Lyne is incredibly valuable to our team. He defends the busiest area of the field, is often our only line breaker and gets excellent yards off our line.
Not many teams have a right side centre of his quality/effectiveness.
I'm not advocating that but he's now a seasoned pro, sometimes Captain and part of the leadership group. With that comes a level of expectation of performance and responsibility. All I'm hoping is that he maintains decent performance levels and if he doesn't then he doesn't start ... ditto Miller !
I'd rather have Reece in the team than not..... .....Or worse, playing against us!
What amuses me about Lyne is that for the first few seasons with us the touchline coaches on here consistently claimed Reece Lyne would NEVER EVER NEVER make a centre. You know who you were, anybody honest enough to admit it.
Pound for pound one of the best domestic signings this club has made in SL, Ashurst comes close but Reece was on peanuts when he joined us.
I see him the other way around, looks like a Tony Myler style SO and that is high praise indeed and of course yet to be proven.
I don't see any issues in the backs, we are extremely well catered for there imo, We'd have to lose four out of Tupou, Lyne, Arundel and Croft and even young Greensmith before that was needed. HOPEFULLY
I was talking about in the context of during a match if that was my selected 17. I'd agree there is plenty of cover there if we need to cover for players missing.
I was talking about in the context of during a match if that was my selected 17. I'd agree there is plenty of cover there if we need to cover for players missing.
Scapegoat ... really ? He plays every single game regardless of form. I'd accept the scapegoat tag for Jowitt definitely and possibly Hampshire who gets pushed from pillar to post.
Definitely a scapegoat for some fans.
As I said, makes great metres, excellent defence and has plenty of pace. I'm not knocking TJ but, if he gets done because the defensive line has left him exposed, there is nothing said but, EVERYTHING that Reece doesn't execute is picked up on by a certain section of the supporters, everything.
Usually, when we get beaten, he's the first to be blamed.
I'm not saying that he's never had a poor game or, made mistakes - every player has but, he's definitely one of our more consistent and one of our better, players. Decent centres are at a premium and we have 2 excellent centres, plus young Croft (and the forgotten man, Arundell).
Only two I'd disagree with. Jowitt over Hampshire all day long, scores more, creates more.
The one that really baffles me is Crowther over Josh Wood, seriously! Even BLM probably raised an eye at that one. Until he got injured Josh was not just our best hooker, certainly better than the ageing Kyle IMO, he was one of our best players, his defensive stints were immense and he did his damndest to get our lethargic pack on the front foot. Crowther does a neat little line as an emergency hooker but he is definitely the third choice, not least because he's wasted there, he's a genuine SL class SR/LF, why would you play him anywhere else unless you had too. So either you forgot about Josh or you are insane (joke).
Hampshire as more assist from full back than max it was only few months back max was getting slated for holding onto ball for too long when joing the line although i like max alot mh preference was tfor rocky...yes ill admit i totally forgott bout josh wood so i went for jordan as hd plsyed well there ladt year he stiffins ghe midfle up at stsrt of thd gsme unlike k wood znd second row i likd batch ashurst and pitts snd jordzn so im trying to fit our better plsyers in
As I said, makes great metres, excellent defence and has plenty of pace. I'm not knocking TJ but, if he gets done because the defensive line has left him exposed, there is nothing said but, EVERYTHING that Reece doesn't execute is picked up on by a certain section of the supporters, everything.
Usually, when we get beaten, he's the first to be blamed.
I'm not saying that he's never had a poor game or, made mistakes - every player has but, he's definitely one of our more consistent and one of our better, players. Decent centres are at a premium and we have 2 excellent centres, plus young Croft (and the forgotten man, Arundell).
Don't agree with that bit, I don't know where you stand but where I do TJ gets endless stick, especially regarding his defence. In fact, there is a whole cottage industry of away fans who say TJ can't defend and when you challenge them on how they know this they will tell you that's what Wakey fans say
Nothing you can do about it, some fans need scapegoat, some just love a moan. I honestly can't think of a single player who didn't have their own anti-fan club.
I saw Hampshire at No.1 and realised it was just a trolling post so I'll leave it.
Na if i was trolling id put alex walker at full back..i just think rocky if on form is one of the most gifted players we have and has somyhing that is hard to defend against in thatbhes quick off the mark.iit was toss of coin between both him and max for me
Hampshire as more assist from full back than max it was only few months back max was getting slated for holding onto ball for too long when joing the line although i like max alot mh preference was tfor rocky...yes ill admit i totally forgott bout josh wood so i went for jordan as hd plsyed well there ladt year he stiffins ghe midfle up at stsrt of thd gsme unlike k wood znd second row i likd batch ashurst and pitts snd jordzn so im trying to fit our better plsyers in
Funny but I recall it's Hampshire who gets slated for holding the ball too long, Jowitt moves it very swiftly. As for assists, you must be going back a bit because it's actually been a while since Hampshire played FB on a regular basis, 2020 was a tussle between Gigot, Walker and Jowitt.
Don't get me wrong I'd be happy with Hampshire at FB but rather like Crowther he's so versatile I doubt he will have the chance to pin down the single roll.
As for Crowther there is no doubt he can do the job but you have to think of the lads future. I'm sure he wants international recognition and he won't get that at hooker, he might at S/R or L/F. I'm all for versatility but only when required, Crowthers future is in the back row and then perhaps the front row. It's not at hooker, it's not his position and he doesn't have the speed to do it at the highest level and if you ask him to do it too often he will get fed up and then he will want to leave and who could blame him because it's denying him the chance to progress to the highest level.