Re: Nice see Tommy back in squad : Fri Aug 21, 2015 5:30 pm  

Albion wrote:

Quinlan is awful. He's so average and bar a couple of breaks (albeit one match winner vs Warrington) he's been bang average. I'd rather have Dawson on the wing with swift at full back I think...

To be fair to Quinlan - he was always on a loser coming into a club at such short notice with the kind of creative difficulties we are experiencing.

Most oversees players need anywhere between six and twelve months to find their feet. Given that no-one in Australia seems all that sure about whether he's a half or a back it's lunacy to expect him suddenly to start tearing up it up.

On a wet pitch his size is a real problem, tho. Personally I think he should have come forward a bit more often and provided some kind of variation out of the dummy half. He is pretty quick over the first twenty and he has very good hands. At least it would have made Huddersfield think twice about stacking up to defend against Roby all the time.

The funny thing is against Warrington he did precisely that. And it worked. Whether he was told not to go forward - or he just couldn't be arsed, who knows?

Re: Nice see Tommy back in squad : Fri Aug 21, 2015 5:33 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

To be fair to Quinlan - he was always on a loser coming into a club at such short notice with the kind of creative difficulties we are experiencing.

Most oversees players need anywhere between six and twelve months to find their feet. Given that no-one in Australia seems all that sure about whether he's a half or a back it's lunacy to expect him suddenly to start tearing up it up.

On a wet pitch his size is a real problem, tho. Personally I think he should have come forward a bit more often and provided some kind of variation out of the dummy half. He is pretty quick over the first twenty and he has very good hands. At least it would have made Huddersfield think twice about stacking up to defend against Roby all the time.

The funny thing is against Warrington he did precisely that. And it worked. Whether he was told not to go forward - or he just couldn't be arsed, who knows?

I don't disagree with what you say apart from the size bit. It doesn't bother the likes of Matty Bowen, Lomax etc

Re: Nice see Tommy back in squad : Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:44 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

Look, I'm not exactly jumping over the moon about Burns, either. But unless we are going to cut the guy loose (expensive) we're just going to have to learn to live with his limitations.

Just a thought, and probably not for this season but the following two years of his contract: might Burns give us better service as a rotation hooker? It would suit his competitiveness and would take pressure off his decision making in defence. Then we could slot someone else into 6, whether that's young Richardson or a signing (*cough*Eastmond*cough*).

Re: Nice see Tommy back in squad : Fri Aug 21, 2015 7:22 pm  

Dux wrote:

Just a thought, and probably not for this season but the following two years of his contract: might Burns give us better service as a rotation hooker? It would suit his competitiveness and would take pressure off his decision making in defence. Then we could slot someone else into 6, whether that's young Richardson or a signing (*cough*Eastmond*cough*).

When you think about it Burns started to lose form when Walsh returned to the side, the first 6 weeks of the season Burns went OK not fantastic but kept the team ticking over. Walsh returns with mental doubt about his injury, could,t get back to last seasons form and Burns no longer knows what his role is in the team, so who is responsible for this situation were our halves play like total strangers with each other.

I don't think the answer is terminating their contracts but to get it fixed, Walsh and Burns can't really play any other position than in the halves. Richardson could be 2 seasons away from being a first team player, the only cost effective option is to go lower league, could possibly go for the much improved Gaskell from Bradford who could play fullback, centre, stand off and scrum half.