Quote ="NickyKiss"If Gelling is back it'll be him and Bateman through to the end of the year I'd have thought. All Bateman has missing from his game as a centre is the ability to slip quick ball to his winger in tight situations. He's very good when he's got a bit of time and he's scoring try's himself without any issues. He's obviously not a speedster but he's quick enough and his strength is causing teams plenty of problems.
The best thing about Bateman playing in the centre is the fact that he's getting 80 mins every week. He's been our best player this year IMO and you want your best player on the field.'"
I don't think centre is Bateman's best position but playing him there is solving one of the problems we had last year when Joel came back, in that all 3 of Faz, Joel and Bateman are playing 80 mins. At the back end of last season, Bateman was very underused, only getting 30 mins or so coming off the bench.
As you say, he's doing an excellent job there and is just lacking the quick hands to get his winger away. I do think it would be easier for him if he was played on the left, as it would be more natural for him to pass that way. Plus Gelling had settled on the right and doesn't look as comfortable on the left, particularly in defence. I'm not really sure what the thinking is behind swapping them tbh.
