St pete wrote:
Why can't he start with the team that played so well in the first half against the bulls with wello at fullback and lomax at 6?
We all know lomax is our future fullback but wello at 6 doesn't give the team any balance at all.
Howarth at 2nd row was always going to be a disaster.
You're of course spot on that the team set up like that doesn't have any balance - but I don't agree with your solution.
With O'Brien more a play maker halfback, it'd be most balanced to put Hohaia next to him. Lomax for me has to stay at FB.
Wellens has been a great servant, but the game's now passed him by. He's far from a poor player still, despite a lack of pace, and I can see the temptation to play him *somewhere* but he just isn't good enough for any individual position.
Howarth is just so far from SL standard it's a joke.
But back to Brown....
Anyone else think he reckons himself far too smart for his own (and the club's) good? RL isn't that complicated a game. And yet, Brown's tactical talks must be like getting a lecture in quantum physics. He has players lining up in different positions for different phases of the game - not just attack or defence, but seemingly at different times in the tackle count.
Rush was ultimately too safety-first (and hampered the development of certain young players as a result) but his positive impact on results arose, IMO, from his simplification of the gameplan.
I appreciate Brown has had to try to work out a formula within the key pivot positions, and has been hampered by injuries, but he's still dicking about with players being moved out of position and into unfamiliar roles - even within games.
We're reaching the arse-end of the season now, and he's still buggering about with different combinations and roles. As the OP said, there's no consistency, no opportunity for players to gel and become familiar with what each other can offer and how their team mates' operate in their role within a game.
I was critical of Brown's appointment before it was even confirmed but so wanted him to do well after the abysmal Potter, the inconsistent Simmons and the out-of-his-depth Rush. But he's becoming a disaster for Saints and the worst part is, there's not even a chink of light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
