Dawson is useless under the high bomb though.

I'm sure he'd do a good job there, but he's so good at the specialist subtleties of the centre position that I'd rather see him stay there if possible. It's probably going be a case of 'needs must', though.

The other problem is, whilst he has the ability to catch well, its probably not something he thinks about all that much. Select hm at full back and (maybe) he spends all week thinking about the pressure of the high balls he's going to get. That gooses him on match day and ruins his confidence going forward on a number of issues. You need to know Percy personally to tell whether he's got the personality for it, or whether itd be best just leaving him to do his thing at centre.

Leeds often move Watkins to #1 when needed, although they put Sutcliffe there t'other day.

Jones can't play fullback mate. He's not got any of the qualities needed at all.

The way its going at full back its like picking a "sacrificial lamb" for that position knowing there is a very high risk of a season ending injury a few games down the line. Least disruptive is probably giving Fleming the honour.

But he's a centre...who's done a job on wing for us. For the third time I'm gonna say the name, Bailey. Can people give me reasons as to why he shouldn't be given a chance considering he is actually a fullback, or do these kids get just one chance to impress and that's it?

If I'm talking crap, please shoot me down.

Dawson to fullback? The bloke can hardly catch a cold and I'm not sure his postional awareness is that great. He looks ropey being a centre played on the wing, never mind moving him to full back.

If Bailey looks ready in the youth teams, then I'd have no issue putting him in. But he didn't look at all ready on Easter Monday, with the caveat that he was apparently out of his usual position.

I don,t think we handled Bailey very well when he played v Hull, it was a surprise when he was in the 13 that he actually played on the wing instead of his natural position full back, he was put under a lot of pressure and I don,t think it did him any good confidence wise. At least Fleming has had quite a few games and has taken quite a few in field high balls with composure, whoever takes the job we need to protect the player to take some pressure off.

Hahaha



I take your point Judder. Fleming has done well, but he's been given a handful of games to grow in confidence. Before them 5 games or even just 1 game, nobody on here would even have brought his name up as a replacement centre or winger. We all have our one memory of Bailey getting targeted in that one and only 1st team appearance. If he got a run, the lad would grow into it.

Bailey is the only option for me. I don't think he's ready but sometimes players have to take that step up. He didn't look super league player in the hull game but he was out of postion to be fair.

Like I saud, I tbink Id just bite the bullet and play Bailey as he's a fullback and that way we don't disrupt the team to much.

He only has to catch one high bomb or make one good kick return in the first few minutes and the crowd will settle and his confidence will grow.

Jon Wilkin to FB.

Swifty to full back and Mose on the wing, don't know what we do after 3 minutes though.

I'm waiting for someone to say Mose.

Safe hands Swift, eh?
I like him a lot, but he's not exactly reliable in terms of errors.

That was if Mose lasted up to 3 mins on the wing!!!

He's only recently turned 18 and struggled in his only game at first grade so far, in an easier position. He'd be too isolated. He also isn't enough of a running threat at the minute IMO, so our second man plays wouldn't be effective. His time will come. But playing at fullback can be a traumatic experience if you are struggling, and could really set him back. Playing his second match in a CC quarter final, in such an isolated position, I think he would struggle with the pressure in a way that an experienced player like Turner wouldn't.

We have three first grade quality centres (though Jones is probably a back rower mainly - not that we're short of them) playing for two spots, why not put Turner at fullback?

The way Calvin Wellington is playing at the minute it wont be long until he is playing in the first team. Another 2 tries tonight away at Cas.

He might be a centre but his speed and skills he could play 1,2,3,4,5 easily.

Totally accept your point of view, but I've often wondered this...is the wing really an easier position, or is it just as difficult as any other on the pitch?

All this speculation is fun, but does anyone know how bad SMD's injury actually is?

I think in attack, physically it's probably just as difficult as any other nowadays. Wingers are expected to carry the ball loads on exit sets. However, there's much less thinking and decision making required, which is often where experience shows. Sets are controlled by the spine, so if it's a backs set you'll get in for a carry off the ruck and if not you will just wait for the ball from your centre.

In defence it's physically easier because of the relative lack of tackles made (though these tackles tend to be more important because if you're tackling the opposite winger, chances are it's a try scoring opportunity). There's a lot of decision making involved compared to other positions (see Makinson flying off his wing at Magic Weekend vs Jamie Foster's efforts a few years back). However, a lot of the time the decisions will be made by your centre and your halfback on that side; you only fly in if you're following them.

It's not that wing is an easy position to play, just that it's much easier than fullback, which has evolved as the most important position in the game today IMO.

If it's a ruptured or badly torn Achilles I'd say McDonnell has less chance than Lomax of advancing his career at Saints.

There are perhaps only two injuries which are more likely to end a career than cruciate ligament failure. The first is a badly dislocated shoulder. Once those shoulder balls pop out of the accompanying socket they never seem to fit back in as tightly leading inevitably to repeat dislocations down the road.

But far worse is the dreaded ruptured/snapped Achilles. That tendon is so fundamentally important to stability, speed, agility, load-balancing etc. etc. that ANY reduction in its effectiveness after repair and you're suddenly a fraction of your former self.

Recall, it was a blown Achilles which signed the death warrant to Newlove's career. He went from being one of the most fluidly agile centres the game has ever seen to someone who could only run in straight lines. Tragic, really.

If we are talking about a damaged Achilles then McDonnell's career is now hanging by a thread. If we're lucky and we get a good surgeon then he might return with 80-90% of his former skills. It's too much to think about the consequences of drawing a mediocre surgeon. However, even if we luck out and he somehow comes back unscathed - we're still talking about months on the sidelines, with a high probability of catastrophic relapse.

I think wing and fullback are two totally different positions. A good fullback Doesnt always make a good winger and vice versa.

Kicks and defence wise is the biggest difference and I think young Bailey pretty much showed that on Easter Monday.

I personally think we have much less respect for the wing position than the Aussies although we have more respect for it than we used to. The days when (internationally) we'd throw a big name player out of position on the wing rather than an actual winger.

In school the players that weren't as good used to get shoved out wide or would stand out there out of choice to stay out the way of the rough and tumble. And I think sometimes there are people who think you can just shove anyone out there to do a job

Fact is, the wing position is extremely demanding in defence, decision making, reading the game, positional sense, great hands, speed, courage etc etc A poor inexperienced winger will be exploited.

So in my opinion, you can't just shove a fullback on wing in a high intensity, demanding game against an experienced opposite winger, facing the likes of Sneyds and Pryce's kicks and not expect to look out of place.