You are not wrong there, I could even argue it's racist with those Islanders and their island ways.

Dont we live on an island ???

He got a try and did really well against Pia
Got about 30 mins against Quins at home when we won 38-20 IIRC
Played in our drubbing by Leeds where he got a wee bit exposed as well

Indeed. Is this just you assuming or has something else led you to believe this?

Not how clue how you came to that conclusion.

But what I meant is that most Islanders have proved theirselves in the NRL or NZ and have earned theirselves good, full time contracts in the UK and they aren't usually at risk of being dropped. I sometimes think Hansen likes act as though he has that type of background opposed to being a locally raised lad, playing Rugby League at Folly Lane and coming through the ranks at Wigan.

[u Tries [/u
Hansen - 2 =2nd
Hock - 3 1st
Tomkins - 2 =2nd
Lockers - 0 4th

[u Try Assists [/u
Hansen - 1 =2nd
Hock - 1 =2nd
Tomkins - 1 =2nd
Lockers - 2 1st

[u Total Meters [/u
Hansen - 425 4th
Hock - 835 1st
Tomkins - 577 3rd
Lockers - 624 2nd

[u Meters per Carry [/u
Hansen - 7.20 3rd
Hock - 7.66 1st
Tomkins - 7.40 2nd
Lockers - 6.86 4th

[u Tackles [/u
Hansen - 204 2nd
Hock - 136 4th
Tomkins - 193 3rd
Lockers - 298 1st

[u Offloads/Tackle Busts [/u
Hansen - 3/7 4th
Hock - 23/33 1st
Tomkins - 8/7 3rd
Lockers - 10/12 2nd

[u Errors/Missed Tackles/Penalties [/u
Hansen - 6/13/4 2nd
Hock - 12/23/2 4th
Tomkins - 5/11/3 1st
Lockers - 9/14/10 3rd

Hock - 1+2+1+1+4+1+4 = 14 1st
Tomkins - 2+2+3+2+3+3+1 = 16 2nd
Lockers - 4+1+2+4+1+2+3 = 17 3rd
Hansen - 2+2+4+3+2+4+2 = 19 4th

Hansen dropped

...wow I am bored

A good post Alex with plenty insight there.
The stats post by Bovrick is excellent and the case for dropping him is there.
My version is far more simple, last Friday we had only one prop who bust a tackle that I saw, Feka. We had only two forwards who bust a tackle, Hock plus Feka.
This is why our pack is coming off second best, we are simply not gaining the ground by busting the opposition forwards. We do not have competition for props as we only now have four with O'C injured.
We do have competition for places is the back row so start there.
Hansen to be replaced by one of the lads mentioned, perhaps two by standing Gaz Hock down. We are going to need Gaz big time v Saints & Cats.
Our real need are two props but unless we have signings we have to go with what we've got. Our back row could do with livening up so bring in Farrell, Mossop or Flanagan.

Dont rate Hansen at all. Never have. You can shove your stats where they dont shine cos they dont show the bigger picture.

He works hard in defence yes but offers nout else.

Did I say that I came to that conclusion? I could argue it though particually as you are using words like "homies" which has a distict racial conataion to it, hence why I said I could argue...

Anyway, don't all players get to this stage where they are a good senior solid dependable player that do little wrong and may appear to be realxed in their position? I don't see why his racial background comes into his current attitude, becasue as you say he has fallen in with his "homies".

As it is, he has come through the accademy, proven himself at club and international level and is a solid clubv player who does little wrong and that may well be why he doesn't get dropped.

Err...thats EXACTLY what the stats show

To be honest I didnt look at your stats but there are posters on here who swear by them...

Thats because they are clearly god?

Fair enough, but racism doesn't come into at all. I said 'homies' as the words stems from home-boys as in friends from back home whom Feka and Leuluai are to Hansen as they are from the area where he was born, Samoa/New Zealand.

Anyway, regardless if he's 'proven himself' at international level and how 'solid' he is...For me, isn't offering anymore then a defesive display. I'd like to see more attacking outside, attacking gaps and good hands. At the moment he is just focused on getting the ball and running direct at the defence without using his feet, brain or hands. He knows how to run angles, he has proven that in past season when attacking the trylines but if he more 20 yards away from the tryline, he's pretty ineffective.

I would keep him in the team just to see him do that every week!

You make sense, he does indeed. I would drop Coley for Mossop, he is tt scared of running the ball in, he runs sideways and softly softly into the line and then leg drives.

I would agree with this also! Regardless of how well Coley is played in his last two games it still isn't good enough.

I think Hansen will be rested against Barrow anyway for the Saints game week after.

Hansen is taking the place of other players who could shine. given them a chance is all I ask, look how giving Tomkins and Ainscough as worked out for us.

I seriously don't have a dislike for Hansen, I just look for more ideas and go forward in players.

I know your post isn't completely serious, but you can't just add up the rankings at the bottom like that - some of the rankings were for positive things (e.g. metres gained) and some for negative things (e.g. errors).

If Mossop/Flanny or Farrell stepped in, played a blinder and offer more than Hansen we'll all credit it as a good move.

Lets give one of them a chance, whoever is playing better obviously should get the nod.

Give over. He was good on Friday and good against Salford. Ah well guess he'll always be used as a scapegoat but seriously he was good fielden and feka both played worse and coley's defence wasn't bad at all. I'd drop fielden before Coley at the moment.

Stop using him as a scapegoat. That's what we have Mathers for

In my opinion, Fielden is the one who is more at risk of being dropped, and I think it could be the kick up the backside that gets his season going. If Noble does drop him for Barrow, and possibly even Saints as well, it might make him realise that he has to do more than just put on the shirt each week to keep his place in the side, especially if he wants to be anywhere near the England squad at the end of the season.

Unfortunately we have more options to improve the back row than the front.

Feka-20min spells
Coley
Fielden
Prescott
O Carroll-Injured
Mossop? A SR pushed into prop. Not ideal to put in the front row against saints.

It was tongue in cheek, a bit of a crack at all of the stat whores on here. If you look at it again though, I ranked them in order of most tries, most meters etc, and least errors/penalties etc. Of course they dont show the whole picture, but they indacate certain things

Stats only show what you want them to show, tbh I would still want Hansen starting against Saints

I would too.

Its an interesting one, throwing the young lads in against Saints usually when they are expected to be out of there depth pays dividens they seem to be our better performances and the entire occasion seems to bring out the best in them, add that to the fact Hansen looks pretty lethargic all the time of late, i think i would quite like to see Mossop have a pop.

In fairness we have nothing to lose.

I do not think it will happen as it is a risk, and i am not sure Noble professionally could take that risk. While he may play well and his, Tomkins and Ainscough's enthusiasm may inspire the team it could also be costly, and lead to the lad struggling and getting exposed.

Noble can afford to lose this game and still be in a job the following day, if we are flogged i am not sure he will, which is why i have a feeling he will go with the most negative tactics he can, that may not result in victory but will not generate a bad loss.