I agree, Makinson's wasted on the wing, and Lomax brings a spark and creativity in the halves that we're lacking with Wellens/Hohaia.

Did anyone notice the distance makinson got on the couple of kicks he made from hand? Whilst they weren't particlary accruate, the first one certinaly went well over the full back's head (before bouncing dead).

Yes. He can welly a ball. I don't think that he was supposed to end up with the ball, like - it was one of those games - but he certainly covered some distance. With a bit of practice, or at least knowing that he is supposed to be kicking, he could be one solution to our kicking problems!

I understand the thinking of this, but I don't agree.

Lomax needs to play the same role he did prior to his injury if we want to get the best out of him: take the game vs Wire when Wilkin/Lomax combination was superb. Lomax is needed back fit to cover the fact we have no recognised HBs.

Even though it went dead, it certainly relieved pressure because we were struggling to get out of our own half. One thing we've been lacking is a long kicking game, the ball normally hits the full back on the 30m line.

If you can get it dead, then its a restart on the 20 AND the opposition needs to wait until all their players get back, which gives us a chance to set a line on the 30. Not perfect, but better than what we often see.

He hasn't brought that spark of creativity in the halves for over 12 months now. Leave him at 1, where both him and the team look better for it.

Having Lomax gives us a clear plan to work on - get him the ball.
There were a few times on Friday when we got to tackle 4 in a half decent position and, instead of running an attacking move, some forward bumbled into the way and drove for half a yard.

People never learn do they!

There is a big difference between playing 6 and 7 to be fair.

And a bigger one between 7,6 and 1.


Leave him at FB. It's not just his attack, although that attracts the eye. But his ordering of the defensive line is pretty good to from FB.

Just to stick my two penn'orth in, Lomax would make a good running stand off (like he was all his amateur career) with an organising scrum half inside him. He supports well and hits the line at pace ( just like McGuire at leeds ). Let others do the organizing and Lomax would cause havoc up the middle supporting the offloads.

But!!!!!

What a revelation he has been at fullback. The team as a whole benefits from his support play out wide in attack, and he's not too shabby in defense either.

If we had another class fullback then he could do a job at standoff with the above provisos. I personally don't think we have, so we have to play him fullback for the benefit of the team.

No one expects the Dagenham Girl Pipers...................

Jeez, you really have it in for Makinson don't you?

Here are some stats for you. They're only stats, obviously, but they are the only facts we have to hand.

Stats for Lomax in the Warrington game:

Tries - 0
Assists - 2
Tackles - 5
Marker Tackles - 0
Missed Tackles - 0
Busts - 2
Carries - 17
Metres - 104
Average Gain - 6.1
Breaks - 0
Errors - 0
Offloads - 1
Penalties - 0

Stats for Makinson in the Dragons game:

Tries - 0
Assists - 0
Tackles - 4
Marker Tackles - 0
Missed Tackles - 0
Busts - 3
Carries - 19
Metres - 151
Average Gain - 8
Breaks - 1
Errors - 1
Offloads - 0
Penalties - 0

In the game against Wigan, which I think was his first complete game at fullback this season, Makinson made 142 metres, scored a try, made 7 tackles and one assist (although he did miss 3 tackles and made one error).

So is Lomax really our only class fullback?