I don’t blame Shorrocks for struggling at centre and when he’s played in the middle he’s added to the team. I don’t think either are his position though, well not his position just yet. He could at some point make it as a loose forward but like Smithies, I’d like to see his opportunities come in the second row, where he can run a little wider, against smaller bodies and not have to get beat up by guys twice his size. Lams insistence that Smithies and Shorrocks are ‘middles’ baffles me. Throughout time young forwards coming in to a side will be eased in gradually and play some second row before moving to lose forward later in their careers. Even the greats like Andy Farrell and Paul Sculthorpe started in the second row. Lockers got shifted around between 6 and second row when he started and there are countless others.
I don’t know if Lam just thinks having umpteen youngsters in the middle of the field will bring energy but it’s been overkill since he came. We can’t keep having so much inexperience in the middle of the field. Guys like Isa and Bateman should be going in at loose forward before Shorrocks and Smithies.
