The Railwayman wrote:
I don't mind keeping JC for another year and I would get rid of Hughes. Makes little ground, stops every attack in its tracks.
They both do, they also both get slow play the ball but Clark seems a little bit slower there too. To their credit they're both very good defenders and will tackle all day for us. You do need a player who will go about doing all the dirty work but if that's pretty much their contribution then 2 such players is at least 1 too many IMO. I prefer players who will do that but also run a decent line and have an offload or a pass in them like Currie and from what I've seen Holmes. Longstaff has a lot of potential too but it's too early to say he's an attacking theat just yet.
The trouble with a player who doesn't release the ball is that defensive teams know that it's just being run in, so they can commit 3 or even 4 men to the tackle and slow it all right down, by the time the ball is played their whole defensive line is set and ready. The fear of an offload or a pass coming out in the tackle pretty much stops that or at least significantly reduces it and the chances of the ball being kept alive or a fast play the ball with some defensive gaps increases dramatically.
