15st 7lb. Has the frame for maybe another stone.

loose forwards are extinct, prop is a bygone name, they are all middles

Obviously do not know the guy as as player, but must trust the research that has been done. Fingers crossed that he's a good 'un.

I disagree. If they were extinct then the team sheet would reflect that. Middles was a term that largely got introduced due to 6 again and speeding the game up.

A lot of people expected the large props to fade away with the game expecting to speed up.

The traditional large props have made a comeback and big packs are now again very much in demand.

Take Pits and Kay last season… played at Loose but you wouldn’t have them near taking the first drive in from a kick off. That’s a props job who generally have the size and physicality to do so.

You can call them middles as a blanket but the different demands apply within that scope and these are defined by their positions (prop, loose, hooker).

Middle seems to me like a NRL term that some are trying to copy. May be wrong on that though.

A middle is just a term for those players that defend..... in the middle.

Some coaches like to use 3 props, some like a ball handler who can still play middle.

Perhaps it’s more of a blanket term as I thought for a group of positions. Those positions aren’t extinct though. I still think certain positions coaches want certain skills.

Any idea when and why it was introduced? Just curious as it seems a recent change in terminology

https://muggsport.wixsite.com/website/p ... ican-dream

https://muggsport.wixsite.com/website/p ... ican-dream

Majority of terms and structures come from NRL, which makes me cringe a bit when you hear english coaches refer to Rugby as Footy or the league as Comp etc.

Definitely an aussie term but it's always been used. In a forward battle you would say they are taking it down the middle.
Middles include hooker too so the individual roles are still there.

I think it came from the emphasis the NRL puts on defense. So talking about A and B defender or talking about edge defense has come into our game.

Looking at the video Bain seems like an unspectacular metre gainer.
His post contact is what will get us downfield.
Very important role for us

Like I said, a Jai Whitbread type of forward.

Came through the Panthers system I think? So bound to be decent. Because of the massive size of the Panthers juniors, there is no shame in not making it there.

If Luke Bain is 100kg which is OK for a prop in my opinion and still only 23…

The last bit is true, but I think there is a bit of a move back towards playing an old-fashioned ball-handler at loose forward, I think the success of Asiata at Leigh has been quite influential but in the Championship last season the notable one was Dean Parata, who has played hooker all his life is built like a hooker too but was switched to playing at first receiver/loose forward position by London last season and it worked remarkably well (albeit at championship level). I've seen one or two other Championship teams have two 9s on the field at the same time with one of them playing a loose-forward type of role.

Could be wrong but I’m sure the panthers system is Bigger then all the rest of the NRL clubs systems combined.