Quote ="DHM"Did Cross really do anything of note while on the pitch for us? Apart from giving away penalties when he had the ball I'm struggling to think?
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Did any of the other props do any better? I think not.
At least Cross had possibly the highest work rate for his limited time on the field with highest m/carry of all our props, highest marker tackles in total and per game, averaged 4.44 tackles per game more than Kylie and 3.34 tackles per game more than Kirke. He gave away 6 penalties in 10 games which is about par for our props.
Giving away a penalty when in possession is not good but no worse than conceding a penalty on the last tackle when defending.
IMO we never gave Cross a decent chance. He joined an injury hit team lacking it's top stars and down on confidence. He came with a reputation as a big tough no nonsense prop who takes the ball into contact strongly. Whenever he did take the ball on the charge he made good yards but invariably when he came on we were up against it and he had to make more tackles rather than more drives.
I am sure he will do a job for Wigan where he is rated by the champions coach in addition to the State of Origin, Aussie selectors and former Oz captain Buderus.
Both Cross and Burgess offered much more than Kirke and certainly as good or better than Kylie or Bailey. Sadly neither were given a fair crack and we are now left with one of the most ineffective set of props in the top 8