100% correct

Yes as I feel if we got rid we would need to bring in a winger

French is no different in that he has 2 arms and 2 legs.

That is generally where the similarities end.

Any player can play in any position if you think about it but you have to consider 2 key points.

1. Would moving him there significantly reduce his impact on a game and diminish his strengths.

2. Would moving him there be of benefit to a team expected to challenge for honours?

To play 6 you are no longer the traditional second receiver. You have to be in the action at first man controlling the game. That isn’t French.

French is a strike player and an outside back. He isn’t a 6.

The lads you mention were all natural 6’s who could do a job at 1 in some cases very well.

French is a natural 1 who could also do very well on the wing.

Bolton, Paul and Edwards would struggle on the wing because they are natural halves.

Very different players.

Playing 6 isn't exactly rocket science especially if you have a decent 7 foil. French is talented enough to learn the role and do very well there. The main responsibilities of which are:
- Organising/calling plays on the (usually left) edge in defence and attack
- Quick-thinking with ball in hand
- Strong running game with some pace
- Decent kicking game (often offset by a stronger kicker at 7)

The way we play, the brains of the team and most plays are done by the 9, 13 and 1.

There are different versions of the modern-day 6 and the role is constantly evolving. Lomax, Gale, Kelly, Maloney all play different styles.

If we're honest, half backs have maybe 5-10 pivotal plays in games. The rest of the time they are playing simple passes to a SR, Centre or just placing an attacking/clearing kick.

Hes a fullback or winger

Round pegs, square holes comes to mind!

How do know that he is not capable of playing Stand Off, unless of course he has told you himself.

The same way we know Andy Platt wasn’t a 6.

We have eyes in our head.

So have I!

As far as I am concerned, a versatile top class back player like Beven French is capable of playing just as well at stand off as he is on the wing and full back.

Ellery Hanley started as a winger, moved to centre, then stand Off and ended up at loose forward following the signing of Andy Gregory, and also being a versatile top class class player, excelled in them all.

Henry Paul was another example of a versatile top class player being capable of playing well in different positions.

Hardaker is a top class versatile back having played full back centre and wing to a good standard. Should we try him at 6 as well because by your logic he’d be great there?

Yeah why not?

Just like Cas often use Grant Millington at 6 at times, it's really not a key role.

They’ve not used Millington at 6 for ages and the only time he was used there was when all the halfbacks were injured. With that logic why don’t we try one of our props at 6? How about Tony Clubb

I think you'll find it is

I had to read it again, #6 not a key roll??
along with #1,#7,#9 and #13 they are the spine of the team, and generally the ones who get paid the big money.

Spot on, not sure what game Wigg'n has been watching over the years but it can't have been rugby league!

I remember a story about one of the younger aussie coaches taking criticism from an older fan once who thought he had superior knowledge of the game because he had been watching it for so long. His response was "Well I've been watching TV all my life, it doesn't mean I understand how it works."

You think all 5 players are calling plays and organising at the same time?
My point is, like I said in my other post, if you have 3 or 4 decent players at 1, 9, 13 and half you can afford to carry someone in one of those positions and most of the time teams will have a dominant half. E.g. Saints - do you think Fages is an irreplaceable player for them? Or do Roby, Lomax and Coote do 90% of the organising and play calling?

If you have a half with a great kicking game like Sneyd or Gale, do you think it matters as much that your other half has a poor kicking game?

If we signed Cameron Smith and Nathan Cleary, I'd let my nan play in the other half position.

How many decent 6's are there in SL now? Hastings, Lomax and Maloney. Occasionally Austin too.

Yeah almost like posting you know someone can't play a position "because you have eyes".

It’s just the most ridiculous concept. That French is a 6 because Henry Paul could play 6 and 1 etc.

2 totally different players.

Then to chip in with Hardaker playing 6 and even better 6 isn’t a key position is baffling to say the least!

Yes 5 players tend to organise at the same time in different phases of the game.

A key role for a 6 & 7 is to organise the attack on their side if the pitch.

Gone are the days of a scrum half being the organiser and a 6 being the pretty boy strike runner (which arguably in that respect French could play) but it is outdated concept that generally teams on longer employ as it was easy to defend against that 1 dimensional system.

The 6 and 7 are more or less interchangeable these days both doing similar jobs on their respective sides of the pitch. While the attack is focussed on one side of the field the other half tends to be organising the strike play getting the shape right for when the link play comes.

If you have been watching the NRL it is very clear given the lack of crowds at the moment how vocal all the players are but in particular the halves.

French tried to play the 6 role off the bench at Wakefield and it simply didn’t work. The plays went down our left side in attack, then when we tried to get the link to the right side that he was controlling he caught the ball and generally just tried to take the line on.

I’ve absolutely no problem with a half taking the line on but they also must provide the link and organise the plays, that is not his game.

He is an illusive broken field runner who thrives in space. That is his strength so why would you take that away from him by asking him to organise, provide the link in attack and reduce the space available to him.

True, also 13 isn’t key anymore not been key for years, lockers is the last of that breed, plus Zak isn’t a ball playing 1 either

And I bet there have been occasions when a older and more knowledgeable Coach or Supporter has had to put some of the younger supporters straight about what they know about the game and who is capable of playing in what position.

Elusive, unless he's just a fantasy of yours!

But srsly, fully agree with your post. I often think people bang on about scrum-halves and stand-offs where it really hasn't got a lot of relevance to the way most sides, both here and in the NRL, are organised nowadays. Most teams play split halves. Of course, that doesn't alter the fact that some players have a better long kicking game, and some a better running game. So, for example, in the case of George Williams and Matty Smith, you'd tag GW as the stand-off, and MS as the scrum-half. But what happens when you look at George Williams and Jack Wighton? The picture there is not as clear. Williams and Wighton are, in fact, players not dissimilar in style. So in effect they both combine the roles.

With it being confirmed there's no reserve grade next season there are going to be an awful lot of players throughout the league who are going to get very little or even no game time.
Must be incredibly worrying times for these fringe players. Not hard to imagine a lot of these players are going to be lost to the game for good.