Yeah, because Bird is terrible in defence.
Replacing Hoffman with Bird loses nothing in defence while adding plenty in attack.
It also leaves 3 specialist middle players in the middle with 2 of them being bigger bodies.
But no, I don't understand why they pick players in specific positions.
There will be rotations in the middle throughout the game. If Daley goes with what I expect he will, he will probably start Gallen, Woods & Bird with Farah in the middle, then rotate them with Watmough, Merrin & Tamou off interchange. Lewis can fill several roles either for Farah, another middle forward or on the edges if required.
In contrast, edge forwards generally will play massive minutes.
Daley will consider it imperative to try and maintain and build on the familiarity on the edges. Hoffman with Hodkinson, Scott with Reynolds rather than starting again with either of them.
Punting Hoffman and Scott brings him and the team back to square 1. There isn't much opportunity to build familiarity in a 3-game series.
Yes, in a perfect world without injuries and suspensions prior to Game 1, Lewis would be right forward and Bird would be left forward. This is what I prefer, but this is not a perfect world. With little time in camp and just 3 games, I expect him to make little changes in positions where familiarity is paramount, and bring in Bird into the middle and dropping probably Tamou to interchange who will bring better impact in this role than Woods.
