[quote="Kevin Turvey":10c01d31]Perhaps a little churlish given the score yesterday but watching the tries I think Thewlis did incredibly well to score his after what was a terribly timed & early pass from Tai. I know he hits hard and puts in a shift coming out of defence but his decision making/centre play is still way off top super league quality. Probably the same with his decision to go on his own rather than use the support for his try. Not trying to be critical for the sake of it but hopefully this is something he can work on preseason as it is that difference in decision making/execution that makes a genuine top quality centre.[/quote:10c01d31] It's not being overly critical. Against better defences he bombs 2 tries. Thewlis and him get tackled because of poor pass timing and not passing. I don't understand where this strong runner comparison has come from with Tai. He might go into the tackle harder but it isn't resulting in him making any more metres. Compared to Ashton, King and Thewlis he makes Less metres Less tackle busts More missed tackles Less tries Less assists (2 all season) I'm aware that comparing a winger to a centre isn't the most fair system as they have slightly different jobs He has a great attitude, is physically strong and occasionally puts a big hit in but his shortcomings in skill mean he's a squad player for me. King isn't the best in terms of creating tries for his winger but he's miles ahead of Tai.

[quote="Douglas Black":3r966gub]Do Wrench's offensive qualities/poor defensive positioning weaknesses outweigh Tai's better defensive positioning/attacking limitations?[/quote:3r966gub] Big tight game ...Tai for me & by a long way. Personally I think Wrench has so much to learn & he might never get there ... let's hope I'm wrong.

[quote="Douglas Black":3xpwnp5b]Do Wrench's offensive qualities/poor defensive positioning weaknesses outweigh Tai's better defensive positioning/attacking limitations?[/quote:3xpwnp5b] I'd probably say they do but only by a small margin and that's just my opinion. Although he did it a few times this season, Wrench isn't out of position every time. I've seen him put in some very good defensive reads. I honestly can't remember Tai giving his winger or anyone else a good ball.

Well you can add Lindop to the mix as well. I agree that Tai is definitely a defensive centre and a good one at that. What won’t show on the stats as Smiffy says is that his opposing centre will be very wary all game of being hit by him. Now if we had a centre with Tai’s defence and Wrenchs’s footwork….well we’d have someone the NRL would snap up instantly. Play off time with defence so important I’m happy to have Tai starting….as we saw at Wembley it’s King that worries me.

Last two games no tries conceded is a decent effort, admittedly against poorly performing opposition BUT if it's a 'pillar' of Sam's Play Off Rugby Book, then the combinations out wide including Tai and King need to be given a bit of credit. In Fitzgibbon's absence adding in Nicholson and Bateman, who's improving week on week, gives us even more balance, we should be a tough nut to crack with not that much reduction in attacking threat IMO as we have a decent running threat with Williams in a free role plus Walker, Dufty/Taylor Wray, Thewlis and Ashton.

I think we’ve conceded 30 twice since Chambers and later Burgess, in 38 games in all comps. One being the Catalan game immediately after Chambers took charge. Compared to three in the preceding 9. And to reflect that wasn’t solely down to the rapid decline of Powell’s tenure, it happened 3 times in his first 12, and again in the thirteenth. Credit where it’s due to Burgess, Chambers and the club more broadly. Real shift in focus on defence, while actually remaining quite entertaining to watch with the ball too.