I'd also back the Carlos was always deemed to be a left centre, he played there throughout the friendlies and with Michaels on his wing they smashed it up against the dobbins. However things change, IF JA was thought of a possible suitor for the 6 jersey then that seems to have gone out the window, and with yeaman having improved this year, Fonua getting better/recovered from his injury, Logan still in the background and now signing Griffin that points to a change of direction for CT and if he's happy to move to 6 and can prove he has what it takes then I'm fine with that. I agree that on what I've seen he's a better talent at left centre than a 6, that's not to say he can't grow into that position more and he has played there in the NRL but IF I had a choice I'd prefer him as a ball handling/elusive centre than another bash em up style which Griffin is.

Given our tight budget after signing Griffin we'd be lucky to have anything more in the cap to sign anyone other than a no-name project so I personally can't see anymore changes for next year other than cover which in all fairness should be coming from the junior squad members anyway, if it aint broke why fix it as they say.

Yep good post . Hopefully next year Logan can push for a place as the kid defo has talent

He was only meant to be left centre it's what he was originally signed for, 2017s off half target didn't come off, so we are going with Carlos.

My concern is we are now entering the business end of the season with Carlos at 6 who is work in progress and we are not as fluent as when Pryce is on his game
I really liked him at left centre for his attacking vision as he had a lot more space to work in to use his footwork,deceptive pace,good passer of the ball and always alert to Pritchards breaks and offloads.
I understand we cant sign everyone we target but its disappointing if we cant find that elusive 6 after knowing all this time a 6 is needed when other clubs seem to be able to find them.
If its now a matter of finance because we signed Griffin then surely a new half back acquisition was more of a priority than a centre.

Pryce does have the experience but not half the speed Carlos has,he is a total athlete which is what's needed in the "running 6 position" our club see enough in him to fill the 6 shirt so I believe they will get it right, the target has turned us down, & we have gone with plan B & brought in griffin, he's a good age with experience with goal kicking experience, I would rather us go with this then sign a half back like Gaskell or any other pivot that is just kicking around, the position is not the main organiser but just a running threat with an eye to spot weak defenders & know when to go or not with a little bit of a kick on him, Carlos will go just fine, we was wanting dean & Abdul in over pryce before his capture, we missed paea,westy & the pig, we have done well without them so far, I trust the club will have made the right choices yet again.

I'll bow to your expert knowledge regards Tuimavave training at centre. We have signed Griffin as centre, the owner, coach and Motu have obviously plumped for Carlos to be our stand off, what's the problem, go with it. The time to gripe, is if it goes tits up. Most fans of other clubs are waiting, or hoping for our bubble to burst, me, I'm enjoying the best ride for ten years.

Quote ="bonaire"Talking of glasses its seems by your senseless reply you have had too many already this evening I am not singling out any of our team i am referring to the impact the half backs named have on their teams when fit. Its my opinion that to take this team to the next level we need a top 6. The example is when Brough is playing for Huddersfield they are a very good side.Take out Brough like last week and they are not he same team. Put Danny Brough into our team and we go up another level'" On Carlos, he's played primarily at 6 from what I can gather. He was awarded off half of the year in the NRL U20s competition in 2011. And 2012. He captained the junior kiwis at 6. He sees himself as a 6 and prefers playing there to centre i.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/88590 ... -at-centre I'm not denying Radford saw him as a centre but maybe in training they've seen something that suggests he's worth a go here; Radford has described him as a "pivot by trade". On Brough, yes, he's important to Huddersfield as any primary halfback is. Like Sneyd is for us, in fact.

Quote ="bonaire"Talking of glasses its seems by your senseless reply you have had too many already this evening I am not singling out any of our team i am referring to the impact the half backs named have on their teams when fit. Its my opinion that to take this team to the next level we need a top 6. The example is when Brough is playing for Huddersfield they are a very good side.Take out Brough like last week and they are not he same team. Put Danny Brough into our team and we go up another level'" On Carlos, he's played primarily at 6 from what I can gather. He was awarded off half of the year in the NRL U20s competition in 2011. And 2012. He captained the junior kiwis at 6. He sees himself as a 6 and prefers playing there to centre i.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/88590 ... -at-centre I'm not denying Radford saw him as a centre but maybe in training they've seen something that suggests he's worth a go here; Radford has described him as a "pivot by trade". On Brough, yes, he's important to Huddersfield as any primary halfback is. Like Sneyd is for us, in fact.

Not necessary just check the Carlos Tuimavave interview on HFC LIve if its still available as it was the beginning of the season

Didn't we shoehorn Carlos into the centre position in the first place?
My understanding was that he was a half back primarily, but we signed him to do a job at centre.
Maybe the coaching staff have seen enough of him now to know he can make the position his own.
I was hoping for a star half back coming in, but Griffin at centre (good signing) and Carlos to stand off could be a net gain.
Still need numbers at half back for cover though.

