roopy said:
Where is Oswin - he has been sticking up for Young for years while i have been calling for him to be dropped.
I have to say - i'll be overjoyed to be proved wrong on the weekend. If Young has a great game i'll sing his praises from the rooftops.
Remember - I am the guy who spewed when they gave a kid named Mullen the spot i thought belonged to Scotty Dureau in Ball and thought a big young guy named Patterson was rubbish when he debuted as prop in Ball.
I'm right here Roopy -- glad to have got a mention. I stick up for Michael Young on the basis of what we saw a couple of seasons ago when he had the hallmarks of a David Peachey-like fullback (with shoulder pads). I also stand up for him because, from everything I know of him, he's a genuine good-guy who is a dedicated player in the traditions of Bill Peden. He tackles anything that moves (a product of playing fullback in 2005 to one of the most defensively inept Premier League backlines this club has produced).
Young's selection comes as a surprise to me too. He has played Premier League for a couple of seasons now, and has slowly dropped down the priority list. He was first-choice Premier League fullback, but the arrival of Seage, Thaiday, Hinton, Salkeld and Cooper put him WAY down the list there and forced him to slot in as a utility. Now he finds himself actually benefiting from the fact he can play anywhere from 1-7, 9 or 13.
He's not big, not particularly fast anymore and doesn't score many tries -- part of the reason he hasn't been back in first grade since THAT slip in the in-goal against The Dragons a few years ago. But he's a dedicated individual. I've never met him (I did play touch football against him though), but one of his mates tells me that Michael Young is a top bloke. That's enough for me.
We'll see how he is travelling when (if) he plays this week. I hope he does -- if only to have one final crack at leaving first grade with a reputation for what he is: someone who will give everything he has got for the club and one who will remain loyal to it to the end. As you can see, I'm a bit of a fan -- but I'm equally surprised by the selection. Let's see how he goes (he's not nearly as crap as people here have been led to believe). I reckon he'll surprise a few people... watch this space.
