Joined: Jan 30 2004 Posts: 8195 Location: Never never land away with the fairies
Armavinit wrote:
bonaire wrote:I agree we have to support what our new coach sees as our best starting line up. Still think Jamie Shaul will be in our 17 against Cas,probably on the bench. That would give him the opportunity of moving Hoy to 6 if necessary if things are not working with McNamara/Lovodua
I think you misconstrued what I said about “round pegs in square holes”. My point was and still is, Hoy is our fullback, that’s where he should play. Lovodua is our hooker along with Dwyer, they should stay there. McNamara should be at halfback. Too many times under the last 2 coaches, especially under Hodgson, we’d make 4 positional changes to accommodate one player, no wonder there was no cohesion and vexed off players. I trust Smith to stick to his team selection unless we get another catastrophic injury crisis.
In agreement with you Armavinit, as you say we have seen for far too long players moved around to accommodate rather than going with players in their favored and preferred positions. In the short term it wouldn't really be too much of an issue but for quite a few rounds I think it will hamper us not only through those games but also when Trueman comes in as players will have settled in and then have to then readjust all over again. In a team game (no matter what sport) when you have players available in those positions and a coach then moves players around and out of their respective positions always strikes me of a Coach/Manager not having much confidence in a few things be it the available players, the game plans etc. With Smith he's an experienced and proven Coach who knows what he's doing and his record speaks for itself so whoever is in the 17 will likely be there on merit and do the job in hand.
If I'm honest I can't remember the last time I actually felt confident in a coach, I think I'd have to go back to Peter Sharp. So far Smith seems to be ticking all the right boxes and I'm confident that the changes he is making will reap the rewards whilst remembering Rome wasn't built in a day.
I really enjoy long walks especially when they are taken by people I don't like!
Last edited by Chris71 on Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chris71 wrote:I agree that Shaul could potentially be on the bench but would hope there is no need to and that's nothing to do with Shaul as a player just I'd like to think that the plan is to play Hoy and allow him to focus on the FB role. The same with whoever comes in to play alongside Clifford whether it's Lovodua or McNamara. We do at least have some options for Smith to ponder over heading in to the season and this is where having a Head Coach with proven track record and experience helps.
If Lovodua and Sutcliffe are both in the team, we've got enough options to juggle things around in a match without having to carry an outside back on the bench.
Saying that... Wigan did switch the spine around during matches in 2018. They had Escare on the bench and would bring him on and move Tomkins to 6 and Powell to 9.
Joined: Mar 14 2003 Posts: 25791 Location: Back in Hull.
I don't see a place for Shaul in the 17, as it stands. Not good to play fullback a d if McNamara isn't working out we have other options, I don't see us carrying a fullback on the bench as it stands
Dave K. wrote:I don't see a place for Shaul in the 17, as it stands. Not good to play fullback a d if McNamara isn't working out we have other options, I don't see us carrying a fullback on the bench as it stands
Shauls has been a great player for the club and hopefully he back to his best, a running threat. However, I agree, he just isn’t rounded enough to be a technical fullback so falls behind Hoy.
Davy Litten looks a Gem, I just hope he can fill out a bit. With litten and McIntosh able to be back ups I think the cap is sadly wasted on Shaul. Probably the highest paid back up full back in the league.
Has anyone seen the youngest Hodgson play and how old is he. If he’s as good as the rest of the family we could have Balmforth & Hodgson as a hooker partnership for the next 10 years.
academy is really looking good now. Some decent prospects who should fill in gaps around first team now. I just think we’re missing a natural Halfback to be excited about.
I hope we look at poaching from teams around us. Id rather we let teams like Warrington have the old Aussies and we poach their young talent like Stavely & Balmforth.
Anyone know what happened to Joel speed & Jude Ferreira. They seemed to be highly rated and then just disappeared
Hullrealist wrote:Shauls has been a great player for the club and hopefully he back to his best, a running threat. However, I agree, he just isn’t rounded enough to be a technical fullback so falls behind Hoy.
Davy Litten looks a Gem, I just hope he can fill out a bit. With litten and McIntosh able to be back ups I think the cap is sadly wasted on Shaul. Probably the highest paid back up full back in the league.
Has anyone seen the youngest Hodgson play and how old is he. If he’s as good as the rest of the family we could have Balmforth & Hodgson as a hooker partnership for the next 10 years.
academy is really looking good now. Some decent prospects who should fill in gaps around first team now. I just think we’re missing a natural Halfback to be excited about.
I hope we look at poaching from teams around us. Id rather we let teams like Warrington have the old Aussies and we poach their young talent like Stavely & Balmforth.
Anyone know what happened to Joel speed & Jude Ferreira. They seemed to be highly rated and then just disappeared
Could have Houghton on 100k a year been 3rd choice hooker
He should be cause dwyer especially and lovodua both better than Houghton
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