Quote DaveO="DaveO"I think its a bit harsh to say he's not playing well enough to get in the pack when he keeps getting asked to fill in at centre. What we don't want to be doing with Joel is ruining him by not giving him a settled position to play and that should be in the pack.'"
That's true, but as long as the club don't try to change him as a player then I don't think there's any harm in giving him some games at centre. O'Loughlin used to switch between stand off and loose forward early in his career (he's doing it again during games now) and I think that helped him become a much better player. He's capable of filling in at stand off but he's still pretty much an out and out loose forward.
I think Joel is a very good back row forward who's good enough to fill in at centre if needed. He's got the right attributes already to be at least a decent stand in whenever our first choice centre is injured. It also allows Farrell and Hoffman to spend more time on the pitch and those two seem to be in great form.
I don't think playing Joel at centre would be any more harmful than playing Goulding on the wing, O'Loughlin at loose forward, Sam Tomkins at fullback, Chris Tuson at prop, Leuluai at hooker etc.
I would prefer Charnley to be given a chance, but I'd have more confidence in a Tomkins-Goulding centre/wing combo than a Charnley-Goulding one.
He might also put Goulding at right centre, Roberts to right wing and Charnley to left wing. There are plenty of options. I don't think Joel at centre should be ruled out though. Playing a few games in a different position isn't likely to have a negative effect on a player.
