Quote: NickyKiss "Wane keeping players on their toes is fine but I still can't get my head round the stubborn insistence that Hampshire is simply a full back. He never seems to be spoke of by Waney as having the potential to come in to the halves which I find strange considering Williams and Smith have both been up and down and Powell has been given opportunities there.
Maybe he'll surprise us and give him a crack there in the coming weeks but I doubt it and I also fear that it then means the lad moves on. He just seems too big a talent to have never been given a real shot at carving out a first team career in his natural position. If he was trying to get in ahead of Blake Green and the 2013/14 Matty Smith I could fully understand it.'"
"...the 2013/2014 Matty Smith" indeed. Like you, I think, I've been a supporter of Smith, but there's no doubt he looks jaded now, and a shadow of the player he was a season or two ago. Why this is, who's to say; does he miss Green? Well, he's a senior pro now, should be able to stand up for himself. Worst of it is, a bit more from him would certainly have helped Williams's game this season, cos he has looked a little lost at times. But I think Wane was right to stick by Williams, and it's to SW's credit that he's shown faith in the lad, because he clearly is a talent. That said, so is Hampshire, and he looked lively last week.
And it gives me no pleasure to say this, but our issues in the halves haven't been helped by the fact that Lockers has been very ordinary on the rare occasions he's played this season, so if were looking to him to add an "X-factor", we're largely looking in vain.