I agree there’s room for improvement with GW but can you really not see how his involvement inside our left edge is causing opposing teams trouble? Lockers did the same last week at Catalan and was rightly credited for what he did. GW has set up a load of tries down that side and I certainly wouldn’t want to see him lining up against us that’s for sure, even in his current form.

I think part of my frustration is that I know he’s a far better player than his current form is showing but he isn’t changing anything in his game to improve, now you could argue that this maybe down to coaching however the George Williams of 2018 is a shadow of the player that He was 18 months ago. Maybe this constant switching of players doesn’t help his cause because he never has a settled half back partner to bond with.

Can’t argue with any of that.

Correct. Even though not at his best, he’s second in SL for try assists, with 11, only 1 behind the leader, Myler. Last season he was best by a mile, way ahead of Mcguire in second place. He’s also streets ahead in attacking kicks for us, double Sam in second. Now I know stats don’t show everything, but they do at least give a good indication.

the frustration is that he doesnt learn. a few weeks back, we were going left and he tried a pass that didnt work.
5 minutes later, same position, same pass, same result.
5 minutes after that - Sam is in the same position and tries something different - we score.
GW has lots of individual skills, but Sam is streets ahead at reading a game and bringing other players into the action.
Game sense is something which the stats dont show.

When has he really 'bonded' with any halves partner, though? Never, to any great extent, I would have said.

A pre requisite for any scrum half is that he should be able to pass the ball, some of Powell’s passing is shocking and not of the standard required for a club hoping to challenge for honours.

A case in point being the pass to Williams in the lead up to Gildarts try, only a bit of quick thinking and good handling by Williams saved the move.

He hasn’t bonded and that’s my point, but is that down to the chopping & changing or is it down to George himself.

Quote ="100% Warrior"Williams’ creativity starts at a show and go onto a sidestep and then ends at being tackled. It’s predictable garbage and it’s happening 10+ times a game. Why he’s still allowed to keep on doing it is absolutely beyond me.'" Williams is a conundrum. I don't rate him and I think he's particularly lacking game sense, case in point: he took a drive in on tackle 5 last night. However, he topped the table for assists last year and is second this year www.rugby-league.com/superleague ... ayer_stats. He's involved in everything that the left edge (our most dangerous edge) do, in the team that have scored more tries than anyone else this year. I can't make sense of it. Though, I'd be a lot more accepting of his faults if he wasn't on marquee wages.

Quote ="100% Warrior"Williams’ creativity starts at a show and go onto a sidestep and then ends at being tackled. It’s predictable garbage and it’s happening 10+ times a game. Why he’s still allowed to keep on doing it is absolutely beyond me.'" Williams is a conundrum. I don't rate him and I think he's particularly lacking game sense, case in point: he took a drive in on tackle 5 last night. However, he topped the table for assists last year and is second this year www.rugby-league.com/superleague ... ayer_stats. He's involved in everything that the left edge (our most dangerous edge) do, in the team that have scored more tries than anyone else this year. I can't make sense of it. Though, I'd be a lot more accepting of his faults if he wasn't on marquee wages.

Think Williams is a bit of a victim of his own success. He had a great 18 months or so around 2015/16 but hasn’t really developed since then. You have to consider he’s made over 100 appearances for the club now which is a massive amount for a 23 year old but he should now be a lot more consistent. His defence however is IMO one of the best in the league for a halfback.

You’re seriously too harsh on Williams here.
The lad had two options; the above and the incredibly frustrating, usually crap, kick towards Burgess’ wing. Even when it (rarely these days) results in a try I find myself rolling my eyes and almost wishing it hadn’t resulted in such, because it’s so beige to watch.

For a half back I agree his defence is fantastic, but we don’t pay him marquee rate for being a good tackler. I really hope that he proves the majority of us wrong because when he is on his game he is a joy to watch.

Not making too many excuses for Williams here as what he did was naughty. But if Golding needs a head guard that badly you’d think he’d have a back up.

I can’t go with any criticism of Williams tbh. He’s a fabulous young player but he’s playing for a coach that simply doesn’t suit his style of play. You only need to look at the negative and safety first style of play Wane wants from his scrum halves to see how unsuited Williams is to our current tactics.

If you put Williams in to the Cas side of 2017 or the Leeds side of 2014/15, you’d be left with an absolute gem of a player.

williams makes so many wrong decisions, tomkins tend to make the killer on that side, george makes the wrong pass or step when he should pass most of the time. Its as though hes not an natural half as in the last 10 years weve had better

Putting debate about his playmaking ability aside, there was simply no excuse for several awful kicks right into the bread basket of Ryan Hall. Particularly when they ended up with seven tackle sets.

Then the solution is quite easy, let’s sell Williams and replace him with metal mickey or C-3PO or alternatively we could always look at changing tactics or dare I say it..... changing the coach!!

The amount of criticism given to our players from our fans is shocking! Other clubs fans laugh at us.

Williams can be frustrating granted and hasn't been at his best form but to say he is rubbish is very harsh. Like has been said in a previous post I think he needs a 7 at the side of him who does all the organising etc so he can concentrate on his own game. He was more comfortable when Smith was 7, not saying we have to go and get Smith back but that style of 7 would be better suited for us. Sam at 7 wouldn't be the answer as the amount of freedom he has from full back allows him to inject himself into the game when he sees fit, maybe Escare could be an option if given a run and Powell reverts back to 9 in the rotation of hookers with Ganson being phased in for next season.

Your solution I feel is the problem, half backs need to gel and this season it’s been a merry go round. This is why we need to invest in a top class 7 who can organise and will allow Williams to show his natural talent and allow him a more off the cuff approach.

I think all this talk about half backs gelling (not Anthony!) is overdone these days, with split halves mostly in play. It tends to be Lockers doing the organising, no matter who is playing 6 or 7 at the time, which is partly why we so often struggle when he goes off.

As long as we have someone (ideally more than one) doing it, it doesn’t need to be a halfback, and that’s not just us - lots of teams nowadays don’t have an organiser in the halves, often the hooker or #13 take on the role.

Fair point you make there, as suggested though we definitely need another organiser on the pitch

Just a point on Sam Powell. He did have a poor game with ball in hand but defensively he was superb, and in the end that's what kept us in the game and helped us to win it. I suspect next year he will be back to #9.

And onto the kicks to Hall. Do you not think that the game plan was to take juice out of him and keep him working? The execution was poor though.

He was the same Good Friday. Brilliant at bottling Barba up on our right side but poor with his ball movement. I started thus thread but certainly not as any sort of witch hunt against Powell. I love his passion and as a 80 minute hooker he’s a good player but I just don’t think it’s working at scrum half. There’s no shame in that but I fear Waney won’t change it and hand in heart I can’t see us getting over the line in a big semi or final against one of the top teams with Powell at scrum half and without that switch up option of Escare on the bench.

I see this said quite a lot but why? His limitations as a scrum half also apply when he plays 9, i.e. his lack of pace and poor passing. You still need these skills as a hooker in the modern game.

I honestly think it comes down to what cap space he takes. In a capped sport he's an asset if he's not taking up much space. Otherwise I agree.