As I see it the problem is the musical chairs that goes on when TL moves from 7 to 9 when Riddell goes off.

Instead of a simple bench interchange of the back up hooker coming on for the starting no 9 we end up with 9 going off, 7 going to 9, 6 going to 7 and the sub going to 6. And then the opposite when Riddell comes back on or some variation on that.

If TL is to play 9 it ought to be as one of the two 9's and that would mean starting from the bench with Smith as 7 and Tomkins as 6 all game.

I doubt this will happen though for a number of reasons. The main one is Noble who I just don't think has got the guts for any radical selections unless change is forced on him. If he had then by now he would have tried what I am saying above and also Lockers in the 2nd row alongside Hock with J Tomkins at 13.

Then we have the debate is Smith good enough anyway against stronger teams meaning we must play TL at 7 because there is no option. Well if that is true, then surely Smith needs to be dropped and the interchange hooker would be McIllorum. This would again leave the half backs alone when resting Riddell (a joke of a necessity in itself) so less disruptive once again.

I don't see how we can expect the team to adjust and continue to play the same way when Riddell going off causes so much of a change in players positions.

Dave

Ex-Academy lads then.

Agreed. He is here for another year so I would consider loaning him out and let him gain some more first team experience at another club/different environment/coach etc. But atm he has done nothing this season. He simply just doesn't have any impact on the game when he comes off the bench. Which is a real shame because early signs indicated he was going to be a good player when he first started out. (Still might be)

But for me we are strongest when Tommy goes to hooker and I agree with what DaveO was saying about us starting a game with Leuluai/Riddell as our hookers for the match and to stop having these changes in the squad in just one substitution.

Although Smith had a good game I am still unsure on his defensive capabilities. Had Celtic been more clinical they could have posted a lot more points down that wing. Nevertheless it was not a real indication of how far the lad has come.

I would love to see Cameron Phelps given a shot at stand off because I think this is his best position and we would see a lot of what Phelps has to offer. I don't think he is confident enough at fullback and did a Mathers type error against Celtic. This would also allow Tomkins to move to his preferred position of scrum half.

So we would lineup something like this:

Stand off - Cameron Phelps
Scrum Half - Sam Tomkins

Hookers - Mark Riddell and Thomas Leuluai

I would. Hes one of our better more consistant performers the point I was making is he is an average scrum half but a world class 9 and I can see Tim Smith and Tomkins being much better utilised at Scrum half or stand off than Tommy is.

Riddell is averaging seven more meters per game then Higham. Hardly a significant difference and he is hardly error or penalty free either.

And Riddell has scored fewer tries, has fewer try assists, made fewer tackles, fewer offloads and fewer dummy half runs than Higham. And that is without the basic schoolboy maths of averaging them stats out.

So basically the only significant playing statistic (runs, tackles tries and so on) Riddell is better than Higham on is meters per game by a whopping 7 meters a game. On all the rest Higham is better and of course if anyone slags Lockers off for too many penalties that is, we are told, because he is more involved in the game so it's bound to happen. So the same must apply to Higham and one thing is for sure is that he will be more involved in the game than Riddell who is rivalling Feka for bench warming.

Anyone suggesting Riddell is outplaying Higham this season based on three selectively chosen statistics is clearly guilty of wishful thinking.

Dave

What he said.

It should also be remembered that in Warringtons first 4 matches (approx, not sure exactly how many) Higham played for the full 80 mins in each.
I also think that the way that everyone goes on about the amount of "dummy half runs" is totally irrelevant. You could scoot from acting half every tackle, but it doesnt mean youve done well if the defence had controlled the tackle and you make no yards. Its about spotting the opportunities when they arrive and being clinical.
Riddel is averaging 3metres more per carry!

Ha ha are you honestly being serious with this one?

Higham is one of the worst hookers Wigan have ever had! A one trick scooting pony and even he couldn't even do that well

We're only a third of the way through the season and the signs are already there that we aren't going to see the best of Riddell this season.

It makes sense to me that playing Riddell/Leuluai at 9 would benefit the team the most allowing the Stand Off/Scrum Half slots to be occupied by more naturally, creative players than Tommy is.

I still think the best way to play it would be to start Sam and Tommy at 6 and 7.
Piggy at 9
And have Smith coming off the bench to replace Piggy, and then put Smith to 7 (or 6 depending if you want Sam at 6 or 7) and Tommy to 9.

Also, maybe when Sam and Smith play together then dont play them as a set 6 and 7. I have heard that Hull KR played Cooke and Dobson at 6 and 7, but let them change around and just both play as a half backs. Then the defence would expect to find one of them in a position and they werent there but someone else was there.
I feel this could be used with Sam and Smith.

I take it you never saw Mark Reber...

Regardless of the postive/negative stats in each players favour, I'm much more content with Mark Riddell as our starting hooker.

He controls the tempo of the game and his distribution is very good. His awareness around the ruck is of a high standard and selects the right options when it comes to forwards running off both sides of the play the ball.

Whether he's met expectations or not, we now have a starting hooker which I'm happy with. His running game and fitness just need to be tweaked.

Thought he played at SH?

At least he scored some tries...

How on earth anyone can be happy with a player who fails to meet expectations is beyond me. Were you happy with DV? Are you happy with Fielden? If not why are you happy with Riddell? Riddell is here for three seasons and 11 games of one have gone and he won't be getting any quicker.

Dave