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Did you even watch the trial game?
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Did you even watch the trial game?
What does one game matter? I saw Bevan score a good try by knocking over a couple of blokes but the other one was just a touch down.
French was statistically one of our best playmakers last year at fullback. He is a fullback. The coach has said his best position is fullback. When he plays on the wing he is playing out of position.
The second try was on the wing and he almost got pushed out. If it was Auva'a or even Hoffman they wouldn't have gotten near the sideline.
Coaches say a lot of things about players, often to bolster their confidence. We'll have a better idea about his ability when he's played there for a bit longer.
True. He's an excellent finisher. Actually I was thinking about the no try from Hayne's pass. But it's irrelevant as it's just one game.
So why do you think French has played so much fullback, given we have so many in the squad? Josh Hoffman has played almost 100 games at fullback in his career as well. The last time he played wing before coming to Parra was in 2013.
I've seen enough. He is absolutely the type of playmaking fullback that is wasted on the wing. Plus his go forward on the wing is a massive weakness. He has only played there because we have lacked a second NRL quality winger (after Radradra).
He is indeed an excellent finisher when power isn't required, but players don't have to play wing to use that skill. There are fullbacks, centres and even halves who score a decent amount of tries each year.
So maybe he's not a great winger but it's not a good argument for him being a good fullback. How many games has he played fullback? A dozen? Plenty of people thought Will Hopoate was a good fullback after just seven games there for Manly. How many people now think he's a good fullback?
I think they probably will. But Hayne wasn't shifted to fullback in the trial for no reason. We tend to overrate (loyal) incumbents. But Hayne has won the Dally M twice from fullback and is not yet 30. How soon we forget.
Some merkin once told me that you choose your best 17 and worry about the numbers on their back later.
The argument for him being a good fullback is his ability to create linebreaks for himself and others. Plus he is excellent against the kick. His only weakness - lack of size - is less a factor at fullback than anywhere else on the field.
I still think he's a good fullback.
Radradra would've won the Dally M if he'd played fullback as well. And we would have been weaker overall as a team.
So you did watch it? Good. I didn’t. Can you tell me how Bevan went at fullback?
