Not yet.

I thought he looked good on Friday.
He put a kick out of the full and towards the end through a long pass into touch, but...
His long kicking, although mixed, included some good ones and was a better contribution than Eastmond. He kicked a massive bomb in the 2nd half that had a wicked spin on it, which the fullback fluffed and we were unlucky it bounced awy ffrom the chasers.
The first glimmer of hope on friday came when he ghosted through 15metres out, if he'd had support we'd have scored (just after Flanders had trapped their man in goal).
We were unlucky to be pulled for a forward pass when he put Moore in under the sticks.
He put Meli in for his try with a lovely long pass and had a hand in the build up to Graham's.
Also, he looks reasonably robust in defence and hasn't picked up an injury or looked like he's going to cry at any point, which we couldn't say during Eastmond's early days.

He also falls into the skinny kid catagory, with such youngsters as Roby, Stomkins & Foster, who seem alot more injury resistant than the bulky frames of Wheeler and Eastmond. Which could be a huge bonus.

Aye, but how many times did Roby kick out on the full last year? At least twice if I remember right; once at the DW. And throwing long passes into touch are not a newbie specialty! That's just timing, something which will come with more game practice. I'm not arguing with you here, just adding to what you have said. His mistakes, though significant in that individual game, are to be expected in such a raw player but I think he is doing great and I really do hope we stick with him.

All your points are well made and just highlight how important he was in that match.


Yes, there does seem to be a resilience among those with a certain kind of frame (watch him go and get injured now, lol!).

He made mistakes, but his positves by far out weighed any negetives, no matter what the sad one says. I'm looking forward to seeing him play along side Pryce.

Re: Wilkin.

I think this guy is one of the best team players. He plays what ever position the coach throws him into, will play off the bench if asked to. Players of his career length do have injury seasons which I think he has in the last 2 or 3 seasons. But because he will play anywhere he gets pushed about by the coaches. In his early career he played alot of back positions and loose forward. As the years go on he gets pushed more and more into the 2nd row or as a sub for 2nd rowers.

Yet when we get caught short these same coaches then look to Wilkin to take up the 6 position. Think about it could you fulfil a specialist role at your work, if you just train and work at a generalist role for most of your days.

IMHO his talent has been wasted by coaches down the years. He was the natural loose forward to take over from Scully, but we have had wasted years of Flannery and co taking the loose position, with no kicking, vision or ball distribution in their natural game. Flannery is a 2nd rower solid in the tackle and strong if not amazing going forwards. But put him in a gap and watch him go.

This year Wilkin has started at 13 and Flannery in the 2nd row and they have both looked the better for it.

Spot on.


Me too. If Pryce ever gets fit!


Totally right. They should stay playing in those positions unless our injury situation is so dire that there is absolutely no choice whatsoever but to move them. We so desperately need stability and for players to be playing where they are best suited.

We can thank Anderson for that poor decision.

No, that can't be right, it must have been Potter.

That's how you beat Quins.

Ahh, well then. Here's your medal.

No. Wait. It isn't October yet.

I saw that one more as someone under the disillusion of being precognitive