Danny Houghton

Quote: hokeydokey "

I like Houghton, I said as much in previous post. But I like him for his energy and his commitment, not his quality.

In the modern days of super fit forwards and fast defensive lines it is vital that passing out of dummy half is quick and accurate. If you dither around, the halves get no time on the ball and the attack breaks down. Houghton is great running from DH when the forwards are dominant, but no pack is going to dominate for 80 minutes every week, and when they are not dominant his distribution isnt good enough to buy the backs the time they need. The half backs get a lot of stick on here, and a lot of it may well be deserved, but its alot easier to look good when you are not being rushed every time you have the ball.

As for his defence, why do you think a man who doesn't play 80 minutes makes so many tackles? Its because teams target him knowing they can get a quick ptb. He doesn't miss many tackles, but in most of the ones he makes he is little more than a speed bump, clinging on for dear life until someone else comes to help him. Teams know they will get over the top of him and find their front. Ive seen countless breaks come about from this.

I'm not saying we should bin him, but we should imo go back to starting him on the bench and bring in a hooker who knows how to control a game and create time and space for his team. However we are going to put our faith in Cunningham instead, and although I love to see youngsters get a chance, I can only see us being worse in this department next year. I hope I am wrong.

Houghton isnt the sole reason for our poor form, far from it, but hooker is such an important position these days that we need to address it if we are going to make any significant improvements.

I dont want to pick him to pieces, thats just my 2 penneth.