Quote: NickyKiss "Anybody would be silly to not admit that Welsby is one of the best players in Superleague but is he the best? I don't think anybody could say that with a great deal of confidence. I think it's quite close between Welsby, Williams and French IMO and given the silly MOS voting system, Lachlan Lam may well walk away with the official award for 2023. It's interesting to look at trys and assists combined for those 4 guys and you can throw in Jai Field as well. If we're saying trys and assists are what a top level fullback or halfback will be judged on, 2 players are clear of the rest on that score when worked out on an average per game-
Welsby- Games-25 Trys-10 Assists-26 Combined T/A Avg per game-1.44
French- Games-25 Trys-16 Assists-28 Combined T/A Avg per game-1.76
Field-Games-19 Trys-14 Assists-19 Combined T/A Avg per game-1.74
Lam-Games-25 Trys-8 Assists-21 Combined T/A Avg per game-1.16
Williams-Games-21 Trys-11 Assists-19 Combined T/A Avg per game-1.43
Pretty good numbers from all 5 but 2 guys stand out above the rest. Those stats aren't the be all and end all of any argument about who is the best player in the league but If I compared Welsby to just Field, I'd be interested to know what puts Welsby ahead of him as being the best player in the league? (so not just better than Field but better than everyone else as well). He doesn't contribute as much per game as Field in terms of trys and assists and I would be pretty confident in saying Field is a better fullback defensively, so what is it that puts him clear? Personally I think French is the best player in the league but maybe I'm biased.'"
In many ways it’s a pointless argument. No Saints fan would swap Welsby for French/Field and no Wigan fan would swap French/Field.
I knew when I posted Welsby’s stats that French had better stats but I only referred to them as a comeback to a fan on here that described him as “average” which is laughable.
Also stats don’t paint the full picture. French scored 7 tries in one game this season didn’t he? The Hull game or was that last season? He’s also played games on the wing which would increase his tally too.
It’s all subjective but the only part I’m trying to point out is that there’s talk in Aus about clubs wanting to sign Welsby yet no one seems to really want to sign French or Field. I’m sure both are happy at Wigan but let’s have it right had they the chance to go back to the NRL they would’ve gone like a shot. As would Sironen and Matautia at Saints.
If we use the NRL as a yardstick for ability and competition then Welsby is more sought after than French or Field. I think there’s a reason for that.