Sums up a prop forwards job in my view.

Whats a LF's job then?

I don't think Rob_Wire is far off the mark in my view.



Put simply a LF should be seen as an extra pack member in defence and an extra back in attack.

Would you put Sinfield and Flannery in the same bracket as Hanley or Mike Greg. I wouldn't but times change I suppose.

if only there was such a thread to discuss ben harrison and the LF role.....

I think first & foremost he's a developing player, developing rapidly and who knows what level he'll take his game too. If you looked at him over say the last two years, he's gone from bit-part to integral, so he's doing something right. He's probably long term a prop isn't he, but he's performing a role at loose forward for us, and he's doing it pretty well. I've actually been mildly disappointed with him this year but it's a long season with a fair time ro run yet so his best times may yet be to come.

I reckon sometimes we focus a bit too much on what folk can't do rather than talk about what they can. In Ben's case, i'm not always so sure it's about what he can't do, but more what about he chooses not to, or perhaps is told not to do. He probably isn't the best passer of a ball in our side, so he's instructed to leave the bulk of it to folk who are. That said, he'll be improving his core skills all the time, so he'll get better. A year back, he didn't have an offload, at all. Now, he's got a good offload, an offload after collision, and it is an offload, not a fling & hope a la Rauhihi, it's a second phase offload - he'll just get better, and more experienced at when to use it.

I think his main asset is stopping opposition go forward, we have stats galore for metres gained with ball in hand, no stats for metres stopped - if there was, there wouldn't be many if any LF's in superleague ahead of him. If you're looking for somebody to get off the line, meet the opposition and put a shot on somebody he's up there with the best of them. In this respect, he has great body language in terms of leadership, him & Westwood are up & at you, they'll stop your go forward, they make you earn your yards and the same for Louis Anderson too, talk folk about our front row alot, but our back row is pretty uncompromising too.

He's not flash is he ? I think that's good. Too many young ones look the part but deliver little. He's a worker, a real dour workhorse who's got a bit of skill also. In say, four years - I'd be happy with him & Coops as our starting props I'll tell you that much.

theres noo need to buy a lose forward

Stephen Wild is OOC at Huddersfield at the end of this season.

Simon Grix. Next.

Smith said: "Ben was unbelievable and I was enthralled watching him. I would love to have some of his energy levels.

"If you cut him open, you would find a heart as big as Ayers Rock."

Nothing to decide. Harrison and Coops are going to be our props in the future and who better to learn the trade off than Mozza and Gaz Carvell

why waste money on a forward when we have :

morley
carvell
wood
cooper
westwood
l anderson
mcCarthy
solomona
v anderson
harrison
grix

plus blythe and mitchell who are dual registered at leigh

I think some people are too rigid in what they think a loose forward is to do. The 13's job is to do what the coach asks him to do, just like any other player.

It isn't set in stone that he has to be a link between the forwards and backs, and tbh this has always been the case. Mike Gregory was an out and out forward and he wasn't a classic ball handling 13, and often played in the back row. Kelly Shelford was a ball-handling 13 and also played 6. Sinfield can now do that at Leeds, and O'Loughlin can at Wigan.

If our attack was struggling and we had Harrison at 13 then maybe we could question whether we are missing a pivot at loose, but as we are the best attack in the league, I think Smith has it right.

i like having harrison playing essentially as an extra prop out of 13,as dave says, it works for us, and just to robs point earlier, we did go with rambo starting at prop and grix at 13 this week, we may have gone that way last week but obviously with grix being rested we chose not to.

Having said that, si had a top game at the weekend, he does look a lot more comfortable in a more probing role from looseforward.

Who's to say though that Che hasn't seen that and decided its a better option to go forward with from this point.

Mitchell at leigh is a good player he should be given a chance.

good young player but wont get near squad at this present time, not quite up to sl standard yet

He was playing Prop on Saturday

sounds to me like a full back, eg wello . brett, clint, brent, they all do the above.

at the end of the day its just a position, prop + 2nd row are just the same only you play 2nd row if you got a sligthly smaller frame but a bit fitter, hence fekka could never play 2nd row, but yet jp, sam burgess, super benny and jammer could no problem, its like 6 + 7 absolute no difference only in the numbers on the shirts. ben harrison can play prop ,2nd row or loose no problem. if youre good enuff you can play anywhere . ben harrison can play any positon be it 8,10,11,12, or 13 no problem thats how good this kid is.

Tut tut, doesn't TS know its officially called Uluru now. How are we meant to attract top indigenous players like Thurston, Inglis, and Greg Bird to the club with outdated attitudes like that?

SMITH OUT!

Back on topic anyway, Magic Piano has hit the nail on the head naming Simon Grix as the player who should be our loose forward for the forseeable future. Ben Harrison is a quality player, but in the second row and possibly at prop later on in his career.

I've watched Ben Harrison progress since being a 16 year old - for years I've said he could be one of our most important players in years to come & now those years are nearly here. He's not a loose forward by any stretch of the imagination, but as a grafting 2nd row or prop who will run all day for you & try to smash anything that moves he is up there. He has the potential, workrate & attitude on the pitch to be a Ben Westwood/Adrian Morley/Louis Anderson all mashed into one - he's a Gorden Tallis type player, noone's ever sure what he does but you miss him when he's not there...

No doubt, a prop.

Actually I think it depends on the style of play.
The game has changed over the years and so has virtuially every positional role.

Think TS is quite happy with him - but also sees the value of a player like Grix who is more of a ball handling player.

as an impact player he is perfect... that could well be his role going forward.... what a player to bring on when you are 20 points up... or 20 points down.

Lee Mitchell is doing well at Leigh.