I am really at a loss with this Dylan Walker leaving announcement. Just weird being three rounds in to the season. He has very much been integral to our attack over the last few years. I don't think he can be replaced easily at all, certainly not with our current roster. I guess TMM to 6 and CHT to 14 makes the most sense at the moment in order to get CHT to fill that 14 role as close as possible to Walker. The concerns I have around that are that TMM has been killing it in cup with a very good organising half and
Luke Metcalf isn't that 7 at all. CHT has also been playing very well at 6, probably been carrying that halves pairing if we are being honest. Has he been training as a 14 in the off season? Essentially we would be moving a 6 who has been playing well for another 6 who plays well with an organising half like Boyd and not addressing the two glaring issues we have which are
Metcalf isn't that guy (IMO) for 7 and we cant replace Walker easily even if CHT goes there.
My thoughts are that we cant replace Walker's play so AW should keep
LM 7 and CHT 6 for at least another 3-5 rounds. That was his plan initially and losing our 14 shouldn't change that.
I'd look at bringing Lussick or Healey on to the bench as the 14 and utilise them for 20minutes to spell Egan and then use them as a hybrid lock/hooker while Egan is back on, to speed up our play.
It's a change in our approach but could end up being a needed one.