Exactly what Monaghan was doing to great effect. He was taking 2 or 3 strides and then passing.

He had a bloody good game did Monaghan. He caused us all sorts of problems. An absolute swine to contain.

No disrespect to Tommy, but he will in my opinion have the craft of Monaghan.

Why would that disrespect Tommy?

Monaghan is twice the player Tommy is at hooker.

Totally agree, simply comparing them as halves that have made the switch to hooker. TL is not the same style of player as Monaghan and he brings many different skills to the table, Monaghan has a style that suits the hooking role over TL, and i do not think TL can ever develop this in his game.

Any idea when Riddell is going to start proving this wild theory of yours?

Thank God for that, someone's finally seeing it!

I think 16-4 down at H/T with no territory kind of lends weight to the argument?

PS

I think we were 20-0 up against crusaders & 10-0 up against HKR when Piggy wnet off and IMO didn't look as effective until Piggy came back on.

It's not neccessarily what he himself does, it's how he gels the players around him and gets the forwards going forward and allows us to play the game in the right areas of the field.

Spotted it myself last night that we were far better when Deacons went to 9 & Tommy to 7.

Correct Andy, we missed the pig last night. I txt a Saints friend of mine and he said the same. We missed him around the ruck, Tommy's a good impact hooker but he's not one for leading from the start, which is how he works for NZ aswell.

He's never a hooker. He should be kept at 7 without doubt.

Maybe so mate but it still doesn't mean that either was performing well enough to avoid criticism.

For me, Piggy was so-so last year, albeit an improvement on Higham, but that was all I expected from a journeyman such as he. His physical condition last season warrantied a degree of criticism IMO. The fact that he looks fitter now will be a bonus for us, so I'm quite happy with him.

As for Roberts, his sensational current form only goes to highlight how shocking he was last season in comparison. Unlike Piggy IMO this guy came as the real deal with around 100 NRL tries under his belt and should have been better last season. However, he is certainly frost hardened now and is playing a different game to last season.

I hope both can keep it up!!