Ratchford isn't a fullback either & trying to play him there is a waste of his talents. One of his best games of last season was Catalans away when he played halfback. The best fullback i have seen at our club recently is Jack Johnson,but let's see how Gidley fits in tonight.

I think your second sentence together with a couple or three injuries to Ratchford, King and Johnson probably makes your first one not quite on the mark.

I think that it is entirely the game to make wholesale changes if Patton makes it then it's his partnership with Brown that will be the way forward

Which is exactly what happened. I'm just pleased that TS doesn't think like most on here, some absolute rubbish being spouted.

I would stick Ratchford in the centre instead of Evans... you cannot have a passenger playing at centre and expect to win in big games when the defence goes up another notch in intensity.

Evans just does absolutely nothing in attack, he doesn't know when to pass or when to run... he must have just been bigger and faster than everyone else as a kid, and just cannot fathom what to do when he cannot just run over or around people.

So that would mean Gidley at fullback, Brown and Patton in the halves with Russell on the wing.

I'm all for Ratchford at centre. But I have now watched the game again and our centres played really well v. Broncos. Evans stretched the opposition defence a few times and Atkins was a handful. You have to give credit when it is due.

Amazing what happens really when you play a full back at fullback, a Stand-off at Stand-Off and a Scrum Half at Scrum Half isn't it.

Saturday was the most Clinical, professional performance I have seen for a long, long time. The exact right amount of structured Rugby mixed with off the cuff flair. A pleasure to watch and almost impossible to cope with. And it all came down to the spine of the team playing off an aggressive pack. 1,6,7 & 9 were able to play however they wanted. Gidley showed us exactly how a Fullback should operate. Always in the right position to gather a kick, safe as houses, ran into a channel and linked in as a 3rd Pivot. Him at fullback is what we've missed since Hodgeson. Keep him there for the rest of the season.

If Brown can stay fit and play every game as he did on Saturday night I will hold my hands up and take everything back. I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong. Credit where it's due.

i said i wasn't keen on him playing there, he took a battering but he looked a bloody natural there, and did very well in defence and organizing as well.

Wasn't too keen on his attempted slides to catch the ball however matty russell should take a long had look at his positioning for all them high balls for future use.

Let's stick with it.

Yes - really really impressed.
Gidley was really vocal and demonstrative - particularly on our line.
Not seen that from any of our other 'fullbacks' - even Ratch

You will get accused of talking to much sense.

You have hit the nail on the head. Play them in their natural positions and look at the results. I turned to my dad after about 15 mins with a big grin on my face and said " We have a half back". I was another who was sceptical about Kev Brown coming to us at his age, however how wrong I and many on this board were. He has so much time to see what is in front of him. The centres were basically able to exploit holes in the defence or go around their marker due to the vision and timing of a Brown pass. Kurt Gidley was assured at full back which i am sure gave confidence to the rest of the team. It also gives a team confidence that the intensity will not drop from the Prop forward battery after 20 minutes or so.

This was the original plan for Gidley hence the No1 shirt last season obviously circumstances took over. Perhaps there will be a re think?

Then Why give him the 7 shirt this season?

FWIW, I think we should do away with squad numbers and do it like we still do internationally and how the Aussies still do it. Get given your shirt number on the day. I understand its a way to make money with shirt printing and stuff but that can still happen regardless anyway.

Really is amazing, all the other teams will start doing the same. At least for that game we had the right balance.

Patton and Brown should be nailed on HBs now.. and Gidley nailed on at 1.

i dont want to see Ratchford or Russel anywhere near that FB spot when everyone is fit.

Like I said earlier, I think Gidley should stay fullback because of how poor Evans is at centre, and Ratchford would be a massive upgrade.

However despite him looking assured under the high ball against Brisbane, I am not sure how he will perform over an entire season.
In modern Rugby League having a fullback who is quick and elusive or can break a tackle is a huge benefit, because it gives a great platform for the forwards to start a set. I can't think of many if any top teams who have a small and slow fullback at the moment...

And I questioned his decision making a lot of last season, because he seemed to run when he should pass, this was highlighted in the GF and is not something I would have ever accused Hodgson of. So I am not sure how great he would be in an attacking sense, he didn't do much against Brisbane except the quick hands which led to Russell's try.

I don't really see the comparison with Hodgson, yes they both lack pace but I think Hodgson was far better at linking up play and key decision making.

I personally think Ratchford would be a better fullback if he played there every week, but like I said, we need him at centre.

Move Hughes to centre?**!!?? Why would we play a second row forward at centre? His defence could not possibly be better than Evans, he's not as quick as Evans and lastly, given a bit of space to operate in, Evans even showed on Friday some of the attacking potential he displayed as a teenager. We might as well play Westwoods at centre, after all, that's where he started out.