Kevin Brown in the centres would be the final straw

I think you've summed up Ratchford perfectly, in those last few words, ratticusfinch.

To me, RATCHFORD, is a puzzle, wrapped up in an enigma, contained in a mystery.

I remember watching him keenly in Salford colours, when we were heavily linked with him. I saw a player that didn't do THAT much, yet the opposition players "laid off" him a bit, when he had ball in hand, as a mark of respect for his talents.
I wasn't that blown away with him then, and still remain the same, seven years on.

Don't get me wrong. I've got nowt against him, he's just not lived up to a substantial transfer fee we paid for him.

I'll upset a few here, but I see his best position as stand off. He can be elusive, he has a rugby brain, and can side step. 3 good plus points for any number six. I even agreed with duckie, with his obsession of Bridge /Ratchford in the halves (but only when things weren't going our way, during a game)+, just to try something different).

Fact is, come July, he'll be 30. Unless he has some Briersesque renaissance in his career, I hope to God we don't offer him another contract. At 30, he ain't gonna get any better.

We didn't pay a fee for him, he was out of contract

Good insights from ratticusfinch and lefty there.

Ratchford reminds me a bit of Iestyn Harris. He's not express pace, but his footwork is very good and he can ghost through people. If he had a yard or two more pace and could accelerate away from defenders when he's through he'd be one of the game's elite players. Where Ratchford lacks behind Harris is in focus. Ratchford often seems to be on the pitch but not part of the game. He's always had one or two errors a game in him and this hasn't improved as he's got older. He looks casual, lacks urgency returning the ball and always has these lapses in concentration.

The impression I have of Ratchford is of a guy who since being a kid has found the game easy, who has always been more talented than most of his peers, even when he got to SL. He's probably had people telling him for years how good he is and how the sky is the limit for someone of his talent. After the start he made to his career he probably looked at guys getting signed by the NRL, having long international careers, competing for Man of Steel honours and winning Grand Finals and thought that would be where he would end up.

Now he's 29 and the realisation is probably dawning on him that those things aren't going to happen. This is his 7th season with us and he hasn't improved much on the player we signed from Salford. He was a player with 'promise' who was frozen in time rather than developing and maturing year on year as Briers did. He will look around now and realise he's no longer in a team at the top table but it's unlikely that he's going to be signed by one of the teams at the top any more, his next move will be back to Salford or somewhere like Catalans or Toronto.

He seems like a decent guy with a laid back personality who lacked the burning intensity that would have got the most out of his talent.

There was a time when I thought if he bulked up a bit there was a very good, old style loose forward waiting to blossom.

I agree..
One of my all time favourite none wire players was John Pendlebury..
Absolutely perfect as a loose.
Ratchford has his height and just a stone short of his build.

The funny thing is, Ratchford was heavily linked with Wigan until recently. And I’m sure had he gone there in the last couple of years he’d look a different player, even under Wane. There’s something engrained in this club that prevents players reaching their true potential even when we’ve had good coaches. I can’t put my finger on it but I just know Ratchford’s natural talent would shine through at the likes of Leeds and Wigan. Maybe it’s to do with the fact he’s never really had a firm position.

Ratchford should be our right centre (Goodwin being the left). He’s not specialist enough at full back for me. Doesn’t run from the line well, isn’t s good enough defender, is too erratic as he’s got no structure of field position.

Whenever he’s played at centre he’s been stand-out either the best player on the pitch or his best performance of the season.

I postulated that last year, with Gidley at the back. However we have no experienced full back to fill in there now... Johnson hasn’t really shone but I suppose is worth a chance.

Roberts is class at full back as we’ve seen in the NRL, but he’s needed in the halves and has clearly stated he came here on the condition that he’s playing at half back as that’s his real position and where his strengths lie. We’re so short of talent in that area I don’t want to him off and see him sack us off, just for the sake of replacing an out-of-form Ratchford. I wonder are we regretting letting Will Dagger go now? Didn’t exactly get a chance last year.

I was about to mention Roberts playing some fullback in the NRL. Roberts to FB Ratch to the halfs.

He's had so many positional changes its like the bleedin hokey cokey

Made me laugh that.

Why swap 2/3 players just to keep Ratch in the team, when at the moment quite frankly he doesn't deserve to still be in the team,
just drop him for Johnson or Brown...

Indeed....that's why I think he does more harm than good. His supposed utility value should only be cashed in off the bench. You don't see Holbrook messing about with Smith....he's just dropped.

Having read the interview / seen the video from the WG, Roberts basically says he agreed to come here on the basis of being a traditional style half back and that’s what he’ll be doing. To be honest, can’t argue with that as it’s what we’ve been crying out for... Ratchford is a good player but he’s out of form and maybe we should try someone else there. We binned Dagger so that means either Johnson or M Brown. Johnson is a specialist in that role albeit not really hit the heights expected of him. Now would be perfect to stake a claim. Let Roberts dictate the attack from the halves. Hopefully he’ll be fit enough soon to make a difference.