TS sees him as a fullback.
I see him as a loose forward, style aka:
John Pendlebury, Paul Sculthorpe, Lockers.

You put your best players in a position that they can get their hands on the ball...!

He isn't involved in the game enough at centre. He's a full back, judge him next season when hopefully he gets some decent ball once we actually have a pair of half backs.

Ratchford is not a FB for me, he does okay and is better, or was better than Matt Russell. Ratch is a ball playing back. Wasted at FB, very suspect under high balls and return carries the ball in one hand! arghhhh!!

I'm not a fan of a full back 3rd half. It worked great with Hodgson, the exception, back then we had a massive pack and played the loose as a prop.

I want to see the classic FB style return. Zachary Hardaker is that kind of player. Strong, solid defence and fast. We need another Steve Hesford or Brian Johnson.
Then you play your loose as the 3rd pivot like Sinfield at Leeds.

Russel is a much better fb than ratchford...

His return of the ball is better given a good run.at full back he will improve massively

Neither Russell or Ratchford can deal with a high ball, one of the key skills in that position. I agree Russell can return a ball much better. Ratchford is at his best in a broken field situation and within a structured game plan there's not much room for him, I don't know where I would play him if we keep hold?

Exactly Snag, Matty returns a ball well, makes good early yards and is great from a dummy runner position to confuse defences when Clark is not acting half, but both these attributes can be utilised from a wing position.

Defensively and positionally Matty is not better than Ratch, who hasn't improved much at FB regardless of his prolonged stint. When Matty resumed FB he was freshened, while Ratchford looked tired in dire need of a break, this gave the impression Matty was better than Ratchford. But that doesn't make Matty a good regular FB. Just a reserve IMO.

Before this season I always felt confident with Ratchford under the high ball and defensively. This year he has missed tackles and not dealt with high balls or kicks in to the in goal well at all. His kick returns are also a shadow of how they were a couple of years back. Is he playing through injury, or is it just a loss of form / confidence?

I like the idea of russell on the wing, his best attribute is his kick return and his scoots, he can do all that from the wing. I just don't think he is smart enough or good enough with his hands to play full back.

Even when he was playing well and I form, Ratch just never looked comfortable at 6 for me. Lacks the organisation and structure in his play. I don't buy into the fact that at full back he won't get his hands on the ball enough, was that ever a problem for Hodgson?

He may play 13, but won't be for a few years yet, and not under the system TS likes to play. Also, when was the last time Sinfield played 13 for Leeds?

Undecided with him at centre to be honest, again, is it too structured for him?

As I see it, Sinfield plays a 3rd pivot role at 13. Often he plays 7 but reverts to a 13 supporting back when Burrow is introduced from the bench.
It's a bit of a hotchpotch with halfbacks in the modern game that can infuse it to several positions, with the exception of Wigan, who play the positions close to old school but under a very heavily structured game plan.

Ratchford at 13 could be our John Pendlebury. He is an exact carbon copy IMO.

Centre is his best position for me. He's a bit loose and seems to lack urgency for full back. He will get less ball at centre but I'll live with that. He's a good player and one we must keep. Russell must be in the side ... he is one of the most dynamic runners in the whole of Super League ... and we ought to put up with the odd weakness that he has.
I was lying in bed last night thinking of next year's team and I'm looking forward to it already. By big query was accommodating Joel Monaghan. I've only seen Lineham and Monaghan on the right side. Can one play left? or is Joel battling for the right centre position?

I see him as a , but he can also play 6 or 1, he is a good fullback who has had a big dip in confidence, this can be regained easily with a good start to next season for the team. He can play Loose but he is to small physically and would need to beef up by a few stone which is not going to happen.
We need to leave him in one position and see how he goes, to say he is wasted at centre makes me laugh.

Doesn't Burrow come on to replace Aiton at 9?

I rarely seem to see him in a scrum half role anymore, unless they have injuries to a couple of halfs....?

I was certain he would be standoff next year with Gidley at fullback but as our best form this year was with Russell I would say;

1Russell
3Ratchford
6Gidley
13 Westwood

Sell him & get a player who is a specialized centre.

I see Ratch as a similar to Moon at Leeds. He is fast elusive and a decent ball player. Moon may be a bit more twinkle toed than Ratch nut he can do a similar job in the for us.

I'm baffled by the amount of people saying centre for him, he's had his least effective and least involved games for us playing centre, his playing style isn't anywhere near direct enough for playing there either.