Quote ="Irregular Hoops"Didn't we shoehorn Carlos into the centre position in the first place? My understanding was that he was a half back primarily, but we signed him to do a job at centre. Maybe the coaching staff have seen enough of him now to know he can make the position his own. I was hoping for a star half back coming in, but Griffin at centre (good signing) and Carlos to stand off could be a net gain. Still need numbers at half back for cover though.'" And yet every single article at time of his signing -HDM/SKY, including a write up by Dan Tomlinson says he'll be playing centre. The Yorkshire Post mentions LR saying he is seen as being a centre and CT says "Hopefully I can keep building as the weeks go on. I can play a few positions but I have been training mainly at centre.” www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/ru ... z4B8MPfdEs A change of mind is fine, CT played 6 at Int junior level but was obviously not deemed good enough for the NRL even at Warriors/Newcastle and ended up playing centre certainly in the games I saw him last year half a dozen games. He's 24 now and including the games for us has a total of 25 first team games under his belt (14 games in 3 years of NRL). He looked handy as I stated when we signed him, so why he was never considered more or got more games earlier in his career despite his auspicious start as a top 10 world junior we won't really know, let's hope he can do the business but I think expectation is high for someone with relatively little game experience in a very pivotal role.

Quote ="Irregular Hoops"Didn't we shoehorn Carlos into the centre position in the first place? My understanding was that he was a half back primarily, but we signed him to do a job at centre. Maybe the coaching staff have seen enough of him now to know he can make the position his own. I was hoping for a star half back coming in, but Griffin at centre (good signing) and Carlos to stand off could be a net gain. Still need numbers at half back for cover though.'" And yet every single article at time of his signing -HDM/SKY, including a write up by Dan Tomlinson says he'll be playing centre. The Yorkshire Post mentions LR saying he is seen as being a centre and CT says "Hopefully I can keep building as the weeks go on. I can play a few positions but I have been training mainly at centre.” www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/ru ... z4B8MPfdEs A change of mind is fine, CT played 6 at Int junior level but was obviously not deemed good enough for the NRL even at Warriors/Newcastle and ended up playing centre certainly in the games I saw him last year half a dozen games. He's 24 now and including the games for us has a total of 25 first team games under his belt (14 games in 3 years of NRL). He looked handy as I stated when we signed him, so why he was never considered more or got more games earlier in his career despite his auspicious start as a top 10 world junior we won't really know, let's hope he can do the business but I think expectation is high for someone with relatively little game experience in a very pivotal role.

Got to win tonight, if we lose & Catalan beat saints tomorrow which I think they will, we could slip to third place possibly fourth if Wigan beat kr by a big score & we got beat by a big score.

I don't think the weather will do us any favours, We're better on fast, hard grounds IMO

Not looking to bad now, hopefully dry come kick off

Would you not then say that its better to see how CT goes at 6 in games which are not critical to see how he beds in, knowing that when it comes to a critical game (like the Catalans cup game) you have Pryce at your disposal IF CT at 6 isnt working?

....He's actually started at 6 six times this season (+ the magic game) and we've won them all, so he can't be doing too bad.
I still think Pryce is the better option at the moment, though.

William Hill just gave us an +8 points for evens, surely that is worth a bet

No, we don't 'have' to win. On paper it's our toughest game of the season, not one you'd expect to win. Winning tonight would be a big bonus but it's not essential to finishing in the top four, espescially since we won the home match against them. It's also worth pointing out that our last four games before the split are against the current bottom four.

Our point difference is 101 better than Wigan's so it would be unlikely to see them above us later.

Totally agree. I don't see it as a must win, in fact I'm not nervous in the slightest. Excited though, as I'm hoping it's a great game between two decent teams, but if there's any pressure it's firmly on Warrington IMO.

We have a two point lead at the top, there's a huge gap separating the top 4 from 5th, there are still 12 rounds to go. It's a long way off being a game we have to win.

Of course it's a game we need to win, every game is, its a way of seeing if we can cope under pressure, this will put us four points in front of them, Radders & the team see it this way also.

Don't agree. We should be going out there to try and win every game, but saying a game is one we need to win implies that there are massive negative consequences if we don't, which I don't think is the case. I'd place the cup game vs Catalans in that bracket, Saints are in a position where they probably need to win every game in order to catch the top4.

What are the consequences if we don't win tonight? Whilst it'd be disappointing of course, not much. Still joint top, still at least 6 points in front of 5th place.

It's a great test for us, we'll really get to see what the lads are made of and there's the opportunity to extend the lead, but it's not a must win. If Radders is approaching it that way in order to test their mettle when under pressure, then fair enough, but in reality it isn't.

You go out to win every game it's what competitive sport is about, players don't put their body's on the line just to make up the numbers, I do agree with you that it's not the end of our season if we lose, & agree the cup game is of more importance because it's sink or swim, but tonight I believe if we win people will see us as the favourites to win the league, & a win will give us confidence.

To me, this is one of those games where the performance is more important than the result.
A close, hard fought defeat by warrington is not the end of the world. But if we do get steamrolled (which i dont think we will) confidence will take a hit within the camp and also on the terraces.
To me this is an ideal marker game to show what we're about, but far, far from a must win game

A win tonight would be massive for us but a tight loss won't be a disaster. A win will ramp up the pressure (and confidence to be fair) but a loss would leave us still in a great position in the league and maybe take some pressure off

It won't be a disaster pal but we are capable & I know we are going to the HJ stadium to win, you going?

Confirmed team

Shaul, Michaels, Fonua, Yeaman, Talanoa, Tuimavave, Sneyd, Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Manu, Minichiello, Ellis

Pritchard, Green, Washbrook, Bowden