Let's hope he can keep that up

I'm sure it's been said before but he [iis[/i a confidence player, and that will improve as the grounds get harder.

Beattie was saying post match how good Thomas is when he runs the ball back. No doubt about that. I think maybe we need to alternate him and Campbell so its horses for courses.

He is definitely the Nathan Graham of this generation..for Fuck$ sake don't play him at fullback again..

Every team we play will bomb him to death for the rest of the year.

Just remember Wembley 96!

He dropped.. what.. one kick today...

Give the kid a break...

Oscar was outstanding today, in fiendish conditions, so you owe him an apology. As you do to Nathan Graham, who was let down by his team-mates leaving him totally exposed as the whole team began to panic.

In attack his handling is good and I think he will be understudy to leon for next year.

However he is a long way off been a safe established full back.

As my previous post says he will get kicked to death for rest of year.

He's been great as an attacking player and his goalkicking has been good too. I'm not totally convinced about him defensively but overall he's deserved to keep his place.

He made one mistake today. And I want Campbell to play FB! But Thomas deserves his spot. Solid game today and his goal kicking was good excluding the dreadful penalty kick before half time!

As someone mentioned before Graham was exposed and his team-mates did nothing to help. Our wingers now a days go back and support the fullback all the time.

I suspect he's getting picked over Campbell because of his ball skills. I'm not sure Campbell would be quite as effective coming into the line as an extra pivot, Thomas was great today and set up at least one try (with another disallowed).
However he still makes dumb mistakes at times. Twice his passes from dummy half were so diabolical that the receiver had no chance of catching the ball and we turned over possession as a result.

I also noticed that Lee Smith was called out as having the number 1 shirt, so maybe his time there is limited?

Looks that way but at least with Campbell he is safe. And previous to the Bulls was the most effective fullback in this league (bar Hardaker) going forward too. Maybe not a pivot but I'd sooner have a safe fullback that one that blows hot and cold.

Yes Smith has number 1. But I'd put him in the centres instead of Mendeika to strengthen that right side.

Yeah I'd be much happier with Smith/Caro than Mendeika/Macani.

Campbell was bullet proof in first two games..

A few weeks ago you wouldn't have imagined we'd be having a debate about which of three very capable full backs we should be playing!

All said and done they were friendlies.

I thought we saw some of the best and some of the worst of Thomas yesterday. On the whole, he played quite well. But he did make a couple of really stupid mistakes (a couple of his interchanges with Macani were shocking) and his attempted tackle for Toulouse's first try was quite rubbish. In general, he's on reasonable form though and I think it would be harsh to drop him unless it's for some proven quality, which I'm afraid if he's fit, Lee Smith is exactly that for me.

That being said, I'd be tempted to drop Mendeika or Macani for Smith before I dropped Thomas. Their defence has me in tatters every time someone goes down their side.

If the rumours are right macani will be sitting out soon enough with a new winger coming in...

As well as Caro been fit,
Mendeika should all things been right give way to Smith.
Campbell / Phoenix at fb

Thomas's attacking play was quality yesterday. His passing was superb and he linked superbly with Leon. But i do feel nervous when a kick goes up and some of his positioning play. As Hamster said, his tackle for their first try was pretty poor. But to be fair, he didn't let his head drop. I'd put Smith in at centre for Mendieka to tighten up that right hand side. Macani has offered enough so far in terms of the yardage he makes when going forward, and got a couple of tries.

I'm not so sure he has. He does a lot of the sideways running we used to get from Sheriffe and Kear, but not a lot of of actually breaking through the line that the tactic is aimed to get. I remain far from convinced by him, and his tendency to drift out of position in defence could have cost us the game yesterday. I get all the stuff about firmer pitches and that, but I just haven't seen enough out of him that makes me think he's got the ability required.

I hope Caro is back soon, and if not, I'm starting to come round to the idea of Ormsby on loan.

as someone said yesterday, who would have thought 6 weeks ago we would be arguing about who gets dropped for who or who to play where,
also seeing a Bulls performance where the team actually look like they want to be on the field, what a time to be alive!

I thought Macani finished his try brilliantly yesterday. He was also eager to help out when he could with taking the ball up. On the minus side he was caught out defensively a few times but that may have been down to those inside him. Out right side defence is a bit of a worry. Also the play where he went in at first receiver presumably as a dummy runner and got in the way leading to a knock on was awful. It was a brainless play when we were under the cosh in the second half. Given the competition for his wing slot (Ryan has his sewn up IMO) then he could well be dropped soon. When fit Caro is better, if Ormsby comes in then he’s better too. I’d even give Campbell a shot there, even though I think he’s better at fullback.

Thought this thread was worth bringing back up.

I have been a critic of OT in the past but very impressed with the attitude this lad has shown so far this season.

Shipped out on loan in the past, in and out of the side but never spat his dummy out. He's starting to show his quality now and reading the T&A article today it's easy to understand why.

At the moment it's a resounding yey from me.

Goal kicking has been excellent and you can see the strides he has made in the FB role since when he first joined.

What does everybody else think?

I think that he's got a similar mentality to Michael Platt. When things are going well and he's give some protection by the team, he puts in a confident performance. Trouble is, when the crowd start to get on his back, his head drops and his concentration goes. He's also a little shy under the highball and will rarely commit to catching the ball on the full, preferring to let it bounce which has been a costly lapse in judgement this year

Massively improved since the start of the season and deserves his place in the side without doubt. Must say I wasn't convinced about him at FB and I do have some lingering doubts about his defensive abilities but fair play to him, he has proved me and his critics wrong overall so far.

Keep it up Oscar!

Decent attacking play. A bit shaky under.the high ball. Dangerous in broken play and backs up well.

Can't knock the lads recent form and with Him and JC in the side we will be more dangerous.