You're seriously suggesting this guy didn't post a running threat?

rlhttps://fb.watch/sPOcsUyzAy/?mibextid

You've just lost all credibility with that statement mate! You do realize that Thurston often played 6, don't you?

I agree for the most part but I do think you're underestimating Farrimond's running game. Obviously I've only limited experience of him myself but he seems to be a pretty rounded player from what I have seen. I guess we'll see going forward.

That’s the point, going forward….not for the next 8 weeks whilst Field is out.

Back to Field and French for that matter, anyone else think the club should say right lads we really need you two to do a proper pre-season ?

I’m guessing as part of their new deals whilst it may not be written into their contracts they will have a gentleman’s agreement with the club that they are allowed to preseason in Australia.

From what I understand it was always that French and field checked in with the club on their fitness. I be reluctant to force it on them however maybe it could be adapted maybe. Maybe more stringent like booking them in with PT’s physios whilst over there. May already happen

There always looks to be zero worries with Field, he's as fit as a fiddle and looks like it comes naturally to him. French didn't look to come back in the best of condition but he's a freak and very quickly seems to get in better shape when he starts playing. He's benefitted IMO from being heavier with him playing in the line now, although that will be tested more if he stays at fullback in these next few weeks.

Ultimately the arrangement looks to work really well for all parties concerned. I'm pretty sure that without it they wouldn't be here, so we can't complain.

It wasn't his main strength but that doesn't mean he didn't have a running game Jon! That's exactly the point of this discussion. One doesn't preclude the other. It's quite possible to have both. The credibility comment is because you claimed that Thurston didn't have a running game and was merely an organiser. Check out some of his tries. They're world class! You can't say "yes but they don't count because his organizational skills were even better". I'm sorry if you took offense at that comment (it wasn't my intention to offend) but do you think that to say a man with his try scoring record didn't have a running game is a credible viewpoint? He scored over a hundred career tries at just short of 1 every 3 games in the best comp in the world! He did it at every level, including SOO and international level.

With regards to playing split halves, you still have to have running threat there to be world class otherwise it's too easy to defend.

Thurston had a similar try scoring record to Andrew Johns who you readily admit "had it all". How do you think he did that if he was just an organiser? I'm genuinely curious as to how you square that circle.

….but we are talking about his strengths. Like I said he even admits himself he wasn’t a great runner of the ball and it was his ability to pick passes that made his career.

It’s the reason he floated around clubs and didn’t get picked up initially due to his lack of athleticism, that’s from the man himself.

When I think of Thurston I certainly don’t remember him as a strike half back.

It’s all about levels I agree though and again my comment was based on the best way to replace Field for the next 8 weeks.

I don’t think Farrimond and Smith is the right call. Rocky is clearly struggling so I think we need to look at other options.

We have gone from commenting on the ability of an 18 year old to making comparisons with Johns, Thurston etc.

Smith and Farrimond at the moment for me doesn’t work, or certainly we lose significant strike threat moving French to 1 if we replace him with Farrimond.

Smith and Farrimond *may* be not the right call, but it surely wouldn't hurt to give them a few games together (starting with London), and see how it goes before we write them off as an option? Anyway, we always have switcheroo options.

We'll have to agree to differ on Thurston. You don't score over a hundred tries by picking a pass. Quoting him saying he wasn't a great runner of the ball is disingenuous. He wasn't a great runner of the ball but he was a good one! You're talking about a player who is one of the game's all time greats. No one is going to be harder on him and his game than himself. Put it this way, if Farrimond reaches Thurston levels of running game I'll be more than happy. I suspect so will Peet and Farrimond himself.

With regards to them playing together I don't disagree that now isn't their time against the top teams. But we don't play top teams all the time. There's no reason not to try them against London (England duty notwithstanding) for example. That said, Cas and London after Friday are now gone and Hull are possibly on the up so I agree it probably won't happen in the immediate future.

JT scored a lot of tries from close range; how well I remember, "Don't fall for Thurston's dummy!" What a cracking player he was, and a top guy too.

Hang on a minute Jon! You're being disingenuous again. I never said he was a strike half. I said he had a running game, which he did. Also Deacon scored 85 tries in just shy of 400 games. Thurston scored Scored 109 in a similar amount. Even basic maths tells you that's around 25% more than Deacon and that's before we even get to the fact that he did it in a much, much tougher competition including State of Origin! The comparison should be with Andrew Johns who had a similar strike rate in the same comp, not Deacon who scored far fewer in an easier comp. In fact Jerome Luai who you put forward as a half with a running game has scored 30 tries in 140 games. A try ratio worse than Thurston's! If you're going to be that flexible with the truth I think the discussion has run it's course.

Moto: Thurston scored plenty from distance as well. More importantly, his dummy resulted in a lot of tries that other players scored too He didn't have to put the ball over the whitewash himself every time to have a running game. And in any case, scoring short range tries is still a running threat. It certainly isn't organisational play or "picking a pass" as Jon would have you believe.

Edit: I'm just rewatching the 1st SOO from this year and almost all the tries have come from a different player's running threat than the one who put it down over the whitewash.