Just had a look on the SL site and the stats from the game. Fonua made 17 metres off 4 carries, he's turned into a right pudding.

Looked like he was running in treacle when he was on

Unfortuneatly McNamara is a real weak link but i dont think it helps having Lane,Scott and McIntosh on your outside.
Feel he will be more confident with Tuimavave on his edge so ill defer overall judgement on him until he has a couple of games with Carlos under his belt.
Certainly needs more confidence as evidenced when has passed to Houghton for his try as i felt he could have angled his run and scored himself.

But it didn't. You miss my point. The match is played over 80 minutes not 85. If there was an extra 5 minutes at the end of the first half we were so much on top we would have gone on to score more points to seal the game.

You have a point but it looks like Tony Smith is going to use Houghton regularly off the bench using him at nine,and then moving him to 13 so we can expect to see Houghton on the field for 50/60 minutes per match.
This is what Hodgson did only he flogged him for 80 minutes
Until we see Lovodua given a run at nine we dont know how he will go but in reality having Houghton on the pitch does not enhance our attack at all and i wonder if playing him is more to do with respect for the player

Agree with you bonaire regarding Smith use of Houghton, hopefully it's just a stop gap with us not having any of Ligi, Dre or Carlos. With just Ligi or Dre back I don't see a place in the 17 for Houghton and quite honestly not sure what he offers anymore. It was disappointing seeing Smith play him for 60 minutes too as unfortunately he just isn't able to do those minutes anymore and be effective and we still have a hangover in regarsd to that. For me he's behind Dwyer and Lovodua and in all fairness I think Cator would bring more than Danny Houghton if he's going to use someone at 9 then move them to LF.

I'm not saying Lover shouldn't play over Houghton I agree with a lot of you, but it has to be one or the other for me of Mint or Lover, I'd play Dwyer for 35 first and last 25 so whoever backs him up will get 20 but like you say the can stint 6/13 if needed.

It's nice to have options for a change, we need to be playing Brown too for me.

I think the majority would echo that it has to one of Lovodua or Houghton not both and for me Brown should have been in the 17 ahead of both Houghton and Evans. Sadly father time catches up with everyone and if Smith wants a player that spell at 9 with Dwyer and then move to LF then Lovodua and Cator are again for me ahead of Houghton for what they offer and the stamina they have. Its not having a go at Danny as he has served the club well but its clear to see that he just can't do long stints anymore.



Brown for me was one of the selections that Smith most got wrong with his omission from the 17.

I think Houghtons getting unnecessary critism here - He came on when the three main forwards went off so was never gonna be able to do a lot without a pack in front of him. Iirc he did a couple of scoots and was quite lively and id have him off the bench ahead of Lovadua who i see as a completely pointless signing.

Scored a try and had a hand in at least one other.

Sure he made a break as well?

Glad someone thinks same as me.

You want to see what the cas fans are saying about him .

Said this to my misses and got to agree .Cue on the rack far to early .

It's sad to see the way Fonua has declined since his first spell with us, he was unplayable at times and so exciting to watch. Hopefully he can regain some form for Cas, his confidence looks shot to bits.

He'll always get a big cheer from me for everything he did in 2016 & 17.

Houghton scored a try that 50% of the crowd would of scored

He just spends most of the time just running around like a headless chicken

He makes 10 yard scoots yes but dwyer would be turning them 10 yard scoots into breaks/trys

Houghton is here on sentiment only

He looks far too big. He's got the turning circle of an oil tanker

Don't know if it's an attitude thing or what, but we've definitely seen the best of him.