Gee it is an interesting question and I would not profess to be an expert on these micro decisions you identify there.
Thinking out loud here, rather than proclaiming any confidence about the best way to proceed.
Sports teams have rhythms, and as you rightly point out, using Egan off the bench disrupts his partnership with AFB.
As such, despite the temptation to use him off the bench for a gentler intro....mentally it is probably better to use him per script as an opener and thereby play him in a familiar setting, so he has the feel of the game within a team pattern that he knows, he knows the timing of the runners, their likes, and all that, and Webster is big on finding combinations and wot not that best suit each players natural strengths.
So yeah I would start him, tell him that he can play up to his usual spell if he feels okay, but since neither he nor the coaches know about his fitness, that he takes an early tap out if he is feeling it, thereby lightening his load within a conventional and familiar stint within the overall team game plan.
Sports are weird, as we have seen, when you put the wrong guy to start, and the wrong guy on the bench, their performance drops, that has to be the mental dimension, the psychology of players, and so yeah I would go with routine but use less time on field as the way to soften a regular incumbents return time in a familiar role.
Also there is the clunkiness we are seeing, which we see every season in the opening rounds, and since the hooker is the timing mechanism of a team, starting Egan to smooth out the ruffles and settle us into the fight makes a lot of sense.
If we change Egans role via the bench it impacts on other players, and holds us back from honing this side into the weapon that most of us believe it is. Most of us think the sooner this side clicks the easier our games will be.
I personally think when our left edge attack works out their strengths that we will shred a lot of sides apart and therefore make the games less grinding and intense, since the opposition will be forced into playing risky catchup against us.
It has not been talked about much around here, but Shaun Johnson's kicking so far has been incredible and we really should have thrashed the likes of the Sharks and even the Storm off his accuracy with in goal kicks. But the missing element is the cohesion.
Hope that makes sense, in the bigger picture there is probably no wrong or right way to go with Egan who is in the top two hookers in the competition imo.
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