matty russell

Quote: Bostonslugholes "Thats the biggest load of rubbish ive heard all year, the only flaws Matty has in his game is his positioning at fullback and his ability under the high ball and these skills can be taught, but what did Wigans coaching staff do instead of trying to fix these problems? They put a plaster over it and put Murphy at fullback! What you cant teach is clearing his lines something Murphy failed to do on a few occasions last Sunday, thats simply down to Mattys raw talent and elusive footwork, dont get me wrong Murphy is great under the high ball and he has great speed but comparing him against Russell is like saying Paul Wellens is a better full back than Sam Tomkins, no where near, never and not in a million years!'"

Personally I think that is a load of rubbish. The club have constantly been working with Matty to improve all aspects of his game because that's what they do. Whether he's played at fullback or on the wing he's still going to have to learn to deal with kicks and work on his positioning. The problem is he hasn't shown much improvement.

You're brushing over Russell's flaws but dealing with kicks and positioning are the two most important aspects of fullback play. If a player can't do those things his chances of being a top fullback are slim.

It's all well and good being an elusive player but the bottom line is it's far easier to run rings around players at under 20's level than it is at Super League level. At the moment Russell is similar to Shaun Ainscough. Russell made the fullback spot his own last year for the under 20's but the team was so dominant his defence was rarely seriously tested and his attacking play was fantastic against weak defences.

Murphy is at fullback because he deserves to be. When Russell went out on loan Murphy really started to show what he was capable of from fullback and when Russell returned Murphy was playing good enough to prevent him from returning to that position. His defence is miles better than Russell's and there's no point ignoring that because it is a massive part of the game at fullback.

Murphy and Russell also have different styles in attack. Murphy isn't as elusive as Russell but he is more direct which is something that is better suited to playing fullback at Super League level. You have to be direct and can't afford to hesitate. Russell has a habit of always wanting to step and go round players, which works in the U20s but will not be as successful in Super League.

It's alright praising Russell's ability to return the ball but yet again that was a strength Shaun Ainscough had and one that didn't really provide much once he stepped up to Super League level.

There's absolutely no doubt that Russell has huge potential and probably more potential than Murphy but that doesn't mean he doesn't have some important issues in his game that need fixing and it also doesn't mean that Murphy can't be the better of the two right now. Murphy looks to be a much smarter player in attack and defence and is an incredibly safe pair of hands. Murphy was playing ahead of Russell on merit.