Whilst we're all bickering amongst ourselves over which imports are more deserving of a place in the team and which youngsters can and can't cut the mustard, you have gone about your business at full back reliably and solidly. We don't expect you to take the bomb and run 90 metres up field, we know you're not a spring chicken anymore. We need you to get us out of trouble on our own line and show some dedication to the cause and you've done that fantastically.

Thank You!

Starting the countdown timer for a certain poster's bile filled rebuttal... Now! 100... 99... 98... 97...

There's plenty of players in the team who do far less than Wello, but get little grief for it. I'm convinced if Wigan had an average fullback who didn't stand out, Wello wouldn't come in for half the criticism he does. I don't even think people realise they are making a comparison, but subconsciously are.

Paul Wellens is not and never has been the quickest full back around...

However, he reads a game well enough to put himself into the right place at the right time and is very dependable under the high ball (a quality that rat boy from down the road doesn't have). A comparison between Wellens and Tomkins would be ridiculous as Tomkins is effectively a 3rd half back for Wigan, moved cleverly to full back to stop him being targeted/exposed in defence by opposition in the line whereas Wellens is an out and out full back.

The guy is our top scorer with 20 in all competitions and is still dependable under the high ball and commands well from the back. The guy is Saints through and through and will always give it 100% effort when he pulls on the red V and is well worth another year's contract imo.

I admire Wello and think his form this year has improved on last, but I feel that his limitations epitomise our teams. He works hard to support those little half breaks around the ruck, he has fewer wobbles under the high ball than he did 2 years ago and is a good last line of defence.
However, in situations where the game is closely contested, he struggles to make an impression in the fullback's pivot role out wide.
Any player in this situation will struggle to contobute if your pack is getting whacked, but the better players should be able to do something in games where the forwards are equally matched. I feel this is where Wellens still struggles when he shouldn't.
We've rolled over a lot of teams this year, which has helped him boost his try tally with clever play.

I thought I'd give this thread chance to build before my input warped the thread and prompted people to either agree with me (Because I'm right) or disagree with me (Because they are jealous of my popularity ).

But I see that rather predictably, apart from the 3 girls (WidnesSaints, Saintclaire and wakeysaint, you are all girls I presume?) there is no support at all for him. The Monkey then comes in with a suitably balanced post.

We all love Wello, he's given a decade plus of fantastic service, but his time is up, his number has been called. You can see the frustration he has towards his own performances in games, particularly at the weekend and whilst he was flapping his arms and gesticulating to the touch judge, Wakefield made a break up field. His behaviour as Captain is unacceptable and he isn't a positive influence on the team anymore. He appears to be doing better with fielding kicks as he's simply not getting to them anymore, so he doesn't knock on because he never gets there. He isn't having any impact on games and it's like we're playing with 12 men. I've mentioned before about how his experience means he'll be able to poach a try off someone else's work because he can spot where breaks will occur, but that masks his terrible overall contribution to our attack.

No offense meant, I was just looking for a nice easy way to pidgeon hole you together.

I'll always get behind him, but think Makinson is/was the right man to take the fullback spot and this new deal he's getting is perhaps not the most positive move by the club.

I think you will eventually see Makinson at full back, but at the moment he isnt experienced enough to be as effective there as Wello is. I think another year of playing in the same team as Wellens and watching his positional play (which is very good to make up for his lack of pace) will make him better prepared. If Makinson can pick up Wellens' positional play and combine it with the pace he has got, we could have one hell of a future full back there

I don't. I think you'll see him continually used on the wing and some other player will sneak in and pinch the #1 shirt, whether its Swift or Gaskell out tof the Under20s, or Lomax or Lance being shuffled around due to a new signing.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see Makinson at Fullback.

I think you'll probably eventually see Makinson at Salford or Wakefield actually unfortunately...

As a kind of neutral (St's have always been my second team - you need one to support when your own team is perenially out of the running by halfway through the season) Wellens is a player I respect and admire for his longevity and great service to RL; I'm also reliably informed that he's an all-round nice bloke.

I'd have to agree with Saddened however, in that his constant chelping and arm-waving at the officials is an embarassment and not really acceptable behaviour from a club captain; it shows the game in a poor light and sets a bad example to young players, not to mention the detriment to his own game - didn't we make a break that resulted in a try when he *should* have been at marker, but was too busy moaning at the ref?

In short - great player, shame about the attitude.

Yup indeed. And I think if you got a physchologist/physchiatrist in to analyse his behavioural issues, the conclusion would be that the route cause was frustration at his own performances.

I too get frustrated at my age with my own "performances" but I don't try to take off like a birdman.

I think he is frustrated more with the overall team performances which he feels responsible for as captain.

I am OK with wello at F/B and captain for 1 more year as I think that he has had actually a much improved second half of the season than the first half or all of last year in fact. Against hudds a couple of weeks ago he was my MOM with some great try saving tackles and against warry he was far from being anywhere near the worst player out there.