Quote: Wire Yed "Roby for me is the most consistent player in SL, I don't think I've seen him make an error, and his engine is equal if not better than Houghtons, in a better squad it would show more, if he was in the FC squad right now I think he would convert those in the Houghton for England campaign.'"
Finally someone who understands the hooking role. Roby can only do so much with what he has to work behind. A 9 in attack is only as good as their pack. For example, look at Houghton this year. He has always been a good player but this year he looks a great one. He hasn't turned into a great player over night, it's just the players he is playing behind are winning the arm wrestle and are better players.
Another case in point is Clark. He was great in 2014 for Cas. He then went to a struggling Wire side in 2015 and struggled. He didn't turn into a bad player over night, it's just difficult for a 9 to play well behind a dominated forward pack. Often you hear 'Houghton out played Roby' or back in 2014 whenever we played Cas 'Roby outplayed Clark', both nonsense statements. Hull FC's pack have dominated Saints' pack this year meaning Houghton has had more to play on the back off, that's all it is. It was the same when Saints played Cas in 2014.
We have some fantastic 9's at the moment. Roby, Hodgson, Houghton and Clark all look top players. For me, however, Roby with Clark coming off the bench would be my personal choice despite Hodgson playing in the NRL.