My point wasn't discussing 'pressing concerns' just the differences between Powells performances/improvements and what a top 9 does/adds.

I’d be happy if Powell was back up hooker or back up 7 to be honest. With the reserves comp starting next year he’d get plenty game time and I think that’s his level for us.

For anyone wondering about the quality of or squad they only need look at the seasons stats and who makes the GB squad. Other than Williams I don’t see anyone else getting picked.

Yeah that's fair enough. Like I said most of the positions have some kind of question marks over them in regards to either what they add or value for money.

I really do miss the days where we had a side of players who just performed week in, week out and didn't have question marks over their heads. Think back to some of our GF wins and no-one could really question Tomkins, Carmont, Pat, Lockers, HH, Coley etc.

Dermott was one of the smoothest operators to ever play 9. The way he could pick the ball up and throw accurately, fast and at distance in one smooth movement is something ive never seen since he played the game.

He had it all, could read the game so well, great scoot, great passing off the floor or from position, could read the defence and was also in communication with his 6 and 7.
Plus he could defend as good as any.

He also used to run as an extra halfback at times and would do run arounds with Edwards and Gregory. What a fantastic player he was. Why do we never seem to produce these kinds of players anymore? They all seem so robotic these days and players that can do the basics really well are classed as great players. Why cant we look back at some early 90's videos and bring some of those set plays into the modern game? We used to have dummy runners and so many players working off the ball and moving the defence around. These days its just swinging the ball from side to side in the hope of finding an overlap or defensive misread.

I actually think a structured approach is better when you don't have a team or a number of 'footballers' in the team. Then the players are 'interchangeable cogs' which means the team doesn't suffer too much if one or two players are injured.

Back then we had the likes of Edwards, Greg etc, with back ups like Sean Long, Bobbie Goulding, Gus O'Donnell (remember him) who could really play, great rugby brains who could play what's in front of them.
I don't know if that off the cuff creativity is coached out of players or we're not finding the same calibre of players but the game has evolved into something different.

I do miss the 'golden era of wigan' but the game has moved on. If I was in-charge of Wigan I'd operate a team which suits the skillset of the players available, I really don't think Lam found how to get the most out of his players this season.

How to use Williams, and more importantly; how to use Zak.

I think that’s who I judge all hookers passing on to be honest, I don’t see why professional hookers have to stand up or take a step or shuffle to pass it, it just slows the attacking play down.

It’s used predominantly to stand up the first and second marker, taking them out of the defensive line. But it’s never really effectively used, a good ball straight from the floor to the player can take out 3/4 players which is where Dermott was so good.

Hooker is something I’ve never really thought of too much and I’ve never really compared any of our hookers to the late great Terry Newton because the game has so called moved on since then. I do agree however that we’ve not had as good as a hooker as Terry Newton since he left. If we get our hooker right that one player alone can change the whole complexion of the side

We could learn a lot from the way a RU scrum half passes the ball from base of scrum or the ruck. They have a lot less room but deliver the ball from the floor. Pains me to say it though.

Regardless of the inability to get up for the big games, people also seem to be forgetting that we finished 16 points from both top AND bottom of the league, so unfortunately on this occasion, finishing second is nothing to get excited about for me when you take a look at the total collapse of the ready of the league.

Surely you don't mean that diving caper ?

Attitude wise, and work rate, I cant fault the lad, I think a lot of senior pro's have been shown up by him in that regard. However, my point stands, it doesn't matter how old he is, he's not going to grow anymore than he already is at 21 Years Old, and in my opinion he's just not physically big enough to be a top class prop forward. Looking at the modern game now, even more so in the NRL, most of the best prop forwards are at least 6ft 2, and a lot heavier than Partrington, the only exception to the rule really is Thompson at Saints, who is 6ft, but makes up for it with how athletic he is and how much pace he has for a number 10. You can have all the heart in the world, but its about how much go forward he's going to give us and if he's going to punch holes in other teams middles, the answer unfortunately is that he isn't.

Nope, just the pass off the floor, without taking a step or two, there's no disguise in which direction it's going to go though. This sort of thing. I've noticed many of our passes lack accuracy and mean the receiver is having to readjust their line, we used to have the reciever with hands up ready to catch, this seems less common this season.

rlhttps://www.prorugbycoach.com/tutorial/scrum-half-pass-technique/rl

Partington could grow into a Paul Gallen type of player if you look at Gallen when he first broke into first grade. He does need to find some yardage but hes young. Your right about size and pace but hes a decent ball player with loads of aggression to balance that up. Couple of pre seasons should see him build up quite a bit. I'm still not sure how he will go but you never are with young props. I do know if all the pack showed the same heart we would not be able to moan about lack of effort.