: Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:00 pm
Alonso Jackson wrote:
I can't understand this signing at all. He's (quite a lot) worse than Vaealiki. Fair enough if you couldn't afford any better, but I honestly think giving one of the youngsters a chance would be a better option.
Which youngster would that be? The only young centre capable of playing at SL level is Goulding and he is not IMO ready for a full season in the starting 13.
But even if he were ready, what happens if he or Bailey gets injured?
We would have no reserve centres.
With this signing in a normal 17 I'd expect Bailey and Carmont to start in the centres with Goulding coming on later allowing Bailey to switch to second row to give Hansen or Hock a rest.
Also it means if either Hansen or Hock are injured we can move Bailey to 2nd row and play a Goulding/Carmont centre pairing and of course if either Bailey or Carmont are injured, then in comes Goulding into the starting 13.
So signing another experienced centre opens up a lot of flexabi9lity in the back line and 2nd row. It therefore makes perfect sense to me.
The real question is, is Carmont good enough? Time will tell but in a strange way signing Carmont is better for Goulding because Goulding will get more game time than he would if he were trying to get a game ahead of Matt King!
Dave