Quote ="sally cinnamon"Realistically Ratchford is the best bet for filling Briers boots not in terms of being the same type of player but as the key man and leader of the team.
Ratchford is not the complete boss that Briers was at the end of his career but in terms of ability he compares well to a younger Briers.
He is 25 years old now which Briers was in 2003. I'd put Ratchford ahead of where Briers was then. Briers was getting more consistent then but there were still a few question marks, I always felt back then that if we were under pressure it would show in Briers game - he'd kick out on the full or would start ranting at referees and lose some focus. He missed the second half of 2003 with an injury and we moved Appo to stand off and the team actually played better then with Appo there than Briers.
I think Ratchford is a cooler head than Briers was at that age, he is composed and won't get ruffled. I also think he's more of a natural athlete, running the ball he is a lot more damaging than Briers was. But he does not have Briers' fantastic kicking game which was already top class back then.
Briers went on a real steep upward curve from the age of 25 to 28 by his late 20s he was the best halfback in the league, so to match that Ratchford has got to really step up but with Tony Smith as his mentor he definitely could do it. At the moment with Briers gone Danny Brough is the best halfback in the game but I reckon Ratchford has more raw ability than Brough and can see him as the top man in the game in the next few years.'"
A good synopsis by you SC.
I agree with all your points.
