To me Dixon is possibly a type of player who turns up once a decade, still unproven but with natural gifts most players would kill for. Time will only tell if he achives that potential but I belive that if he wants to be & puts in the effort the rugby world is his. As for Ben Cockayne he is a good squad player & we all have seen the way his introduction onto the field has lifted the crowd & players around him, I would want him around the side as long as he can do that job for us. But we have to be honest if our first choice 17 were all fitt & ready to play would he be in that side? His value to the club is ability to come in & play a steady game & I expect is wages are not to much of a strain on the cap.

How many full backs are any good defensively? Since the likes of briscoe and Hodgeson have retired I can only think of Hardaker who is any good. Wellens in his day was but they are very few and far between.The most lauded of the current bunch Escare and Shaul are both at best average defenders. Tompkins was pretty average, Locke not great even Billy Slater is known to make a few cock ups on the biggest stage.

All these though have pace, come into the line well and back up. This scares defences to death. Dixon needs to learn how and when to pass better but he's improved under the bomb and I think he marshalls the defence reasonably well. Yes he makes errors but thats ok as long as they're not repeated week in week out.

If we're looking for a scapegoat then i think we need to look elsewhere

I didn't start this thread as part of the BC must play brigade but i did use him as a potential alternative to Dixon, i also mentioned Gudzek, whom i see as our current 3 options for the FB slot.
It wasn't meant as a "lets slate the cockney" thread. I will support any player that turns out in a Rovers shirt.
I'm just unsure that his pace, "x factor" whatever you want to call it compensates for the high error count (in both attack and defence).
Where would you honestly place him in comparison to the 1st choice fullback from the 11 other SL teams?
I personally think he is currently in the bottom 3 - granted, with much potential to rise up the ladder, but to improve as a club individuals have to get better along with the team improvement.
I sincerely hope he does improve his error rate, i hope he has a blinder for the rest of the season, i will still cheer him on regardless, i just hope he stops the brainfarts sooner rather than later.

He's not as bad as you're making out and is in his infancy at FB. He just needs time and he will deliver.

My fellow posters have articulated their opinions on this subject very well. He scored a try and won us a penalty against Catalans. His mistakes or bad tackling in the same game probably only cost us the Pelissier try = net gain of 2.

I have seen Hardaker and Tompkins have mares in games. I have also seen Kieran Dixon burn Jamie Shaul twice this year. For that reason alone he gets my vote.

The backline are the least of our worries at the minute, I can't wait to see what they can do playing behind a dominant pack

He's been improving all year. Was fantastic in the Derby and very good at home to hudds. Played average last 2 games but who hasn't for us . I'm firmly in the play Dixon at 1 camp. Come the big games he'll be a massive weapon for us

Fullback it is then

He's got to play. Can you imagine him water carrier? He'd more likely knock them out then throw them a bottle to catch!

Error count so far
DixonMissed Tackles so far
Cockayne: 19
Dixon: 15

Love a good stat-fest me.

Why on earth do little blokes try and tackle up top? ......Just take the legs every time!

Oh please Bob, I thought better of you. The kid (yes, kid) is 22 years old. He's going to make mistakes, it's part of the process. I can cope with his errors because he's learning. I can't cope going back 8 years to someone who at 32 years old gets his failings glossed over for some unfathomable reason.

I don't have stats for the errors you requested Bob, perhaps you could supply? If you have an alternative fullback up your wise old sleeve, feel free to spring him on us.

I have them stats 1bad kick at cas once getting pushed into touch once loosing the ball in the in goal area which actually showed he'd grounded it first a couple of wild passes something he needs to work on the only thing I see that cockayne does better is running the ball back he makes a bit more ground but then Ben isn't going to out run anyone really

Didn't mention cockaynes awful performance at Wigan as all the players were terrible but it will be interesting to hear bobs assessment