Our most dangerous attacking player IMO who can rip it up when he's in the mood and has been in really good form last few games.

I know it's been mentioned before, but with Fitz, Lauaki, Tickle, Radders, Burnett, Washy all playing for places in the back 3, is Manu worth a go in the centres? Just a thought.

I'd keep him in the back row tbh. I know it's not far away from the centres but, he's more dangerous against the slower and less agile players a little closer to the middle.

is Manu worth a go in the centres? Just a thought.'"

Just a thought, in off-season mode already

what gets on my tits regards manu is that he always takes the ball up from a standing start which means he hits the line not at great speed, i dont know if this is a hull tactic or its because our ball out wide is so slow but sometimes by the time manu has received the ball he has to shrug off at least 1 or 2 players off his back just to get his legs pumping....if we could get him quick ball and play him from a running start then he would destroy most teams with his sheer strength and offload ability.
playing him out wide does have good effect but i would like to see what he is like up the middle for abit, surely a couple of sets up in the mixer, would prove good value.....any thoughts??

No chance he demands so much attention playing that wide running role he opens up space for his centre.

I know he may have only set up 1 of Halls tries on Friday ball in hand but Halls other 2 came due to his off the ball running as Quins were going into double coverage on Manu leaving Hall with 2 massive gaps to walk through.

Put it another way then. Have we we got the most out of him this season, playing him how/where we do?

I don't think it's down to where or how we play Manu specifically, it's down to how we play as a team.
On the whole we get the ball out wide fairly slowly and our players don't run onto the ball at speed as a matter of course. Also our dummy runners etc have been pretty poor over the last few years.
As a result Manu rarely receives the ball in space, usually has two, three or four players on him and is usually stood still when he gets it.
On the occasions he hits ball running and/or has some space to work with he is damn effective.

He' s been our 7th (exagerate) prop at times this seaon

Manu is not a centre and should not be played there. Leave him where he is and just get the ball wider a lot quicker.

Hopefully we will be able to with the addition of Long, and perhaps even going forward with omeley, lauaki and potentially moa next season !

I can see exactly where you're coming from but no to him going to centre IMO. We have some serious prospects coming through at centre and Willie shouldn't be in the way of that development. Instead Willie should take his place as part of the Tongan Triangle with Sam and Hame. That is the way we will see the very best from him.

Tongan Triangle. I can just see it, Eddie and Stevo commenting on the fear it strikes into the other teams is key to our 18 match unbeaten run

I'd suggested this a while back and received a very cold response. I think he could be worth a shot there in certain games but i very much like the thought of him in the back row busting tackles out wide. I get the feeling that 1 or 2 of the players you name may play prop and at the same time 1 or 2 may miss out. Competition for places can only be a good thing, doesnt mean we need to fit them all into the same 17 i guess.

Indeed. The strength of our pack next year will be far greater than this, and Willie Manu has to play. Just thought with the options in the second row we now have it might be an interesting option to try. I think you're being a bit optimistic suggesting we will alter our selection for certain games though.

im still praying agar wont be here

Manu has been wasted this season , Agar should have played him a lot wider than he has been . His performance against Quins proved just that.

Manu needs a good S/H to put him through the gaps wide out....last time this happend was when we had Matty Head,so hopefully Long will do the biz in this score and Hall will benefit as well as Manu will attract the defenders and hall can come steaming through.

NO NO AND NO...........You just want to get Hall out of the team dont you.

I really don't. The point of this was that we have much better quality in the back 3 next year with Washy available, Fitz here and Agar talking up Lauaki as a 2nd row option, plus already have Tickle, Radford and Burnett's coming through. Manu is a must though and looks dangerous out wide. Many on here think that Briscoe will play wing next year, that leaves us with Hall and Yeaman, so on that basis I'd say we have more options in the back row than centre. Not ridiculous to suggest a wide-running 2nd rower might be worth a go in the centres.

The whole squad need a decent set of halves to play on the back of, we're half way there next season. (what happens when Long is injured, I have no idea)

I don't see the point, Manu is more effective in stints, as a centre he'd be expected to play the full 80 and i think this season has shown that he does not do as well when he is made to play the 80, just my opinion

in all fairness, widders at cas is alot slower than manu and seems to do at least a job of being a centre, manu would be far more effective imho

Manu is very much an impact player, that has been one of the biggest concerns I have had since Agar took charge, we don't seem (well, we means he obviously) able to change our game plan or persaonnel to suit the opposition.

And a good one. It would compromise the bench selection and rotation.