What can we expect from him next year?

Will he allow a more entertaining / exciting style of play to what we saw last season?

I dont know a whole lot about him but i think thats what we should hope for

Dont think he will get a start if im honest. I think he will just take Harry Smiths place on the bench

I’m expecting him to start in the halves alongside Hastings.

I think he will add strike on the edges whilst Hastings directs the play.

He has pace to burn but I don’t see him as a big organiser. He should provide a good foil for Hastings and pose a real running threat that we didn’t have before.

I have to admit I'm a little worried with the hype over Field. Listening to some posters we've signed the next JT and as such we're moving half of our best players, a club legend and sending a top prospect out on loan to accommodate him.

Let's be realistic, the kids has 30 NRL games that are spread over 3 or 4 seasons. He's a rookie and as such let's not pile loads of pressure on him, or shoot ourselves in the foot, by letting him walk into a starting spot.

Looking at the small number of video clips available, he's got potential. If he comes over, earns a spot and settles in by the end of the year I'd be calling it a success.

You mean exactly like Bevan did last season ???

I've not seen many comments along these lines. What does worry me is despite Field being given no.6, him playing all his RL as a 6 and occasional 1, some posters wanting him to be played on the wing. Madness.

I don't know, I saw someone the other day saying he's superior to French in footwork, hands and pace (he might be btw), who realistically knows it tho?

I've definitely suggested him covering on the wing. I'll happily stand by that suggestion
too, especially if that means not moving our POTY for a rookie. I don't want to see him start there, but if there's a need & it's a shootout between him and French then I'm all for Field on the wing. That might change as the season progresses and he proves himself, but I can't see how anyone, at this stage, would consider moving French.

The way I'm approaching this is this. What would the team be in we played Saints tomorrow? For me it would be the same team as the GF, but with Bateman in.

I’m really looking forward to seeing him in action. He’s got real pace from what I’ve seen and in super league speed kills. To have a real running threat from stand off is a nice luxury to have.

I don’t think anyone is expecting him to be the next Henry Paul but there’s no need to be pessimistic about a player coming in with loads of pace and some skill.

You've got me wrong on this one. It's not about being pessimistic, it's more just being realistic. I'm just as excited as everyone else about his potential, I just see this season as being a transition period for our HBs. We need to start with Tommy & Hastings and see where it goes.

I’ve not called for that and I don’t think it will happen but I wouldn’t call it madness. The game is littered with examples of players moving positions and being successful. I never buy in to some people opinions that players cannot move positions and be given a shot in another role. The thought of Hastings playing at hooker would’ve been laughed out of town by some. I know he had a minimal history there but still. Look at Richie Myler at Leeds, he’s saved his Leeds career and some by moving to fullback at 30 years of age. That’s a move maybe people would’ve called when he was lightning quick but not now.

I personally think a few players could be jigged around at times next season. Lam has shown he has no problem with that and I wouldn’t be surprised to see French get time on the wing, Field to maybe get time on the wing, Hastings to get more playing time at hooker and maybe even Sam Powell at loose forward. There will have to be some positional shifts (either from the off or in mid game) to fit players in. If Field can add another position to his CV, then it only strengthens his chances of playing time.

I was one to be honest. Maybe just my lack of knowledge of him, I was purely thinking he's a fast full back, so could maybe cover the wing in the short term better than Bibby. We have seen loads of other full backs do this, particularly early in their careers, and our options are a bit limited until Marshall returns. I am literally just judging him from a highlights video and a couple of NRL games though. There was one poster who expected him to be better than French which I thought was a massive leap.

I disagree. We need to start our best pair, whichever combination of the four halves that is, that's what we start with. Not shoehorn a player into the starting 13 because he's a club legend.

I picked Tommy for because imo, he's our best starting 7. That may change over the course of the year, but if I was picking a team to play tomorrow then it's Tommy all day every day.

A fullback role is similar to a halfback now though. Wing is completely different.

I don't remember anyone suggesting Williams to wing because he was fast. Or Sam for that matter.

Anyway opinions are like s as they say.

Completely agree. I think some got excited with his apparent speed. No pressure on him from me but I think it’s a bit strange to sign him if Hastings/French didn’t leave given Harry Smith is ready for a prolonged place in the starting team.

I agree it’s not an obvious call on the face of it but we know that little about him, he could be a terrible stand off and be a success on the wing. I’m just saying it’s not madness to consider it. The lad is clearly a flier, far quicker than Williams is and even quicker than Sam was by the looks of it. We knew their strengths and weaknesses inside out, we knew they probably wouldn’t be ideal to cover the wing and were far too important in other positions. We know nowt about this lad and we know we have plenty of halfback options. I just wouldn’t rule it out, simply in the basis that we don’t know much about him other than the fact he’s absolutely rapid.

One of the best coaches in the game moved a half to the wing. If it's good enough for Wayne Bennett

To be fair, Jason Robinson was a scrum half too. Although that doesn't help my argument.

It all seems a bit reminiscent of the signing of Bevan French himself, when the comment was often made, do we need him? Have we signed him without having a position for him? And in the end, to widespread scepticism from fans, myself included, our England full-back was shifted to make room for him. But that worked out pretty well (and plenty of credit is due to Zak there, but that's by the by). Can we likewise find a good solution for Jai Field? We'll soon find out.

I watch all the NRL games and have done so for some years now, so I reckon I've seen Jai Field's entire career thus far.



As I've remarked before, despite being the 'next big thing' at both the Dragons and Eels, he never was a first team regular, and truth to tell, French had a much more substantial career in the NRL than Field has ever managed. Wiki has their weights as abut identical. I don't know about that, but I will say that Field has always looked 'delicate' on the field to me. Like one heavy tackle would break him in half. A feeling I wouldn't have with French, or even, say, Liam Marshall. I would certainly characterise him as a running half. He is quick, there's no dispute about that.

I wish him well, but I hope his signing doesn't mean we end up losing Harry Smith.

That would 100% have happened under Uncle MO, but not under IL.

How many of our youngsters have left and gone on to bigger and better things under his watch?

Spot on.

Bigger and better? I'd say Long, Gilmour and Paul Johnson & I'm not 100% sure if all of those left when Mo was in charge. Maybe Hargreaves too.

There's loads of others who've had good careers, but I wouldn't say going to the likes of Hudds or Hull is going onto bigger things. I'd rather play for a 6th place Wigan than Huddersfield.

You could probably say Robinson and Brown slipped the net, but for different reasons and I’m not sure we were worse off for not managing to keep hold of them.

Exactly. You could probably add Briscoe into the conversation, especially when you look at our FBs between Rads and Sam. That doesn't mean they went on to bigger and better things tho.