Alfie in the centre? : Mon May 10, 2010 11:37 am  

Gareth Thomas seems to have picked up the game quite well after a "literally" shakey start. He has had some good games on the wing now, but I was wondering how he might go playing centre. Any thoughts?

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Tue May 11, 2010 9:39 am  

If i am to be honest. I think he would of been a greater asset in the Centre, than on the wing. He doesn't have the top end speed for the wing anymore, but his strength you can match up to the types of keith senior. He even has a similiar build.

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Tue May 11, 2010 3:56 pm  

I agree with this and I even think it may be on Sunday against Hull KR

I know that Capt. Jack creates things, Withers is on fire from dummy-half and Witty's kick are supreme but we need someone to make things happen out wide.

Plus he has a proven track record of scoring tries

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Wed May 12, 2010 6:28 pm  

I agree - stick him in the centre. Rhys Hanbury's not up to speed yet. Really impressed with Alfie - what a coup - was sceptical at first but he's proved me wrong so far. Getting better week on week.

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Wed May 12, 2010 11:39 pm  

Further to my original post, and for those who have not followed Alfies union career. He played much of his early rugby (club and international) on the wing. Towards the end of his international career he played full-back. Until recently he tended to play at centre for Cardiff Blues.

My thinking was that while he may have lost some of his initial pace, he is still a strong and powerfull runner and is also very steady under the high ball. He would be a decent utility back but I feel he could make a good centre in league. I am glad to see that it seems that some people agree with my thoughts.

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Thu May 13, 2010 6:15 pm  

Small correction there.

Alfie, along with Daf James were, in the years before the Celtic Legue abortion, considered the best centre pairing in Wales and was playing at centre for the Ravens when we won the very last pre-regionalisation league trophy.
They also both played at centre for the Celtic Warriors for their year of existence (before Samuel f ucking THAT franchise up as well).

If Alfie's got the game sussed now, I'd definitely play him at centre.

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Fri May 14, 2010 12:41 pm  

Simple answer no. why is he out on the wing? simple he's learning a defensive system. yes he can tackle yes he can score tries but if he makes a rookie error in the centre because he is still learning the system its a massive problem. keep him on the wing for now. Then towards later in the season swap in from wing to centre for the last 10 mins of a few games and build it up from there

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Sun May 16, 2010 1:49 pm  

chubbs1981 wrote:

Simple answer no. why is he out on the wing? simple he's learning a defensive system. yes he can tackle yes he can score tries but if he makes a rookie error in the centre because he is still learning the system its a massive problem. keep him on the wing for now. Then towards later in the season swap in from wing to centre for the last 10 mins of a few games and build it up from there

What utter crap

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Wed May 26, 2010 11:05 pm  

chubbs1981 wrote:

Simple answer no. why is he out on the wing? simple he's learning a defensive system. yes he can tackle yes he can score tries but if he makes a rookie error in the centre because he is still learning the system its a massive problem. keep him on the wing for now. Then towards later in the season swap in from wing to centre for the last 10 mins of a few games and build it up from there

to be honest some of the tries that i have seen go against gareth on his wing have been schoolboy errors by the centre who left him in no mans land on the wing.

also, i dont know much about union (before anyone says anything) imagine the centre position being much different so personally i would like to see him at centre

Re: Alfie in the centre? : Fri May 28, 2010 11:06 pm  

How come he has the number 1 shirt? Every time I see him I mean to ask and keep forgetting - have I missed something somewhere along the line?