Full Back if you ask me! Its a shoot out between him and Makinson to replace Wello wheather that will be 2013 or 2014.

Spot on.

Had Swift just passed back to Makinson instead of going for the line himself that would have been a superb try. I loved watching the interplay between those two and, along with the run by LMS to earn the drop out, made up the highlights of an otherwise bloody awful match, regardless of the fact that we won.

Wellens was on his knees, he could not believe the mess that had been made of a dead cert try. 3 on 1 I think it was.

Wellens should look to his own performances before criticising those of a young person on his fourth first grade game. I've lost count of the number of try scoring chances we have lost thanks to him taking the ball to the line but getting nowhere when there was a centre on his left (usually because he hardly ever plays down the right) available to score instead.

Besides, I'm sure our delightful coach will give Swift's backside a good kicking, as he apparently does to our young players.

Love how people say Wello played well because he scored again. His try was the easiest anyone could ever score and was superb work by Flannery.

Not sure but didn,t Wello do a 1-2 with Flannery, Wello short ball to Flannery then Flannery from being tackled short ball to Wello.
Thought Wello did other things well escaping twice from the in goal area, good support play. Makinson needs to follow Wellens when returning the ball, there was a couple of chances of an offload but Makinson couldn,t read the possible play.
Hope Brown works quickly on improving Lomax, Makinson, Swifts game awareness.

Wellens must have really p!ssed Saddened off when he refused to sign his autograph book.

I love Wello, but I just feel like the club is stuck in a time warp. For every other club in Rugby League the fullback position has changed. It is no longer the Rugby League equivalent of the goalkeeper in football. The fullback is not there purely to catch high balls and be the last line of defense like it used to be. Saints fans are stuck in that mentality, so willing to gloss over Wello's glaring failings by comforting themselves with his ability to catch and the odd tackle he makes. Wello, as is the case with all our players, is rated by the fans because he doesn't make many mistakes, not because he does do positive things.

The fullback is now arguably the most important attacking player after the scrumhalf. The 7 organises and schemes, but the fullback is the one who has the ability to be unpredictable. Good fullbacks can chime into the line literally anywhere they like, making lining up a defense incredibly difficult. They are also like a third halfback, with the ball skills to act as a third pivot in the attacking line. They are meant to attack from around the ruck from deep and on the fringes further up the field. The most important atttibutes for a fullback are now pace, the ability to chime into the attack and passing. Another vital aspect is bringing the ball back. Teams like Cas, Huddersfield, Warrington etc will get a 20 metre headstart on us, simply from their fullback being able to a) get to the ball quickly and b) run it back quickly. When you compound this with our complete lack of a kicking game and we're making our pack work overtime.

But hey ho, let's all bury our heads in the sand and keep telling ourselves we're great. Some of the Saints fans are as delusional as whoever writes Eamon's matchday magazine column.

Saddened I agree that Wellens is not what he used to be, but you can't let that blinker you to the good things he does. In addition to the Judder mans examples. There was also the makinson try down in the east corner. At the play the ball, Wello read the numbers well and ran from one side of the play the ball as he had seen that there was an overlap out wide. He had got into position and whipped a cracking ball out wide missing out 2 players to get Makinson in.

That's the type of thing our supposes halfbacks should be doing, ie reading the game and then moving around the field and selecting the correct option ie a long cut out pass to give us the best oppertunity of scoring.

Wello was on form yesterday and whether we think it's a one off or not, we should not let an agenda get in the way of congratulating a player when they have had a good game. Most of the week we spend time having a go at the club and the players, but surely after a match we can give credit were it's due.

I think the critism of Wellens early in the season was justified but over the last 10 games or so has had a big contribution to our winning performances.
I,m not really into this myth of a full back needs to be quick to run the ball back, I,ve watched how his possible replacement Makinson runs the ball back from deep, he does a lot of cross field running at fast pace but doesn,t really make any more metres than Wello.
Wilkin and Wello get a fair bit of stick from fans on here, but the fact is they are not error free but really hold the team together, both of these are also getting more involved in the build up of trys due to the absence of our quality half back play.
Wello is having one of the best seasons for trys scored and I should imagine his stat of try assists is high as well, if we have a replacement who is a better overall player then Yes replace him, in reality we don,t because there is a lot more to consider other than running the ball back and making a further 10 metres.