Quote: GouldyCrusader "Only three players that deserve a look in for me. Roby, Michael Monaghan and Tomkins. For me, Roby deserves it. The stats certainly don't lie and when you watch your games, you can see the influence he has in the side. Doesn't look like Monaghan will get it, as he wasn't even in the Dream Team. Don't know why, he's been brilliant this season for Warrington.'"
They certainly don't always tell the truth! I remember a few poorer performances from Sam Tomkins where he managed to make it into that daft frontline team of the round which is worked out using stats. They don't tell really tell you anything that relevant.
Roby making 5000 metres in a season is an impressive achievement but he makes those metres because of his style of play. He steps forward from dummy half pretty much all the time whether he's taking the line on or passing the ball which will help him rack up the metres, but it doesn't really show how useful those metres are.
Monaghan steps forward from dummy half too but not always as often. Sometimes he prefers a quick pass to a forward and sometimes runs laterally to try to trouble the defence further out. Running forward from dummy half 5 metres and passing to a prop who makes a further 7 metres isn't necessarily better than running sideways, passing it to a player out wide who makes 5 metres but then being in a strong position to target certain players or put on an attacking play.
It's a long winded way of saying that there's so much more to playing at hooker than what the stats tell you. There aren't any stats to show how much better a team plays with a certain player on the field, how much a player takes out of a defence, how many times they put players through gaps etc.
The stats that are usually fairly straightforward are tackling stats and that's where Roby is most impressive in my opinion. Both he and Monaghan are excellent players but I think Monaghan is the better of the two based on what I've seen of him during a game and how dangerous he always seems to be when on the pitch. What Roby's stats do show is that he's clearly got a lot of stamina and his fitness levels must be incredible and that's obviously a benefit for Saints and for England.
And despite everything I've said I still think Roby should be man of steel going off those 3 candidates. Chase has been very impressive at times as has Sam Tomkins but I think both of those players are let down by the fact that they still make plenty of poor decisions during matches. As a Wigan fan I wouldn't have Tomkins as a choice for man of steel I'd have Sean O'Loughlin. He's the best player at Wigan and the most important. Brett Finch would also come close but missing the start of the season doesn't help.
