having players like CNK and TMM that can play anywhere in the backline in a pinch have huge value. Lets say the coach stacks his bench and uses 4 bench forwards by the 60th minute, then CHT or Boyd goes down? Coach can shift CNK to the halves and Capes/Leka to centre, RTS to fullback and Pompey to wing.
Heaps of our guys seem *note the use of the I statistic word seem" to play less than that during seasons we wish they were bulletproof and available
Criminally underrated
I don't think he is underrated but he definitely needs some game time management through the season
Finally learned this year the correct tackle technique. Getting the head behind the tackled player. Helps with head knocks. Too little too late but better than never
Cces always brings receipts
Much better in that regard, form seemed to drop off towards tail end of the whether that was injury involved or not? Interesting his stats almost mirror Koriasau from last year who had a quiet one by his standards if I remember correctly? Third for dummy half runs as pointed out by others too. His brother going to knights is an interesting development because we seem to have a bit of depth at hooker coming through? I don’t think we’d extend him past 2027 at this point?
Agreed. Imo it's if he can come back refreshed after the off-season. Wait and see for me
As far as I can tell, that’s his only decent stat though. With Metcalf out, we desperately needed a spark. LBs or TA would have been better and he doesn’t feature in those top 50s.
I'm not sure any team having their best forward go down is going to remain unaffected to a certain extent
Agree, and it was the compound effect on top of Metcalf the loss of skill and the psych impact on the team of that one-two gut punch combined with weakness through injury out wide. We'll be better placed as our pathways increasing hold backups with competition-honed talent. 27-28 is our window!
So, not a significant improvement/change over what happens now. Your rotate your forwards because you know they won't handle 80M, leave your Utility Back until needs arise. If an injury occurs, it won't in reality be much different, someone playing out of position/playing longer in their position for 10-15 minutes ie Wade because Sam's gotta cover CHT going off.
That's why development is important. So that whoever replaces that best forward can do the best possible job. Ours couldn't last year but they have another season under their belts should they be required
