The emergence of Lomax as a reasonably reliable goal kicker has diminished his chances. I can't see him getting a start on merit, and must rely on injuries to get another chance. He will probably go down in the anals with Danny Arnold and that other goal kicking winger who played outside Mal, whose name completely escapes me.

There will always be a need for a goal kicker and we have one of the best in Rugby. He does need to put on weight and muscle but as long as he has that right foot and is under contract we are sitting on a potential little gem. Brown might not like him so much right not but i bet over the pre season he gets the "special treatment" and picks up size.

The way i look at it is, if Paul Sykes can get a game because he kicks goals so can Foster.

I'm sure Makinson scored the best try of the Grand Final last year and has never put a foot wrong since wearing a Saints shirt and I for one would see him in the side over foster any day of the week

Very, very unfair comparison. Foster has been leagues ahead of the likes of Tyrer at all stages of his career.

Foster is a more than decent player with a very bright future in SL if he can get his head back in the game, whether that be at Saints or elsewhere. He was a far, far better player in his first season in the team than Makinson has been (at the equivalent point in his career) over the last 12 months.

Oh, but I'm forgetting that Foster is the new designated knee-jerk scapegoat and Makinson is untaintable flavour of the month, so clearly that point is irrelevant isn't it?

Foster scored lots of tries (many more than Makinson) and also never put a foot wrong in his first year too... Makinson has the makings of a decent player but isn't there yet - same goes for Foster.

Send him to Leigh. Rate this lad and would love to see him playing on the wing or centre at ours.

I do think when you compare wingers (ade, foster and makinson) Foster gets far mor critisim than he is due. His try scoring record per game is better. Yes he makes howlers, but that does not stop us picking Meli who is also defensively questionable.

I am by no means saying he is a world beater, and yes Makinson scored a great try in the GF, but I don't like picking one try to justify a players career, just as that round the back catch was good but not enough alone and that catch at wigan was good but not enough to justify man of the match.

What do you think foster offers us?

You could see the massive difference that Meli and Ade brought to the team when rush put them in.

They made used in our own hand as extra forwards as they offer good go forward and both can finish better than foster.

I do think we will see foster again but he's got to improve every single aspect of his game if he wants to be a regular again.

Like I said I think he gets unfair critism.

If you compare his stats to Ade and Makinson last year.

Foster 0.8 tries per match
Makinson 0.35 tries per match
Ade 0.53 tries per match

Foster 8m per carry
Makinson 6.6m per carry
Ade 7m per carry

Foster 23 clean breaks
Makinson 3 clean breaks
Ade 8 clean breaks

Foster 1 error per match
Makinson 0.88 errors per match
Ade 0.8 errors per match.

That does not bear out the theory that he is miles behind the other 2.

far better clean breaks means he should have much better m/carry than he does

Sean Day AKA Doris.

Except that isn't taking into consideration the overwhelming likelihood that the ball will go left rather than right. Neither Gardner nor Makinson can score tries if the ball never comes their way. And it still isn't coming their way. During our game against Widnes, even with no defence to stop us, 40% of the ball went left, 10% went right. (Thanks, Clarkey! ) To compare Foster/Meli/Jones on the left to anyone playing centre/wing on the right is not going to provide an accurate representation of the comparative try scoring abilities of our outside backs until we start passing to the right more often.

Have we seen the last of Foster?. Maybe, maybe not. He could well get another run out if injuries require it; otherwise it could well be the end for him.

To be brutally honest if he did not kick goals as well as he does he would never had been considered in the first place. He is sadly short of pace for someone with his build; how many times has he been thrust back into his own goal area with comparative ease when attempting to clear the line, his efforts are truly pathetic; even though he is trying. The try he scored when switching hands behind his back was if truth be known a stroke of luck rather than genius. It was only through the rantings of the buffoon Stevo that put Foster upon the pedestal he was so quick to accept.

It may sound as if I am running the lad down, but this is not the case. I said it last year and again in a post earlier this year that he just is not super league standard, I say this of a lot of other young players as well, not just Foster. I wish him well in his career but there is no way it will be in super league.

Makinson 6.6 m ave from only three clean breaks looks pretty good against Fosters 8m ave from 23 clean breaks.

STATS? there are lies, damn lies and statistics.