, you never go to games, but maybe 2 a season.

By no means do I think a player should only and always be the position they played growing up etc but I do think the development and coaching process can hamper a players development if they aren't given time to learn and develop the skills of a particular position.

In some cases it even requires a different physicality to play a different position.

In the case of Hanley, he developed his game in a different time, had first team experience before making a change, and lets face it Hanley was exceptional, so was the likes of Ruben Wiki who moved up from centre to prop or Luke Lewis, from wing to half to back row.

At times it works, at times its detrimental, I feel with Hughes, Powell and possibly Hampshire the development could have harmed the progression.

I hope Hughes gets a good run of games in the SR at Huddersfield, bulks up more and becomes a big strong confident runner of the ball living up to his potential.

All the best props that I can remember started off in a different position.
Brian McTigue was a centre.
Andy Platt was a loose forward.
Terry Clawson was a back row.
Peacock was a back row.
Kevin Ward was a back row.
Andy Farrell was a loose forward.
They all had speed which helped them to break the line whereas out and out props, apart from a few exceptions (Barry McDermot) weren't able to do this.
For example: Ricky Bibey, Gil Dudson and Terry O'Connor.
When a loose forward moves into a position where he needs more speed and agility, then I don't think it works.
I never liked seeing Farrell, Sculthorpe and Sinfield plaing stand-off.

Quote: Salty "All the best props that I can remember started off in a different position. Brian McTigue was a centre. Andy Platt was a loose forward. Terry Clawson was a back row. Peacock was a back row. Kevin Ward was a back row. Andy Farrell was a loose forward. They all had speed which helped them to break the line whereas out and out props, apart from a few exceptions (Barry McDermot) weren't able to do this. For example When I first looked at your list Salty I thought in the back of my mind I had Andy Platt starting off at Centre, I could not find this but maybe it was as a junior at St Pats. What I did find though is that Andy's son is playing grade Rugby on the Gold Coast. I also found this little snippet from over 20 years ago, off topic but interesting. www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... t6CubbxGog

Quote: Salty "All the best props that I can remember started off in a different position. Brian McTigue was a centre. Andy Platt was a loose forward. Terry Clawson was a back row. Peacock was a back row. Kevin Ward was a back row. Andy Farrell was a loose forward. They all had speed which helped them to break the line whereas out and out props, apart from a few exceptions (Barry McDermot) weren't able to do this. For example When I first looked at your list Salty I thought in the back of my mind I had Andy Platt starting off at Centre, I could not find this but maybe it was as a junior at St Pats. What I did find though is that Andy's son is playing grade Rugby on the Gold Coast. I also found this little snippet from over 20 years ago, off topic but interesting. www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... t6CubbxGog

I have said on other threads that my main concern for next season is in the centre position where we have little experience and depth.
Sargininson a recent convert and Gelling another convert who for me is still intrinsically a forward playing centre.
I think the stand off role is a little different.
We have potentially 3 younger guys namely Williams, Hampshire and Powell who could play stand off. At this point one or more could make the position his own. For me one of the exciting things to look forward to next season is who will make that position his own.
Personally longer term I would like Hampshire at stand off, Williams at scrum half with Smith at cover for hooker/scrum half or even exiting due to the fact that he can't make the scrum half position his own.
I think we could finish anywhere from from 1st to 6th next season dependent not exclusively but very much on how effective our new half back pairing whoever they are perform.
Let's sit back and enjoy hopefully one of 3 exciting youngsters developing into a longer term fixture at stand off.
As I said I hope Hampshire is the eventual "winner" however, if it's Williams or Powell so be it as long as we improve season on season. Next season is very much a transitional season however, recent history suggests we can still compete for trophys whilst there are many changes in personnel.

I agree with much of that, but I think more highly of Smith than you seem to. He was good for us last season, got into the national side and did pretty well, and I don't see why he shouldn't build on that this year. But of course it's all good that we have young talent to call on, and I wish them all well.

Well spotted Rogues, I fell into the trap of reading an Aus newspaper article and not checking that the web page was 4 years old, did Andy have another son because the son in the article is named John ?. Cheers.

I think there's two very different points in discussion which have slightly crossed over. One is about player development and the other is which position a player ended up.

I recall a Castleford fan , whom I was working for at the time , telling me that Kevin Ward started off at Centre

I think he was referring to Jonathan who is playing in australia..