That's true, but a lot of those players will have to get used to playing alongside each other at some point and will have to be ready for first team rugby very soon.

If Wane wants to be strong throughout the season he has to find out what the youngsters can do as soon as possible. I'd rather he takes a massive risk in one or two games to see how they cope under pressure as opposed to relying on them after a few brief appearances and finding out that they can't cut it.

At this early stage defeats don't matter so much. If you're going to make mistakes and if you need to learn a few things the first few games if the best time to do it. If the team is good enough we will beat the likes of Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield etc. once the season is really in full swing, and those wins should get us in the top 4. If we aren't good enough to beat them we won't win.

He's doing well as a centre, but his best performances have still been on the wing. I'll start to believe he's right for the shirt he's got when he does the business in a close game against one of the big four.


Surely this was a prime opportunity to give him a shot in his preferred position though? With Gelling being brought in.


I think he looked like a fish out of water, and playing him on the wing can't have helped

But Hughes preferred position is second row, you've selected him at centre.

I dont think they have at all and some of his performances this season at centre have been top notch. Goulding is a natural centre and always has been, he represented England at every underage level in that position and he had never even played wing until he was in his 20s and played there in the first team. He is our starting centre and to juggle the team around even more when there is no need makes no sense.



Hughes natural position is second row and he has hardly ever played centre so it is not his preferred position at all. He even represented England academy at second row.



Gelling is hardly a natural centre either and is more of a second row and Auckland fans said this was his best position. He was put on the wing because his defence and positioning arent up to scratch at centre.

Aye but I would have played him at second row v Widnes, when Goulding was available

He has been doing a good job at centre in the last few games, albeit against weak opposition, but a natural centre? His main strengths are his finishing, his agility and his speed off the mark. His main weaknesses are poor defensive decision making, not passing and he's not very strong. He's clearly gone some way to overcoming his weaknesses, and those strengths are still good attributes for a centre to have in his nal, but I still think he's a winger playing at centre, and that Gelling at centre with Goulding on the wing makes much more sense than vice versa.


That's what I'm saying, it would be nice to see him get a run there. I reckon he would already prove a better option in the back row than Tuson


I'll have to bow to your greater knowledge if he's more of a second row than a centre, I was always told he was a centre. Either way, a second rower is further out of position on the wing than he is at centre, no?