What are people's opinions on here now about his best position?? IMO he isnt intelligent enough with ball in hand to play centre, he seems to make a lot of wrong decisions and runs his winger out a hell of a lot and ends up in touch. Joel was one of our best forwards last season and id keep him in the second row, losing Gleeson though has been a massive loss and we are left with no other real option in the centre apart from Marsh.

Marsh is not an option , He is not good enough by a long way.

Joel deserves a lot of credit IMO, I highly doubt any of our other 2nd Rowers would have made the transition like he has. Him an Charnley have a good understanding, are defensively sound and we just don't have enough room for all our back-rowers. We're already in a position where they need to be rotated to fit everyone in.

Give him a full off season training and learning at Centre, plus the positional experience he is gaining week by week, and we'll have a good centre on our hands.

Second row without a doubt for me. He's big strong, crashes through people and is deceptively quick. But he seriously seems to lack the idea of how to straighten and put his wing away. Not convinced he has the best hands for centre either. Look at the way George holds the line and creates space for Pat. Now I can understand that Joel is new to centre but for me straightening a running line is surely a basic skill all players of that level should have

Im not doubting he has the potential to be a decent centre, however IMO I believe after what he showed last season he has potential to be a WORLD CLASS second row, to play him at centre would be a waste IMO.

As things stand our centres for next year are between Joel, Charnley or Marsh. Everyone else has either gone or out of contract. Second row is a position we have plenty of cover so unless we make a quality signing or 2 then he will have to stay there.

Joel has just been pushed into an unfamiliar position mid season. I don't think it's really fair to start judging him untill the middle of next year (assuming he stays there). By then he would have had a year playing there and more importantly a full pre season. He has the physical attributes to be a barnstorming centre and to be fair given that he has been thrown in the deep end isn't doing too badly at the moment.

The real area Joel is struggling in at centre imo is his quickness of foot. He doesn't get his feet moving quick enough when in tight situations and is having to rely on brute force to get through in alot of situations. He's obviously a big lad and he has the pace and intime if he can become more nimble on his feet he really could nail the position in grand style.

He's worth sticking with at centre for a good while yet with a view to him being given the number 3 shirt next season. If it doesn't look to be working out then we've always got a top class backrower anyway.

Wasted at centre for me, makes us lob sided in attack and i think hes better when hes got the chance to drift and back up the attack like when he did for Sams inside ball on the left side of the field when he was meant be right centre. If Charnleys long term future is at right centre then id give him his chance now, otherwise look in the market.

He attracts more attention than most centres due to his size and powerful running, he still has time to learn the position and we don't have a better option there IMO.

Looking at his stats from yesterday he's eaten up the metres again(as have all our back 5) which he'll continue to do in that position. He just needs to work on a couple of finer points now and he'll be top class at centre. He needs to work on his footwork and his timing of the pass and he'll be very good.

At the moment Joel is the best player to have at centre, but I'm not necessarily sure it's best for the team. He's still learning the position and it will take him a while to get used to playing there. One of the reasons the team is so much better attacking from right to left is because Joel Tomkins isn't at right second row to offer any threat. Harrison Hansen doesn't offer the attacking abilities that Tomkins has which can create space for the centre and winger. It's the same problem faced when Phil Bailey was in the side. Then there's the problem that Finch and Deacon both prefer and generally play better on the left hand side. The both attack right to left better than they do the other way.

The only other option at centre is probably Goulding. He's perhaps fallen out of favour with some Wigan fans but I think he still has something to offer. His biggest weakness is lack of size and power, but he's still got good hands and is an intelligent player. He's not had a good run in the side at centre since Noble was in charge and he's not played right centre since Madge took over. That may mean he's being primed to replace Carmont at left centre next season but either way I don't think he should be written off.

As for Marsh, it still baffles me how he hasn't been given a go on the wing. He doesn't look cut out to be a centre but he does have good ability and excellent pace that could see him become an excellent winger.

I don't know what Joel's future position will be. I think he's a bit clumsy for centre. He doesn't have Carmont's agility or guile, but then few centres in the UK do. However, I'd leave him there for the time-being. Only practise will lead to an improvement, plus he and Charnley make for a very big, strong right-side combination. It must be quite scary when they're coming at pace.

Nobby made an interesting comment on the SL Show last night, when he said that Wigan are a lot more comfortable playing right to left. This may mean that Joel and Josh are not getting as good service as George and Pat. So it may not be totally their fault that they're not doing as much damage.

He's not great at centre, but he's not bad enough to shift him around again. Even if he was that bad, who'd replace him and where would he go? Our pack is ok at the moment and none of them could really play centre. He was a strong-running, attacking second-rower who liked joining the line in the centres and scoring a few, so if anyone can make the transition it will be him. Hopefully in time he will improve.

He's perhaps been unlucky, but Charnley's not put a foot wrong since taking the Wing position.

i think tompkins is a better 2nd row

We don't have anyone by the name of Tompkins at Wigan.
Wrong board perhaps?

yes you do joel sam and logan? have you just got up?

Te he!
He's taking the "p", which is what you should do...........out of Tompkins.

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I don't know why Charnley has never had a game at centre yet, he could do very well there.

are you saying his real name is tomkins or is that a typo?

It isn't a typo.

spelling mistake?

No.
[urlhttp://www.wiganwarriors.com/Wsquadp.aspx[/url

ah ok i always thought it was tompkins