Work in process, looks good against lessor opposition but in a match like Friday's we could have done with Bridge or Ratchford who could have found that little bit of extra space to get the ball out to their winger

Tend to agree, but also not that sure that ratch is an out and out centre.
Do think he needs to be on the field for longer though.

Bridge at his best is better than the current Evans, but we'll have to see if he regains full fitness after his injury. On Friday I didn't see Ratchford make any more breaks, or find any extra space, ( pro-rata to his time on the field ) than Evans. In fact, there were hardly any breaks by the centres of either side. Evans is doing fine and deserves a first-team run to see what he's really made of.

Disagree. The gameplan on Friday was very clearly to try to dominate Wigan up the middle and then put up a bomb on the last to test Tomkins. When we did spread the ball wide, we had great success, getting Joel in twice. We then seemed to give up on that tactic.

Friday's game is not one to judge Evans on - we know how destructive Atkins can be yet he was very quiet too. That was down to the tactics. Which we should have varied a bit more.

Are we forgetting Evans debut at centre v Leeds already?

Me and FB commented at the game on how much bigger he looks now, hope that doesn't affect his pace.

No, no, no. Evans didn't score, even though his winger scored two. Therefore, he is a busted flush.

(gets prayer mat out)
This lad needs a decent run of games (about a dozen should do it), where he isn't picking up knocks, so we can judge where he's at.

I've a sneaking feeling the lad may turn out to be the new Ronnie Duane i.e.
big build
good speed
loads of potential
injured

I sincerely hope the fourth will become a thing of the past. The lad COULD be great

I think at times it's easier for a player on his debut to shine because he is an unknown quantity to the opposition & it is only after a few games when other coaches & teams suss him out. It takes a great player to be in the same position week in week out & still pull something out of the hat. Let's hope he becomes great.

Evans should be at centre for as long as we can reasonably keep him there. He has all the potential to make it in that position, and a top centre is of greater worth than a top winger.

Unfortunately in UK RL we have a tendency to short-termism, and to ship anyone a bit risky 'out of harm's way' (see Tomkins to full-back, which started in part because Tomkins was being targeted in defence). You can say the same of Tom Briscoe and Josh Charnley, both of whom had the attributes to become classy centres but have been stuck out on the wing for a few years.

I think it is fare enough to give him a run at centre and see what he can do. Only then will we be able to make a more reasoned judgement. Wouldn't surprise me if he moved to the second row later in his career. he looks like he has the size.

According to the stats., Evans has put on 2Kg in the off season.

One point that has not been made is that game time at this level is like gold dust for somebody like Evans. He needs to make mistakes and learn from them in order to progress to the next level. I don't know how many 1st team games he has played in, but surely it's not that many because he has had two long (foot) injury layoffs.

Will he make the first team as a permanent fixture ? I am forced to agree with Browny, I think he needs a good long run and a bit of patience from everyone. We have the quality in the squad to carry youngsters, and still win matches when they make errors or under perform.

I thought he lacked composure in a tense environment on fri night but that will come with games! He needs a run in the side to test if he's good enough or not! A fully fit chris bridge would get my vote and Ratchfords only problem is his versatility!

ONE error in eighty minutes means that he lacks composure? I am shocked and disappointed at how harsh some are being on here.

If we start moaning about one handling error a game then we will be without 90% of the side each week.

He was very strong in defence and showed in attack that he has the ability to handle himself at this level and thankfully Tony Smith feels the same.

This.

I was wondering what he had supposedly done so wrong. I thought he was very strong in defence.

Evans is young and he is developing into a quality Super League player. He will be another, like Grix who will be very good at playing in more than one position against any side in the league.

Plus One

All I recall is failing to take a poor pass that was flung way over his head.

Having watched the game again today...been a bit harsh on Evans! Hopefully will be given a run of games to prove his doubters (including me) that he's a real talent!

I think we are being a bit harsh. If say Riley and Atkins were new players and we focused on their game ... would we say they were better players than Evans?? ... I think not. Our backs had very little space. Give him more time methinks.

Ratchford is capable of the extrordinary and for that he would always make my first 13.

This post is ridiculous...he makes one mistake all game and because he doesnt score his position is questioned? Ratchford isn't a centre end of...Evans for me is the best right centre we have, young fast, great defender strong runner awesome side step

Which threequarter on either side had a better game than Rhys?

Charnley? Howler from the bomb
Atkins? Very quiet all night
Tomkins? Didn't look like making a break and didn't look happy under the bomb
Richards? Couldn't catch a cold and wouldn't be in the team if he couldn't kick
Hodson? Beautiful pass for Joel's try but made a big error that could have been costly

The only one I'd say is Joel and he's an experienced aussie international (or was not so long ago).

Give the kid a break.

a bit biased i would say,

Charnley didn't drop a bomb at all Atkins tackled him before he even touched the ball and he took a great one not so long before it.
Tomkins caught more than he didn't and saved 2 tries with last ditch tackling.
Richards was up against Joel who is no mug in the air (neither actually caught any of them) and he put in two tackles which stopped 2 potential Wire try's one of them being on Evans.
Atkins was quite and looked like a passenger.
Hodgson wasn't put under much pressure but had a good game apart from gifting us the ball back which smith kicked a drop goal from.

the one back from both sides who had a lot better game than Evans was Goulding. he was the best on the pitch.

but i do agree with you that Evans is young and has a lot of potential. Really he should put he's hand up for wales this year.

Reece doesn't look out of place to me. Give the YOUNGSTER time.