There is no stats for loss of speed. He is too slow to make the plays. Paul Wellens positional play is fantastic and his still a good player (i'd have him in the pack). But the amount of try's we let in by a simple kick thru is really disturbing. Also when it's raining Paul looks like his got led weights on his feet. Time and time again he gets absolutely skinned by opposite players e.g. Lauititti at KR, Donald in the Grand Final etc....

Figures have always won prizes. The team finishing with the biggest number wins. The player scoring the most tries wins the top tryscorer prize. The player with the most votes wins MOS.

Figures are everything.

Of thought I take it

But we've not won any of the last 3 major trophies, so your figures must be wrong.

Who are these SL fullbacks that have no weaknesses to their games? I can think of perhaps one. Maybe.

You're boring me now.

Me = Right!

Everybodys got weakneses. But the time as come when Pauls main weakness is rapped in most of the big games.

We already have a replacement for Wellens in Lomax. So it's not like we're badly off. Most SL clubs struggle to field ONE decent fullback.

You're correct and i'm sorry i'm slating Paul. His a legend of our club. However you cant ignore the fact that teams are targeting his lack of pace.

I strongly suspect the coaching team has been planning to shift Wellens out of fullback for some time.

He may end up as some kind of super sub. A bit like Veivers was in his final days.

Mathers?

Please.

To be fair, Wellens was cruelly exposed again today.

I think his days at the top as a fullback are coming to a close.
He has been by far the best fullback of the SL era, and a true Saints great.
However his legs are getting older and slower, and they have never been the quickest to begin with.

I suspect that next year Lomax will start to get more and more game time at fullback with Wello moving into the loose forward position.