NSW wrote:
For me the problem isn’t Havard/Partington/Shorrocks/Bryne. They are the cream of the prop in terms of 20/21 year old props/middles.
The problem in our squad is our experienced props
Bullock 28 years old people rave about him because he makes the odd good carry. Can’t defend, can’t play poor than 15 mins, crap.
Singleton 28 year old, great last year but awful this year. A Leeds reject shouldn’t be our first choice.
Clubb 33 year old, I don’t need to spell it out.
Mitch Clark 28 year old, signed on good money can’t even get a game.
If these were performing we’d be fine. Bag these not the young lads.
It's clear that the quality of our established and experienced props is nowhere near the level of our rivals at the top of Super League.
When Saints last year boasted Walmsley, Amor and Graham who were all making more than 100m per game and supported by other experienced players it's no surprise they looked so dominant in games.
Warrington have Hill and Cooper who regularly make 100m each game and an international like Philbin to back them up.
Watts might not be quite at the top of his game this year at Cas but he's another quality prop who has been so dominant for a good few years. Hull had Sate and Sao today and Scott Taylor who was missing through injury. Experienced and some real tough metre makers.
Even where teams have experienced players that aren't dominant and big metres eaters they are generally very effective in certain areas. Millington at Cas is an experienced front rower who is the sort of player Ben Flower could have been had he not suffered so many injuries. Solid, consistent and reads the game well.
Our props listed above just don't compare. We've only had one prop make more than 100 metres in a Super League game this season. That was Ethan Havard against Leigh.
We obviously don't have a weak pack. We wouldn't have come top of the league last season, reached the Grand Final and pushed Saints so close that they needed a last second winner. What we have is a pack that seems fairly unique that has an obvious weakness.
Our strength is clearly our back row: Faz, Isa, Bateman, Partington, Smithies, Shorrocks. Not a single one of those players is playing badly right now and 2 of them have been out of position. Bateman might not be hitting the heights but he's still more effective than 90% of back rowers in Super League. Our wide second rowers can make plenty of metres consistently. The likes of Partington, Smithies and Shorrocks don't make big metres down the middle but have their value. They'd be phenomenally valuable to sides that have a big pack.
We don't even have size out wide. We get by without it because Faz, Bateman and currently Smithies are so good at playing above their weight. We've got a good pack overall, but you really have to wonder how good this team could be if it had one or two really top quality props. The sort that could at least be in contention for England honours.
Saints have had Walmsley, Thompson, Graham as an ex-international
Wire have had Hill, Cooper and Philbin
Cas have had Watts
Hull have Taylor and back it up with some good imports
Leeds now have Oledzki
Which of our props is pushing for an England call up? The only one who seems likely is Havard and that's almost certainly in a couple of years time.
