Am I being a bit thick here but why didn't we give Burrell a try in the front row? 19st sat on the bench when we needed some beef.

What's the worst that could have happened?

Thoughts?

He will get shagged out faster than sita and the opposition will tear him a new one as he's lay on the groubs gasping

He'd have been gassed faster than sita. In the future maybe, I'm interested to see what Burrell is like after a full pre season and with the new less Conservative e rugby that Steve price is definitely going to deliver next season.

A RU centre is all about big strong lads running onto ball in a bit of space and blitzing the defensive line. In between they pop over to the dug out, have a cup and tea and do the Sudoku puzzle in the paper. Its no surprise that Burrell is a bit puffed after a few minutes playing RL and he will not get the space he is used to either. Perhaps he will surprise us and get sufficiently fit and elusive to play centre, but I would have thought he was more likely to end up in the second row. Prop ? no, I think that's unlikely.

I can't see him as a backrower either W/O.
I'd have been tempted to play him as a winger like Lineham in a couple of games? He can run the ball in as a forward but also get some width he requires in expanse.

He's like the RL version of Burgess in Union...square peg in a triangular hole.

Burgess would have been great if England had picked him at 6. He was one of England’s better players 4 years ago against Wales.
Burgess is a world leading talent. Burrell was a bog standard prem rugby union centre. Hopefully a full pre season will sort him out.

On paper I still think second row is his most likely position.

Do we have a front row? ... watching the NRL GF it would be dream to have enforcer type prop like Papalii or JWH

The next 5 months are the key to his next 3 or 4 years. If he doesn't "hit the ground running", come March April May, he might as well go back to rah rah.
He's been with the side for 3 months or so, and he looks no more a RL player than an Olympic swimmer does. If he doesn't buck his ideas up, he'll be the biggest flop since Dick Fosbury

From what I've seen of the fella, he looks lost, almost like a YTS lad on his first day at his new job (has someone sent him out for a long stand, yet?).
He's a centre, that's where it begins and ends. He doesn't look the type to be a 60+ minute second rower. Prop? No chance.. "Ball player?" We'll wait and see.

I want the fella to do very well, but from what I've seen, I ain't holding my breath

If the service, or rather distinct lack of service, our threequarters get is evidence of the amount of time they get with coaches or the coaches view of their roles, I'm not suprised he is struggling.

Given our more experienced backs look likey they've never played the game half the time I'm amazed Burrell doesn't think passing to his winger is illegal.

Get on the phone to Allan Bateman and give him four months - King & Gelling would learn plenty too.

Bateman was a polar opposite to the modern RL centre. He was a stepper, a good pair of hands, and, for his weight, a tremendous defender.

I'm not sure what he could say to the modern centre, bar 'are you sure second row isnt your position?'.....

Jared waerea-hargreaves Would be a great addition to our Squad next year, i'd definately throw a contract at him. He's won a grand final 3 times and played for New Zealand etc so might be tempted by a new challenge?
Burrell i would like to see in the Front row, he's a big unit and i think the speed of league at centre is too much for him. I'm excited to see what he does next year after a full pre-season and like Lefty said i hope he does really well for us, i've got high hopes for him

Front row and Burrell are two distinct issues for me.

Is there really a place for Burrell next season bar back up wing? I don’t think so.

I think we got to much money tied up in our ageing front row without the value.
Time to offload one of the props while there is a fee possibility, and invest in a couple of hungry youngsters.
Hill has got a nice line in toilets in his showrooms tho.

he is probably more a modern day winger, than a prop.

He’ll be more of a modern day water carrier next year, just not seeing it. I’m sure he will play a fair few games as he suits our slow sloppy and boring style of play.

i think you have to give a former RU player a full 12 months before judging him.

It was the same back in the day... all those great RU converts were rubbish for ages.

its been so long since RL took some talent from RU, we dont know what the yardstick is anymore.

I certainly wont be writing this signing off before he has had 12-18 months here.... Any experience he has got from the game this season, is just a bonus really.

And that's the problem, time. I'm not wishing to prejudge or wish for failure in an 'I told you so' manner but he's 32 before we start next season and if the consensus is that he'll need most of it before we can judge him then that's not ideal.

I get the gamble with Burrell, his profile, background in RL and the need to increase the talent pool, but, the thing that I'm not convinced about is that we train this guy get him RL ready for the business end of next season (heading towards 33) and he's going to play where?

So far on here we've had winger, centre, second row, and prop when the club signed him you'd have thought they would have had a plan At this rate we've half a chance of knowing one way or the other Feb 21 what that was and whether it has paid off.

2018 and 2019 and likely for the foreseeable future(with the exception ofor Toronto)...is/were the easiest periods I've ever known for Wire to win a GF....probably why I've be most disappointed in these 2 years than ever.
We must make sure in 2020.
No excuses.

Depends on our recruitment our style of play.and we.ll be competing with saints Wigan Leeds for it...

There hasn't been enough recruitment to balance what has gone from Wigan. Leeds will be around Wigan and Cas zone.
Wire and saints will once again tailblaze.

What do you mean Wire will trailblaze, we finished 4th and you can hardly say we were finishing strong at the end of the season...

We tailblazed and without Currie and Brown and Patton threw in.
We suffered long suspensions from Cooper Lineham and Hill and lost Ratchford and Austin that screwed it all up...not to mention low minutes from BMM.
There's no excuses this season with fit players and a pre season not to 'tailblaze' at the minimum we did in the opening half of the season.

I think having a reserve team will soon help us find out if he will make it or not. You need to play in actual matches to learn the game.

tailblaze? Could someone explain what that means.

Very little chance that Burgess would have made it as a 6 - far too technical a position for someone who had no real idea what to do at the break down. Maybe he would have learned given enough time, but that would have needed years not months.

For all that Burgess is a great RL player, that didn't translate into being a great RU player and he never gave himself the time. The best parallel between Sam's style of league player turning to union was (and is) Sonny Bill Williams, but I'm not sure that Sam could ever have developed the pace that SBW had when he first went to union.

Sounds like a cullenism, does Paul Cullen drive a taxi these days?