Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:49 pm  

St pete wrote:

I'm all for resting players but your calling for players to be rested as early as first few games.

Yep certainly. I would think LMS/Amor/Masoe/Laffranchi/Walmsley should be possible to have a five week rotation. One in one out. That's four fairly fresh props every fifth week they get a week off, with Beaumont Clough et al ready to take places due to injury and lack of form.

2nd row Sia/Manu/Wilkin/Flanagan/Walker again decent quality enough to be rotating.

There are exceptions like Warrington and Wigan where you may break that rotation, but yep I would rotate early, with the hope of reducing that rotation towards the end of the season for a more settled side for the key part of the year.

I agree the backs would not change week to week, but after the first 2-3 games I see no harm in testing out Percival.

This is all assuming they are up to the task. If Percival was not at the same level of Jones then it's all academic. In the end I would hope we pick players up to the task, not just names for names sake, or the same 17 each week and then get shocked when we pick up injuries and people start to question our conditioner.

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:57 pm  

I think he'll start off at centre for us next term and the development of Percival will dictate how long he stays in that position.

Over the longer term, Manu and Laffranchi are not long term bets now and he will move into the pack in due course.

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:24 pm  

Alo Wilkin is now 30, say he retires at 33/34 that would make Jones 23/24, roughly the same age as Liam Farrell now.

I believe Jones will play centre for the next season or two but ultimately end up as one of 4 main back row options alongside Sia (provided he stays), Savelio and Flanagan. This allows Percival to develop gradually and slot in at left centre.

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:41 pm  

Judder Man wrote:

I reckon Jones could end up as a bench player for both backs and forwards, this is dependant of Percival coming of age and grabs the centre spot.
I,m sure Jones is aware of this and suspect he will not give in too easily in losing the No 4 shirt.
At the end of the day its a competitive situation having 4 centres for 2 spots.

4 centre's?

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:13 pm  

No1 Saint wrote:

4 centre's?

I think he is counting

Wheeler, Jones, Percival, Turner and Dawson

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:53 pm  

Please don't keep putting Wheeler into the mix.
It's like you all believe in the tooth fairy or something similar. There's more chance of seeing Lobby Ludd

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:35 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

I think he is counting

Wheeler, Jones, Percival, Turner and Dawson

Ah forgot about Dawson as a prospective centre. If he can ever get fit Wheeler should be playing 6 not in the centre's.

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:41 pm  

BackrowSaint wrote:

Alo Wilkin is now 30, say he retires at 33/34 that would make Jones 23/24, roughly the same age as Liam Farrell now.

I believe Jones will play centre for the next season or two but ultimately end up as one of 4 main back row options alongside Sia (provided he stays), Savelio and Flanagan. This allows Percival to develop gradually and slot in at left centre.

How I see it.

A lot depends on Percival's development

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:18 pm  

Personally, I see his future lying in the back-row. I don't have an issues with him playing in the centres but I just think his attributes point to the back-row. Defensively we know how solid he is but I don't think he quite has the footwork or the ball handling capalbilities to play in the role long term. One thing we know with Jones is that he won't let anyone down wherever he plays: he makes metres, solid defensively, decent pace and footwork at the line (for a back-rower), and he knows how to run an angle.

At the end of the day, we have competition for places which is exactly what you want from a squad point of view. What I will say is that I would be inclined to keep the 3/4 together if we can, but we'll see how it goes. I know from experience what a difference that makes.

Re: Do you see Jones as a Centre or in the pack? : Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:49 pm  

I think we certainly have cover in all positions.

I'd say there is competition for places apart from 1, 3, 6, 7 and 9.