Re: Saints u19 vs Castleford : Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:40 am  

Mugwump wrote:

I think we have to be very careful when thinking about Quinlan. He's one of those odd type of players who have one or two excellent attributes (special hands and a quick brain in this case) but when you start thinking about others you're left with more question marks than answers.

He's doing ok at FB right now. And I'm sure he'd do even better given a decent run in the first team. But where else really can we play him? So far I've seen no great evidence that he can kick a ball or control a forward pack. Both are essential skills if he's to function as anything more than a sticking-plaster should Walsh or Burns go down. He's not big enough for centre and given his height I doubt SL's giant wingers will even need to get off the ground to beat him to a corner kick. I do think he could be a very dangerous hooker rotating on and off with Roby. But I'm really scraping the barrel here.

Unfortunately, we're behind the eight-ball waiting on Lomax and McDonnell's recoveries. It's a terrible situation to be in because we won't know if either has successfully overcome their injuries until the start of next season. Maybe longer. Personally, I'd think long and hard about paying up McDonnell's contract and cutting him loose. That way we can begin working with one or two youngsters right now so that, should Lomax fall short, they are ready to take a shot.

I see what you are saying, a bit negative but you do have a point.

I think (being positive) that he has enough skill to be worth a place in the team at 6,7,9 or 1 even on the wing at a push. With McDonnell you would believe he would be good cover on the wing also. Ask yourself on Friday if you had a choice would you rather have Dawson on the wing or McDonnell. At present we have 1 Fullback, 2 wingers and 2 halfbacks(plus Wilkin) that you would actually trust to get the job done in a big game. Not having flexible players that can cover the back line has lead us to having Wilkin at 7 and LMS at centre.

On the back of a couple of games at Full back Quinlan has shown he has a lot of potential to be a ball player. I am not saying give him the 7 shirt for 2016, but what 22 year old would you give that responsibility? Long was a ball runner at that age and players like Darren Lockyer did not mature into pivots until later in their careers.

My point is don't view him as an Aussie import, view him as a quality young player that the club could invest in to be a key player for the next 12 years. So in a sense we are agreeing with each other.

Re: Saints u19 vs Castleford : Tue Aug 04, 2015 4:53 pm  

Noel Cleal wrote:

I see what you are saying, I bit negative but you do have a point.

I think (being positive) that he has enough skill to be worth a place in the team at 6,7,9 or 1 even on the wing at a push. With McDonnell you would believe he would be good cover on the wing also. Ask yourself on Friday if you had a choice would you rather have Dawson on the wing or McDonnell. At present we have 1 Fullback, 2 wingers and 2 halfbacks(plus Wilkin) that you would actually trust to get the job done in a big game. Not having flexible players that can cover the back line has lead us to having Wilkin at 7 and LMS at centre.

On the back of a couple of games at Full back he has shown he has a lot of potential to be a ball player. I am not saying give him the 7 shirt for 2016, but what 22 year old would you give that responsibility? Long was a ball runner at that age and players like Darren Lockyer did not mature into pivots until later in their careers.

My point is don't view him as an Aussie import, view him as a quality young player that the club could invest in to be a key player for the next 12 years. So in a sense we are agreeing with each other.

I understand what you are saying. But given that we won't know whether Lomax or McDonnell will full recover from two terrible injuries - can we really afford to take a speculative punt on a third unless we're absolutely SURE he's going to be a valuable edition?

Bear in mind that Lomax is likely to be on a pretty hefty wedge and I doubt McDonnell is playing for chump change, either.

It's a really tricky situation because I like Quinlan. He's got exceptional hands. Perhaps the best I've seen since Jamie Lyon's. You only have to look at the way he carries the ball on his fingertips, delays the pass until the absolute final moment. Time seems to slow down for players with good hands - as evidenced in the two tries Quinlan set up in successive games when he somehow managed to keep several defenders in two minds until support arrived.

However at this moment in time and lacking enough knowledge of Quinlan's absolute value, I think both Lomax & McDonnell (if fully fit) are the better bet at fullback. Which means we'd be signing a player without any kind of clue where his future lies.

We've got risk piled upon risk piled upon risk here.

Re: Saints u19 vs Castleford : Sat Aug 08, 2015 1:06 pm  

Final score from todays game.

Hull 24 - Saints 34

That certainly means that Saints and Wigan will finish in the top two positions, so far both teams have lost two games each. Slightly related, todays Wigan v Cas U19 game was postponed because Cas couldn't raise a team, ridiculous. None of the Cas U19's played in last night first team v Hull.

Re: Saints u19 vs Castleford : Sat Aug 08, 2015 1:46 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Final score from todays game.

Hull 24 - Saints 34

That certainly means that Saints and Wigan will finish in the top two positions, so far both teams have lost two games each. Slightly related, todays Wigan v Cas U19 game was postponed because Cas couldn't raise a team, ridiculous. None of the Cas U19's played in last night first team v Hull.

That's really embarrassing for Cas. No excuse for that.