Not disagreeing, but if someone who doesn't want to watch Manly games impartially wants to claim that B. Stewart can't defend, then what else can someone use to refute the claim?
Oh, I definitely agree that Stewart can defend- and his positioning in defense (which isn't measured in stats) is excellent.
I think some people might be influenced by Stewart's attempts in the last Origin to regather some kicks, some of which were poor. But it was a night in which Slater struggled also, and all the outside backs dropped it or misread the kicks a few times. Stewart's defense wasn't terrible that night, despite what some were saying, and it is usually excellent.
Dugan is a good defender too, and can pull out some good goal line try savers, and despite the article, so is Hoffman (he is safe as houses with most kicks). The bad defenders (like Gardner) really stand out- they get targeted by halves all the time. Not many of the top full backs get targeted- kicks and attack tends to target the much weaker wingers in the teams with good fullbacks.
