Budgie was awful in defence when he played at centre. it's not all about making tries but stopping them as well. He seemed to lack the positional knowledge of where he had to be when defending at centre.

So no actual reasons for that belief then. Fair enough. Not really sure how to counter that other than to say that clearly his best position is currently wing but I still don't see why that would preclude him being equally effective as a centre given time, training and experience in that position. It seems you don't either so I guess that's the end of that particular discussion.

But as said earlier, being thrown into an injury ravaged team that was playing badly while injured yourself and with no real previous experience or preparation, that's not a surprise. I cannot say with any certainty that he would make the transition but equally it can't be said that he wouldn't.

However the point is, having given Marshall and Davies long term contracts and the possibility of Manfredi's return, not to mention a couple good prospects in the junior ranks, that someone will have to make a positional change (or lose players, of course). The only question is who looks the most likely candidate.

I didn't have that belief, you put thise words down attributed them to me and I hadn't said them.
To be fair as I said earlier I wasn't so much arguing with your point but just saying that 2/3 times you said I'd said something that I hadn't. That's all.

Budgie has played centre at junior level, academy level etc.
He currently could "Do a job" there.
But currently he's a far better winger than he is centre or full back.

We currently have 3 1st team wingers, saints have 3, most teams do, I don't thinknthats excessive.
You talk about having to lose players because we have 3.
What happens if one gets injured and we only have 1 with no other juniors currently in the frame to step up?
We play budgie centre and we have 3 x centre's, do we let 1 of the others go and only have 2? (what do we do then if budgie and say gildart get injured and we have no back up?).

Wigan have built up a squad of players and I'm over the moon that currently for the first time in 2 years we have fit players and competition for places, I see that as a positive not a problem.

Correct. We can’t count Manfredi because we don’t know when he’ll be fit again, how long it will take him to get back to match fitness, if he’ll ever be as good as he was, and also allowing as much time as he needs to get back without having to rush him back.

When is Budgies contract up? I know he fancies another crack at Australia and indeed was offered a contract by Souths last time he was over there. It's a measure of the man that he said no because he had promised Rads he would come back to Wigan and didn't want to back on his word.

End of November 2019 (3 yr deal)

With all due respect JS I'm not putting any words in your mouth. I asked for reasons why you thought he wouldn't make a centre and you offered none. It was therefore reasonable to conclude that you had none. If you think he would make a centre; then what are we even arguing about?

With regards to the number of wingers we have you're doing exactly what you're accusing me of (although that's common place on this board so I'm not exactly shocked!). Nowhere have I said that he should be given a run at centre now. Quite the contrary in fact. I have stated on several occasions that it's a decision for the future so our standing regarding wingers currently available is, to use Dave's favourite phrase, a complete straw man argument.

I'll reiterate. Down the line, having signed Marshall and Davies long term and with Manfredi's possible return, plus a couple of junior players coming through we are likely to have a surfeit of wingers. Currently the same can't be said of centres

One more point. Saying 'if we use Budgie at centre we will also have 3' is yet another straw man argument as I have never said having 3 wingers or centres is a bad thing. In fact would you please quote where I have? There is nothing wrong with having 3 just as there is nothing wrong with having 3 wingers. The simple fact is, however, that the current squad (when fully fit) is heavy on first team wingers and light on first team centres. Or do you disagree?

Well, apart from there being lots of inaccuracies in this post relating to what I did or didn't say and then being called pedantic for actually pointing out that I hadn't said the things you said I had, there's not much else to say I suppose.
I'd just rather be criticised for something I did actually say rather than what I hadn't

Numerous times I've pointed out that Budgie's best position is Wing - I personally believe that will be the case for most if not all of his career in the main.
Whether someone else or the coaches see it that way only time will tell & to be honest IMO it's not really a debate for now that interests me.
Manfredi is out of anyone's plans for now - So that makes it 2 centres & 3 wingers in the 1st team - We use Budgie primarily as a Centre and we have the same problem but only with 2 wingers only. So I don't see that as solving a problem (Touch wood if Manfredi comes back at some point that may beg the question - for now, for me, it's neither either nor there).
Although I again didn't say that you said it was a bad or a good thing - I just said that I don't think having 3 x primarily wingers on the books (With 2 not being on top dollar) is excessive.

Currently he's one of our best 2 wingers (Davies being my option on the right)
Currently if Sarge/Gildart are fit they play centre for me & Marshall misses out on the Wing.
Sarge not fit I'd play Bateman
Gildart not fit I'd possibly look at Joe and bring Marshall in on wing (Assuming both wingers are fit). If one of the wingers not fit I'd be tempted to leave Budgie on Wing and look for other centre options.

Let me know if this is ok?

FWIW I think Burgess has the rugby brain and physique to make a very good centre. At the moment he is only able to fill in there. To make the transition it would probably need a couple of pre-seasons with a full season in between and a lot of patience, in effect he would be learning a new (albeit similar) trade.

If we signed him up long term with no NRL clauses imo it would be worth putting the effort in. As he has previously said he’d like to go back to Australia I’d say it’s not worth the effort.

Well summarised

Unfortunately all points relating to Budgie moving to centre NOW. I have never advocated this. As I said previously, quite the reverse in fact. I also would rather discuss what I actually said so I guess the discussion is over.

Just for clarity though (and feel free to PM me rather than clog this thread up any further) would you mind letting me know where I have quoted you as saying something you haven't? I've just reread the posts and I can't see a single example .

Fair point mate. Why do you think it would take a couple pre seasons though? Changes like this are usually made over the course of a single preseason and, as you say, Budgie seems to have a good rugby brain.

Just a couple recent examples to illustrate the point: Sam changed from half to fullback in the preseason following Madge's appointment. You could even argue that JB made international centre with just the pretournament as preparation.

I'm not saying you're wrong, necessarily, but I am interested as to why you think it would take Budgie longer?

He was tried at centre for a run of games last season, he looked a million miles off, in attack and more evidently in defence. The role is massively different. Reminded me of how Pat Richards was when tried at centre.

I don't get this obsession with moving Burgess to centre. (I know it's not you mate) It's like someone's looked at his size and pace, saw his hand off and breaks v Cas, factored in that we have Davies and Marshall and come to a conclusion he could be a centre.

It's as if people don't get how different the positions are.