Yes it can be quite confusing asking a rugby player to come on when defences are tiring and pick the ball up from dummy half and run forward! I don't agree with playing players out of position , but I do think you need your best players on the field and I think Shauil offers much more than Cunningham. Greg Inglis, Darius Boyd, Jarryd Hayne to mention a few wouldn't have played a game for Australia if you didn't make exceptions

Not at hooker he doesn't, Cunningham is a better defender and distributer.

Hooking isn't just about running the ball or Kevin Penny would be playing there.

I agree about Shaul playing though, we should have tried Rankin in the centres in pre-season, if it had worked we could have two our our better attacking players in the side rather than one sat in the stands.

I'd be amazed if Shaul couldn't do a job as an interchange Hooker and cover other positions. If its a choice between Shaul or Cunningham on the bench, Shaul gets my vote all day long

They're supposed to be able to think and pass too but we make do.
Shaul on the bench isn't ideal but I agree that we need our best players in the 17 not in the stand. Rankin could move up to 9 and Shaul take over at FB in order to spell Houghton and he would also give us cover across the three quarters.

Shaul can tackle. But can he pass effectively?

This is where we need an attack coach... to highlight & improve weaknesses in a player's game.

It's really not. I can tell you that Shaul's passing isn't great, and I reckon I could improve it if I worked with him, but I'm certainly not a coach. It's just a case of practice and technique.

An attacking coach will look at the team as a whole, working on set plays, players roles, option runners, suppoting the ball etc. He wouldn't and shouldn't be dealing with specific skills like how to pass a ball correctly.

Thank god somebody has brought this up. Shaul would be terrible at 9 for ANY amount of time for this very reason.

totally agree, we dont want to go down the round peg square hole route imo, for me cunningham should be given a crack

Your obviously CORRECT as usual! Keep talking like you know everything! Hows Team Radford working for you at the minute.

So..

What happens if a player's technique ,ie speed & accuracy is not up to standard?

Who would be responsible to improve this facet of their game?

It shouldnt be down to the player(s) , it should be -IMO.. a coach to recognise that the skill level,is not up to the standard required.

Come on surely anyone who knows the game can see Shaul isn't a hooker. Let's suppose his tackling is up to it (I don't think it is fwiw but I'll give him benefit of the doubt), being a decent hooker is about far more than just being able to run from dummy half. You need to have a good and varied passing game, you need to make decisions, call plays, preferably be able to kick a bit and to be able to do all of those things effectively you need good game awareness.

I think Rankin could potentially play there. A lot of skills that come from being a half back are transferable to hooker. Shaul would be hopeless there imo.