I was happy for Crossland to get his debut tonight, but I think the way it happened was wrong. I still strongly believe our best lineup from the players available to us had a spine of:
1. Mann
6. Lino
7. Crossland
9. Levi
14. Watson
If Crossland is good enough for first grade, then give him chance to show it. Don't just give him a 10-15 minute cameo at the end of game when the game is on the line. He had, maybe, 3 touches of the ball and struggled to inject himself.
Playing Crossland from the start gives us three genuine playmakers on the field at all times - Crossland, Lino and Mann, as opposed to what we had which was two and a dummy half playing out of position. It also means Levi isn't expected to play the whole game first game back from injury, and Watson has fresh legs to exploit the ruck when he comes on and doesn't have any important decisions to make at the back because, as we've all.seen multiple times this year, his decision making from fullback is poor at best.
I'll back brown on a lot of things, but I believe this is one he got wrong.