Morning all Wire fans, first of all commiserations on the defeat last night, I thought both sides were quite poor throughout but Hudds were maybe a little bit smarter in the conditions. I attended the game last night as a neutral, what struck me about Warrington was how everything stopped at Ratchford.. They looked quite fluent in attack until he got hold of the ball and doesn`t seem to know what to do with it, which 9 times out of 10 results in him switching up direction and running around like a headless chicken. I have always liked Ratchford as a player but i think Wire would benefit from a steady fullback that can chime in the line. Has it always been like this with SR in the FB role? Is it the general consensus on this board that you would benefit from a specialist fullback? As much as he offers a lot of utility and is a good player i don`t think he is.

Ratch is so frustrating to watch. Hot and cold performances but you can't say he doesn't try.

For me he's regressed as a player last few years. Whether that's because he spent too much of his career without a nailed down position or not I don't know.

Hard to think lucidly after last night but I don't think he's a full back. Not because of last night but because his decision making in defence is so so poor and his attack is extremely one-up. Sometimes it works but most of the time it ends up in error or ball loss..

As I said at the start. Frustrating.

Id swap Ratchford for Hanbury any day of the week. Tell you what, you lot are the most fickle fans around. Just reading a few threads and you want to sack every man and his dog! Anyway, how is the snake doing in primrose and blue???

Wankly

<John McEnroe mode> You cannot be serious!

Ratch is rocks or diamonds. Problem is he doesn’t learn from simple mistakes. Dropping easy kicks, knock ons in the play the ball etc.

But when he’s attacking with a bit of space he can be great, and Lineham scored a load last year off his passes.

Ratchford is a really good player who has started the season badly. His positioning at FB is pretty good mostly, he is safe under the high ball. His return is always languid and slow, I never expect a line break or as many yards are on offer. He is a very good attacking player but doesbt get involved enough from FB and sometimes his one on one tackling is none existent (like his flap at Ryan Hall last week). Overall I would want ratchford in the team, somewhere, probably with Roberts or brown in the halves. Any half combination that we have tried involving brown just hasn't worked, Brown needs to be removed from all last play options and kicking game plays, it's not his strength and never has been.

I'd prefer a specialist full back, starting with giving Jack Johnson a go until the end of the season to see if he is up to it. In absolutely no way do I want to see Matty Russel at FB again, ever. Mitch brown could be an option.

Yeah Ratch is not the reason we are in this pickle but he's in bad form for sure. The trouble is that there is no position that he is exceptional in (look at the drawbacks below) but he is one of the few players we have that the opposition will be wary of.

"His positioning at FB is pretty good mostly"
"His return is always languid and slow"
"I never expect a line break or as many yards are on offer"
"sometimes his one on one tackling is none existent"

Stefan Ratchford is now a luxury player that we can no longer afford to have. This post is bob on for everything that is wrong with him. He is an individual and not a team player. Everything that goes through him hits a brick wall. Everytime he gets in the line for the extra man he cuts inside and brings the play to a halt. He has to many brain farts in defence. He cost us 6 last night through trying to be too clever and not getting the speculative kick out of play. He carries the ball too loosely and knocks on far to much. He needs a couple of weeks out of the team to get his head right because at the moment he is to much of a liability. Not sure what Wayne Bennett sees in him.

Perhaps a 3/4 line of Lineham, Goodwin ,Brown & Atkins with Ratch at half back & try Mitch Brown at fullback.

You picking mitch brown twice there?

Goodwin, Atkins, Johnson, M Brown, lineham

Maybe try Taylor Prell soon and see what he has to offer. I know there will be mistakes with an inexperienced player but save lineham and goodwin our back 5 has been full of mistakes anyway.

Not a fan of Ratchford AT ALL - but with our current squad predicaments i would be playing him off the bench. However, with Roberts injured i'd be moving Ratch into the halves and Mitch Brown to FB as as much as I don't rate Ratchford he offers much more than Patton who is a Championship player at best.

Be very interesting to see our next matchday squad and how we respond.

No. Kev Brown in to 3/4s ,Ratch & Roberts in the halves i was thinking. Kev was originally a centre i believe. Atkins on the wing.

Best post on this thread.

Brown will be far too slow at centre both in attack and defence.

Ratchford is not a half, every time I’ve seen him play there he a brought nothing to it, only position I’ve seen him play well was centre. Just my opinion.

I don't like the idea of K Brown in the centres, could be an option though. If Roberts in out for a while then maybe brown and ratchford in the halves, or maybe ratchford spelling clark at 9. He gives us lots of options on the bench, or on the pitch so has to be involves. Personally I would try him in the halves again.

The last player we had who brought anything to the halves was sandow, I've not give up on Roberts, I think he will be massive for us when he is fit, or at least a massive improvement.

it really isn't.

I agree that one wasn't.

The above reasons would see a full back at any club dropped or indeed not at full back. Our club and a lot of fans are stuck on the "we must find him a position" band wagon. If the club thought he was a centre we probably wouldn't have signed Goodwin if was a half back we probably wouldn't have signed Brown (previously) and Roberts this year. He is certainly not a forward for me. So where does this leave him, for me he is a luxury we do not need given the playing staff we have. However, I can see that letting him go and someone giving him a position he would flourish. We do not appear willing to do that other than at full back, which clearly does not suit him.

So what is it about Ratchford that makes him a good RL player? He's pretty elusive but is hardly breaking the line with regularity, his defence is below average at best, his pace is average, he's not really got a ruthless eye for the line in the opposition 10 despite having the footwork to do just that, his passing is average and his kicking is below average....but he can scoop a ball up one handed, run with it one handed (in a horrible homage to the legend John Woods) and amble about as if he's the cleverest, most talented player on the field. I'm not singling him out for our current woes but i believe he's a very well paid luxury and I cannot fathom why.

Saints fan myself but whenever I’ve watched Ratchford play for Warrington I’ve rarely been impressed. He’s a utility player who can fill in at a few different positions but there isn’t one position where’s he good enough to play regularly. Whilst your problems obviously aren’t all down to Ratchford you definitely need an out and out fullback. It’s such an important position and when you look at the difference Barba has made (so far) for us, a world class fullback would make a huge difference for Warrington.

Kevin Brown in the centres would be the final straw

I think you've summed up Ratchford perfectly, in those last few words, ratticusfinch.

To me, RATCHFORD, is a puzzle, wrapped up in an enigma, contained in a mystery.

I remember watching him keenly in Salford colours, when we were heavily linked with him. I saw a player that didn't do THAT much, yet the opposition players "laid off" him a bit, when he had ball in hand, as a mark of respect for his talents.
I wasn't that blown away with him then, and still remain the same, seven years on.

Don't get me wrong. I've got nowt against him, he's just not lived up to a substantial transfer fee we paid for him.

I'll upset a few here, but I see his best position as stand off. He can be elusive, he has a rugby brain, and can side step. 3 good plus points for any number six. I even agreed with duckie, with his obsession of Bridge /Ratchford in the halves (but only when things weren't going our way, during a game)+, just to try something different).

Fact is, come July, he'll be 30. Unless he has some Briersesque renaissance in his career, I hope to God we don't offer him another contract. At 30, he ain't gonna get any better.