I'm interested where people see the lad long term. There's been a lot of talk of him at loose forward on here but I just don't see it to be honest. I did think he was a full back but after this season I'm not so sure and I'm leaning towards centre - similar to Bridgey - although I am going to abstain from voting. Can't say I've ever been convinced he is a natural half.

'on the bench' seems to be missing.

As said in the other thread, Russell and Gidley are both better fullbacks so I would like/expect to see Russell at fullback and Gidley partnering Sandow in the halves. Even with a bit of bulking up I would still expect Grix to be the better at loose. This pretty much leaves centre until Russell picks up another injury then I'm not sure whether I would prefer to see him move into the halves or drop back to fullback. I guess that'll depend on how Gidley starts next season.

Russle wants to play on the wing...

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....?