Signing Wing IMO would not be the answer, unless he played as a 90 minute hooker.
The problem we have as a club is the same that faced Graham Murray on Wednesday night. Playing two hookers in the current game does not seem to be the strength that it was in say 2001.
On Wednesday Murray had to take his captain and one of his best players or waste an interchange. He opted to leave Buderus off. Wing did OK from dummy half, but not having Buderus when he physically could have played was a loss. Equally, playing such a physical game with one interchange short would have been a loss.
We saw the same situation in the Dragons game a few weeks ago. We took off PJ who was almost our best, to accommodate Riddell. Fair enough - not playing Riddell would have been shocking because he loomed as a strike weapon from close range. But we suffered for PJ being off the field all the same.
I believe we would need to:
a) Pick a 90 minute hooker from Riddell Marsh or PJ. Play one of the other two at least in the starting side in another position as cover in case of injury to the main hooker.
b) Cut one of the three to acquire a backrower or prop.
At present I believe hookers off the bench are NOT effective.
Cases in point:
1) Best hookers in current game are Smith Buderus and Priddis. By a long shot.
2) The noted "interchange" hookers in the comp - Riddell, PJ, Wing are all performing well below their previous best seasons.
3) Clubs in top 8 tend to have 80 minute hookers.
It just seems we have misread the nature of the game this season. It is a slower game, with longer play the balls. Hookers don't have the time and distance they had in say 2001 to run at a retreating defence.
To get back on track with this thread, I believe replacing PJ with Wing does not address the main issue - that the off the bench hooker is not as valuable in the current game.
The problem is not that PJ Riddell or Morris can't play - they have been among our top 3. The problem surely is the way they are being used.
