Probably. He's strong under the high ball, good in defence, elusive in traffic, and in open space - start cheering. His third try yesterday he was in the centres. He got the ball about 15 out and there was wasn't much happening but I could see the Souths defence was just a little bit too spread. As soon as the ball touched his hands I said "Shanny's in". You could just see they didn't have a hope of stopping him. In his last try they spread it wide at the 50m. The ball hit the deck and Mercer picked it up neatly and gave it off to McDonnell who was outside his man. I didn't even both saying anything, just started writing "try wests 1 30min" in my notebook for the website report. Souths had Roy Bell at the back who's no slouch but he didn't even get close. Anyone who says they wouldn't want that in their team is lying. When Sheens talked about having the best young fullback prospect in the game he wasn't talking about Greally.
You're right about it being tough to move Hodgo. He obviously still has many good years in front of him but come 2007 or 8 there just won't be any choice. I've been a fan of Brett's a long time and remember he pushed Leedsy into retirement at around the same age as young Shannon will be next year.
Of course I'm not saying Hodgo will retire, but when something this good comes along you can't let it get away. That's the negative side of developing your own stars of the future - they turn up when they're ready not necessarily when you're ready for them. Much easier just to go out and buy what you want each year in a way - but I'd always prefer to grow our own. Hodgo doesn't deserve to be moved, but this guy will demand it happens. Not this year, and maybe not next, but it will happen.
