Yeah I have never doubted his commitment at all, and he was becoming more effective towards the back end of the season.

Drinkwater

Years
2013 St. George Illawarra
2014 London Broncos
2015 Wests Tigers
2016–17 Leigh Centurions
2018 Catalans Dragons
2019 Hull Kingston Rovers
2020–22 Catalans Dragons
2023– Warrington Wolves

We are Drinkwater's eighth club. He is the classic journeyman professional and I don't believe you will ever see the level of commitment that you would get from most other players, particularly the home grown like Thewlis. We are stuck with him for another year and I guess SB is just trying to make the best from a less than optimum situation.

And thankfully Burgess has been harping on about how impressed he is with Leon Hayes in training. I get the feeling a Price / A.N Other Aussie type coach would have Drinkwater as first option every day of the week.

Good to hear his comments about Conor Wrench playing centre too.

Hopefully he will give Wrench a decent chance to secure that position, it depends I suppose if Tai settles in Warrington, or whether the lure of the NRL is too great.

Drinkwater often looked impressive for Catalans and Hull KR though, to be fair, and the reaction on here was largely positive when we signed him. I hoped that he was going to finally provide us with an excellent attacking kick option. Instead, he just became Mr Anonymous for most of 2023, unfortunately.

Oh hell is Drinkwater going to become the next Mata'utia on the forum? BTW I'd love it if Hayes stepped up and played every game.

I'd rather have Wrench at centre than Mata'utia and Ratchford.

Drinkwater's best attribute has always been his kicking game, which has been awful for too long in the P&B. Players should earn the shirt, Smiffy, but there's been too many poor performance by too many players over a number of years. If SB promotes a system of meritocracy, then we'll have laid the first stone of a good foundation for the future.

Totally agree. Let the young guns prove their worth at training and on the pitch & step up & we'll all be happy.
But let us show respect to our older lads too. Seems fair doesn't it.

Yes, but only if they walk the walk and set the standard and an example to our younger squad members and our academy.

Nice to see a new pair of eyes looking at the situation. It should be seen as an opportunity for all to show their worth.
It makes the early season selections great fun.

There was the perceived (rightly or wrongly) correlation of Drinkwater's decline in form/attitude around the time of McGuiregate. I think when we were 8/8 no-one was complaining. Then we got a taste of reality from Saints and Wigan and it all went downhill.

The leadership group for 2023 was ...

George Williams,
Josh McGuire
Stefan Ratchford
Peter Mata’utia

And thereby hangs a tale

Doesn't it just