Pull the other one. Lineham scored 19 on his jack jones. Russell had ample service and space last season and he still managed to score 10 and only 3 of those came against a team in the top 8 of SL. The lad couldn't finish a Sunday dinner. In fact, the tries he actually scored he made harder than they were by cutting back inside and running into a tackle

he is attrotious

I don't doubt your reasoning or caution about Russell. I'm far from his biggest fan.
My theorys based entirely upon the enhanced quality of squad supporting him...
Not the mention he was doing nicely for Scotland and outside of Peta in 2017.

Thanks for the input Taylor. I hope things go well for you at Rochdale this season.

That kind of goes back to my point about Atkins having no passing game. His game is not about creating space and giving a nice pass to the winger. He’s just another backrower playing in the centre position.

For a winger to be classed as successful there needs to be certain criteria fulfilled. Firstly, they have to have to ball and for them to have that they usually need a decent centre to pass it. Fa'filli had it with Gleeson and Hicks had it with King. We have Ryan Atkins who lets be honest about this, is more likely to hit Row Z than his winger. They also need speed, speed to make use of the overlap that said centre has created for them. Lets face it when he played outside Peta Hiku, when he was put in space he never run away from his opposite winger. They also in an ideal world need height and strength.

For me Matty Russell for the ones he can influence, hasn't got. Its not his fault that the centre inside of him cannot pass (Atkins). He is not blessed with burning speed, I have seen him chased down by second rows. He has no height, he is more likely to get out jumped for a cross field kick, both in attack and defence. And although he is a well built lad, he gets splattered quite often. For me Matty should not be in the starting 13/17. He probably costs us more points over a season than he creates/scores.

But God love him, he is a tryer. And for a lot of people this is enough. It certainly was for TS

Russell is signed up for this and next season. Quite a dilemma really.

The dilemma lies with Steve Price. Where does he see him fitting into his team/squad? Can he coach him into being a more effective winger who he wants in his team?

Currie is a great player if he can stay injury free but I don’t rate Dom Crosby at all. I think Saints will boss this season winning the shield and grand final with hull to win the cup again.

Preparation.... fitness is addressed early with 2 army camps.
have helped.
Ability.....skill and depth is addressed as we have a near full squad of internationals, 2 marquee players and almost full cap spent up.

We've got all the luck in the world.

Ok...they both have a chance.

Perhaps the time has come to stick someone else at left centre & put Ryan on the wing. His passing is limited but he has a safe pair of hands for catching.

Well he surprised me last season.
He had a great year and finished off putting a few passes out...one even lead to a Lineham try!

On the bases of that I'm happy to continue with him at centre.

I think Lineham Currie and Atkins will do very well off Brown and Ratchford.

Hiku did everything he possibly could not to give Russell the ball

Hiku managed to score the same amount of tries in 11 games than Russell managed in an entire season

haha yeah good one

Atkins is strange one, do you want a centre who scores 8/9 tries a season who sets up loads for his winger or do you want a centre who scores 20 tries a season but only sets up few for his winger. I personally want the guaranteed 20 tries a season and not the other as if the winger drops form as isn't in the correct place at the right time then he wont score. Atkins is dependable and scores, that will do for me

Are you forgetting Atkins drop of form which was much more alarming at the time...and quite some time it was!?
Guaranteed I fear you're misguided.

Tom Linehan scored 21 tries last season

Ryan Atkins scored 16 tries last season

So where did the tries come from? I have no problem with either player.

Atkins has 2 try assist to his name last season. 2.... That's it. For a centre whos winger scored 21 tries that is pathetic.

Lineham's Tries came from his own graft or via a face ball from Ratch.

It makes a big difference who's inside of him, when Currie's fit, he's got the skill and eye to put Lineham in when the pass is on by missing Atkins out, so in a way we have the best of both worlds. But when he's injured, we end up with 3 big guys on the left edge just running straight.

Not quite sure whether your a scouser or from East Yorkshire?

If your a Saint then I don't know where your Optimism is coming from. Have you made any signings this off season? You played 20 minutes of scintillating footie in the semi final and that was it.

If Atkins could pass a ball he would be dynamite. The trouble is he gets a rush of blood every time he gets the ball and goes himself. There is nothing like a centre who can draw a man and pass to his winger. Creates so many more doubts in the defenders mind. He runs hard and can make the break, but he usually gets shut down before he does.

Lineham has a surprisingly high strike rate and his stats from the last few years are impressive. Sometimes though last season (especially towards the end) he looked amateur against the lower teams in defence, regularly getting pushed off and waltzed past... I'm hoping it was just his attitude and that Price can fix his drive for professionalism. There's no doubting Lineham is a talent but he's not nearly performing up to his price tag.

Atkins may not pass much but he's generally solid in defence and scores when he's got the ball near the line. He doesn't look any less athletic than he was during the trophy-winning years, but regarding his passing - if it could be fixed it would have been by now. There aren't many good centres available so I guess we should be blessed we have one that scores regularly.

I agree with everything you say Easy Wire. I think as do many who sit around me and who i meet up with at half time that Atkins would not look out of place in the second row. For all sense and purposes he is fulfilling the role of a second row with what he does. Strong runner in that he is difficult to slow down or stop when he is going for it!, Big and tackles when his attitude is right.

I think he could extend his career by 3 4 years if he could effectively make the switch to backrow.
Not that he's too fussed, he's a barber now, so not only one at Saints, we've got his match!