Chester's middles

Quote: Prince Buster "Seems Chester blames his middles has being one of his major problems yesterday but this is what I thought i witnessed yesterday

Fifita tried hard,did big minutes. Took ball standing still and was easily nullified by hudds

Green, nothing spectacular but cant remember doing much wrong ,but seemed to have little involvement in anything.

Westerman, started Ok but as game went on went missing a bit,not his usual self.

Arona, blowing out of his back side. Could hardly walk off the pitch at end of stint. Way past it ,stupid re signing

Batty,10 minutes on pitch ,did very little but little opportunity to have any influence.

Batch young slightly built second rower asked to do a job . Did OK ,but Chester doing kid no favours. I bet he looks at his brother with envy and sees how his career is blossoming under a decent coach at a top club. Get out while you can batch,Chester is killing your career.

So Chester had all his chosen middles available to him. I admit they were not impressive at all. However a bit of coaching could change things. But in the end ,they were his chosen players,he signed them and he coaches them. Funny how he never mentions that .'"

I have to agree. Battye is a shadow of the player he was last season, the perfect example of a player who initially looked good when first signed now looking nothing more than an average plodder. Green is the same. When he signed on loan in 2019 he looked good and helped keep us up. Since then, a lot of not much. What is causing this situation? Arona is probably on the decline but Chester is still trying to use him as a big minutes prop, when the new rules make that pretty difficult for most ‘middles’. He also played his best rugby for us at loose forward where the workload is a little less intense. He’s got a year left on his deal and he isn’t going to walk away for nothing thats for sure. Fifita is still decent but those lung busting bursts are no more. He is still difficult to get to ground due to his sheer strength and can offload well but the speed of the game is catching him up as he gets older. He’s good enough to see out the last year of his contract but that should be it. Even Tanginoa (one handoff against the smallest player on the park yesterday apart) doesn’t have the same impact these days. Batchelor is the one that annoys me the most. He looked a rare talent when he came onto the scene, ended up getting picked for England Knights and was seen as one of the hottest prospects around. Then he stalled. Other players were constantly preferred and his confidence was eroded. Now we have Chesters go to move ‘we’ll make him a middle’. Sorry but no, how about you COACH him in his best position and develop him. You wouldn’t think he played most of his career in the second row would you! So yes a couple of our players are past their best but you signed them on long contracts Chris, you pick them and set the game plan including the game time. Take some ownership of your actions.