PAUL M wrote:
If there was a better option at SH who was proven then I would admit that keeping Long would not seem the most sensible move. The thing is I can't see much quality available and when Long has been fit he has been very good I feel. The good thing this year is we have had genuine cover in Obst. Other halves get injuries too, recently I can think of Dobson, McGuire, Myler, Pryce as examples of players who have been out with lengthy injuries.
long would be a good option if he was likely to be fit most of the time but he won't. Of those you've listed, only pryce seems to have regular injury problems. the others have been one offs. long has had more injuries this season than dobson has in his career. If long had the odd lengthy injury your argument would be valid but he doesn't, he gets injured, has a time out, comes back and plays a game or two then gets injured again. No continuity and a big chunk of cap sat in the stands. As obst has shown(or he did until he too got injured), a much less skillful player who plays regularly is better than a more skillful player who can't string more than 3 games together