I'm pretty sure Kurt Gidley would prefer to play fullback ,which would lead me to play Ratchford in the halves alongside Sandow , he needs to be at the heart of the team to get the best out of him ,otherwise he will move on

basically we are trying to shoehorn a player into a position because we have him.

is he a fullback - No
is he a HB - No
Is he a loose forward - absolutely not
is he a centre - Not really

I wouldn't lose any sleep if we sold him.

He can get away at any of those positions but excellent at none. This season.has been hard tho as he has has had to cover for injuries which I'm.sure wouldn't help him.

I'd play him in the halves with sandow. I wouldn't put him at loose forward I just don't see it suiting. I'd rather see Ben Currie at LF or grix when (if) he's fit. I don't like him at full back, so centre as second choice. Nice to have a player that we could play in all those positions though.

I have to say Russell is a better fullback, Gidley a better standoff, he is too defensively suspect for the middle six so centre is the only option.

Although he is hardly a Martin Gleeson.

The fact that we are having this debate speaks volumes. The man is in his mid twenties and nobody knows his best position. Even utility players have a specialist position, grix is a loose forward who can fill in elsewhere, wilkin is a backrower who can cover half back or hooker etc. Maybe if ratchford had some storming games in one of the positions he has covered we wouldn't be in any doubt where his future lay.

The 'sell him and buy a specialist centre' idea was the best for me. All this identikit players and the decrease in specialists has made rl a poorer spectacle in recent years in my opinion. Leeds have a specialist full back, two specialist centres and the same for the wings. That's why their backline is the best and why they will win the treble.

I'm surprised!, pre Sandow he's our best player(not off recent form).
He like everyone else has been constantly playing behind a pussy poor beaten pack.
Who in this team can we honestly say has been great?

Every single player/coach has come in for stick at some point this season on this forum, some extremely more than others, even everybody's Golden Boy Hill, off me if nobody else.

Sort the pack out and everyone's form will return and everyone will all hail TS the messiah once again.

who's stolen duckies login details, this post is bang on.

Bang on? He states ratchford is our best player when he mentions chris hill in the same post. The constant statements by warrington fans such as "he's our best player" or "he's the most naturally gifted player at the club" seriously wind me up. There is NO evidence to back up such claims.

I'm loved if I know

Not a FB as long as he's got a hole in his posterior
He played a lot of games at Salford as centre (iirc). Didn't exactly stand out.
When he played in the halves with Bridge, we got results, and played good stuff, too. Bridge is off in 4 games time, so that's that one "knocked on the head". Another go, but this time with Sandow, for next year.
LF. Beef him up, and give it a go. Things can't get any worse, can they?

atm, he's a luxury player, but we don't know what to do with him.

It's almost like a lottery winning, art enthusiast. He goes to Sotheby's, and picks up a rather nice (if there's such a thing) Van Gogh painting, for a bit too much money than it's worth. He pays for it, get's it home, then can't decide which room to hang it in, let alone which wall.

Where's the Wigan Warriors option?

....,on FBook!

The crazy thing is none of us know who will play 4 of the positions 1-7. Assuming Sandow will play left HB, Lineham will play 2 and Atkins at 4.

That leaves Ratch, O'Brien, Patton, king, Monaghan, Evans, Gidley, Russell and Ormsby with Possibly Penny and Wheeler.
Will Monaghan play left wing or right centre?
Same for Evans.
Russell at left wing or Full back?
Gidley at right HB or Full back.
We could go on and on.

It is a good guessing game but I hope TS knows. We would all have a better chance of naming the 1-7 for next year for Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Cas and Huddersfield for next year than we would of our own squad.

Interesting little article about Gidleys influence at Newcastle on NRL.com hopefully a good person to have around for the likes of Patton, Toby King, Brad Dwyer amongst others.

I believe Gidley is brought in to play 6 as option over 1 & 13.