Alffi_7 wrote:Personally I think Russell will do well in a team doing well. Eden at Wire last year would have been an absolute shocker, but at Cas he looked great.
A winger often gets the blame for being out of position, when he's not always the one at fault initially - sometimes I think Russell got the blame for that.
Every winger in SL is expected to support the forwards, (and Russell is very good at it) - look at McGillvary, often takes the ball in at first receiver for Huddersfield and England. With a more solid defensive line on his inside, I think he would look a much better player. If I were to pick a winger to drop next year, it would be Lineham over Russel any time.
A solid defensive line won't cover for his brain farts, lack of anticpation and judgement, including jumping for balls.
He has trouble catching high balls, he has trouble catching balls on the floor, he panics under pressure and has trouble fielding kicks at the line, he also seems to lack a wingers confidence in finishing at the corner, when all other wingers are making use of the corner posts irrelevance now, he spent the qualifiers coming back inside towards defenders, making things harder for himself and getting injured.
He's not a very good rugby player.
But he can bench a lot and has a good set of abs, so, y'know..
Fantastic Mr Catpiss wrote:A solid defensive line won't cover for his brain farts, lack of anticpation and judgement, including jumping for balls.
He has trouble catching high balls, he has trouble catching balls on the floor, he panics under pressure and has trouble fielding kicks at the line, he also seems to lack a wingers confidence in finishing at the corner, when all other wingers are making use of the corner posts irrelevance now, he spent the qualifiers coming back inside towards defenders, making things harder for himself and getting injured.
He's not a very good rugby player.
But he can bench a lot and has a good set of abs, so, y'know..
This pretty much nails it. Strong and quick off the mark but far too many flaws to make a decent rugby player at SL level. Average as a winger and no game sense to play as a full back. To be fair though, he does work really hard for the team.
Joined: Feb 10 2012 Posts: 6040 Location: Stuck in 1982
Kevin Turvey wrote:This pretty much nails it. Strong and quick off the mark but far too many flaws to make a decent rugby player at SL level. Average as a winger and no game sense to play as a full back. To be fair though, he does work really hard for the team.
I agree with the consensus re Russell, he does work hard and he managed a few decent finishes in the corner, did he bag a hat trick in one game last year getting clattered for his trouble in the South East corner?
Saints away though, the 0-0 after over half an hour to 18-0 down in 5 minutes, all came off the back of Russell's seemingly lack of spatial awareness on our goal line, a rugby brain, doesn't compensate for his 'busy bee' contributions for a team with ambitions to be a top outfit.
However clean slate, the new coach might instill something, even if it is a bit of something that was knocked out of him at Widnes, that would be a start
Kevin Turvey wrote:This pretty much nails it. Strong and quick off the mark but far too many flaws to make a decent rugby player at SL level. Average as a winger and no game sense to play as a full back. To be fair though, he does work really hard for the team.
It's hard yo believe he came out of wigans academy, with so many basic flaws
Fantastic Mr Catpiss wrote:A solid defensive line won't cover for his brain farts, lack of anticpation and judgement, including jumping for balls.
He has trouble catching high balls, he has trouble catching balls on the floor, he panics under pressure and has trouble fielding kicks at the line, he also seems to lack a wingers confidence in finishing at the corner, when all other wingers are making use of the corner posts irrelevance now, he spent the qualifiers coming back inside towards defenders, making things harder for himself and getting injured.
He's not a very good rugby player.
But he can bench a lot and has a good set of abs, so, y'know..
I've seen him finish very well, both in the corner and by cutting inside.
I agree dealing with kicks and the odd brain fart has been an issue with him, but I think these things can be ironed out, especially with a bit more confidence.
Don't get me wrong, hes far from a complete player, but I think he has a lot of improvement in him, and that there's a good rugby player in there somewhere.
Lineham, I'm less convinced - I'm not sure he has the heart. But new era and all that I'll give them both a chhance to right some previous wrongs.
But my wings for 2018 are probably starting Russell and Brown as things stand.
What happened to the Lineham who made the dream team a few years ago? My concern is that in 2016 when we were relatively good, he couldn’t hold down a spot in the team. A ‘dream team quality’ player should have shone in a team that had the best attack that season.
I hope he comes good, bearing in mind the price we paid. Hull have done some sterling business over the last few years making players look good and selling them on... Briscoe, Lineham, Westerman. Any more?
easyWire wrote:What happened to the Lineham who made the dream team a few years ago? My concern is that in 2016 when we were relatively good, he couldn’t hold down a spot in the team. A ‘dream team quality’ player should have shone in a team that had the best attack that season.
I hope he comes good, bearing in mind the price we paid. Hull have done some sterling business over the last few years making players look good and selling them on... Briscoe, Lineham, Westerman. Any more?
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