Personally I am of the school that thinks that a 7 should be creative and a 6 can either be creative (Brett Kenny) or a finisher (Ellery Hanley).

Sam in my mind would be a "finisher" type 6 which makes it all the more important to get a creative half in there. Tommy is not a creative half, so we have a gap.

I admit I don't know much about the young guys coming through, but imo if we haven't an out and out "creator" we will struggle.

I'm sure I will get accused of anti IL posting (like I care), but just where DID the cap space freed up by JT and MG go?

Get a half in now.

Richards at 1 is simply a no go anymore after the way Roberts then Tomkins took the position on and showed what an effect a modern day fullback can have on the way a team plays. He's a superb wingman, the best in the league still IMO but he's just not got the abilities to play at fullback.

Russell has got pace, power and electric footwork that will get him out of tight situations and allow him to get past defenders.

We must give him a chance or send him out on dual reg because it's a waste sitting him in the 20's.

Moving Sam to 6 and Richards to 1 is definitely NOT the answer. It would mean the extra creativity we get from 6 is negated by the lack of creativity from fullback. We'd also probably lose 15-20 tries a season from Pat. If Sam is to go back to 6 then we need another pacey fullback with decent hands to replace him, from what I've seen I think Russell is at least 12 months away from being ready.

We need to start spreading the ball wide much faster like what we were doing at the end of 2010. Quickly going through 3 or 4 pairs of hands with plenty of dummy runners going through and Sam running round the back and chiming in to the space. We don't seem to have done this regularly or anywhere near as effectively. As mentioned on another thread we should be playing with a more traditional 6 and 7 rather than split halves to do this. Unless Mellor or Powell are introduced soon then the decision to not bring anyone in to replace Deacon could be a very damaging one.

I agree. If Roberts can get back to his best then he could be the answer at full back but I wouldnt hold out any hope of that. Russell is a little accident prone for me at full back and this season may be a little soon, apart from the odd game here and there.

It would be nice but I don't think we are ever going to see even 50% of the Roberts of 2 years ago. After persistent serious leg injuries he will have lost a couple of yards of pace. I don't see him getting that confidence back he had either. At the minute I'd be inclined to go with one of the young halfbacks on the bench so that Leuluai can switch to 9 without having to change 2 or 3 other players around. Not sure if a debut at home to Leeds on the back of a poor performance is ideal though!

Playing Sam at full back is the better position. He gets around the field better which is when he is most dangerous. However I think a lot of teams have sussed this. Only draw back he needs to run forward instead of side ways

When I saw the thread title I thought it was about the Giants

Sam said in a radio interview that he is now a fb.
However he said at times he still practices at 6 and sometime this season he'll probably play there.

Sam links up very well in the line from FB, I believe in the right formation he can do the same from 6.
But other areas of his game as a FB are questionable, namely defensive duties and catching under a high ball.

I think in attack from FB he is outstanding, but not defensively, compared to the top FB's in the world, he's far behind when reading the game and defending from FB.

We need more pace and options in the halves-It's that simple.

Who would you suggest plays at Full Back then?

For the Leeds game it would be difficult to play Russell, as Sinfield would kick him all over the park. This is a long term development issue. Roberts when fit would be ideal. Mellor was also given a game at FB.

Halves/Hooker is a major issue.

Saying that-long term Russell has the potential to be outstanding. Similar to Bowan.

i suspect it payed for sam's big new contract????

Dont you know we have just lost a game??!!

Its not hard!

I thought we had dispensation from the RFL on that one?