I agree he would be more effective player a bit wider, and I can also understand why people might have expected more tackle busts etc. But the notion that he's not pulling his weight and it's having a detrimental effect on others is absolute rubbish.

He has the best average gain in the team apart from Shaul, and he averages more carries and metres per game than any of our forwards. In fact I beleive he's the best second row in the comp for each of these stats (I think he might be behind Dave Taylor if you class him as a second row). He doesn't do a massive amount in defence, but that's not his game, and his tackle success is actually very good (third best in the team by my reckoning behind Hadley and Watts).

He's perhaps not played the type of game we were expecting, but I'm more than happy with his contribution.

Washy's inside defence on our right was absolutely top drawer. He's been superb this year at the unnoticed stuff this year but it's slightly more subtle so you've probably missed it as a result.

I haven't missed anything, Washy does alright but I prefer the pace of Thompson and what he offers when we have a large pack that is gassed. Washbrook was missing a heck of a lot of tackles earlier in the season (I haven't looked since) and using him the way we do he is neither fish nor fowl. I'd rather we went with a proper hooker interchange the way Radford uses him.

You have your opinion I have mine, I'd have Hadley in front of him as well the way we play and I'd have Washbrook (well) in front of Pritchard currently.

Dean Hadley is an excellent player and is having a really good season. As with others not selected like noggers and Jordan Abdull he's unlucky not to play. Seems to me like we're trying to get some match fitness back into Frank.

My young son realises that Washy has been high quality in everything he's done this year and his versatility means he's an ideal bench choice. I agree with him.

Correct. Exactly how I see it. Only not made 100 metres in a game about 4 times.
We don't use him correctly though. We could do to fix that up.

Don't worry. Sneyd and Houghton was crap according to many not even 200 days ago on here lol

Minichello and Manu can handle playing the full 80. There is not point changing that if its not broken.

I think some underestimate how much Frank attracts defenders to him and therefore creates gaps in the defensive line for the next play.

Also, this was only his second game from a 4 week lay off.

They can play the full 80- but intensity inevitably drops off. We actually have too many good back rowers, meaning they're either played out of position or we make interchanges for the sake of it. if we didn't have one of pritchard or manu and had spent the money elsewhere we'd have a better team IMO(assuming the money was well spent on a 6 preferably). s it is we shoehorn ellis into playing in the middle when he's still more effective playing wide out

I agree with Staffs. He is playing Frank through the middle to up his fitness as it's harder work in there. We will see Frank out wide in the next few weeks. We need him and Ellis on the pitch together more. Think Frank can do a couple of twenty minute stints for both Mini and Manu. Frank stays on the left to spell Mini and Mini moves over to right when Frank spells Manu. Washy is better at loose man interchanging with Ellis.

I don't agree Jake, our pack depth his the reason we have done so well, there has been the odd game that Ellis, Frank and Mini etc have been injured and due to our depth we are still able to put out a strong side and win these games. Signing a top 6 would gave been great but would have meant sacrificing our pack strength and I'm not convinced we would have done as well. I also quite like Ellis in the middle as he gets us on the front foot early and does more defending, which really hurts there big men.

Some good honest posts on here for a change....personally,I haven't been wowed by frank,Fonoua or Manu but Manu as really stepped up of late and is playing well.The one who isn't doing it for me is Fonoua....teams are attacking him now as,frankly,he cant tackle a salad...williams caught him out for his try and the disallowed try.Personally I would keep Micheals and release Fonoua early,as for the lead up to Wembley,id move CT back to centre with Micheals,and put Pryce or abdull in fot now and the final and drop Fonoua.

Wow wembley bound,top of the league-if it ain't the right edge defence its big Frank or Fonua

Are people actually watching Fonua (note the spelling)? He's the first name on the teamsheet for me and is forming a winning partnership with Michaels.

Would you rather have Logan or Ben Crooks back?

Exactly makes a few errors but the opposition are terrified of him.

Yes I am watching him,Ryan Hall admitted they targeted his defence in the recent game and Wigan did as well.....he has been caught out a few times.As for Logan,what's he done that Fonua...that spelling better for you?As for 1st name.......Shaul,sneyd,Watts,Houghton,Taylor,Ellis,Mini,Manu all before Fonua

Wow. Fonua has become one of our main strike weapons. His metres after contact, offloads and winning the ground nearly 100% of the time and fast plays are a massive reason the forwards often look so good. Much akin to Tala on the other side. If you've only just started noticing manu as well then I don't really know what to say to that.

Someone on here called him a rocks and diamonds player and that is exactly what he is.
yes he does get caught out in defence and your heart is in your mouth when he receives a pass and fumbles but retrieves it, but the player going forward with the ball is so hard to stop near the line taking sometimes four of the opposition and if he can get that offload out at the same time its try time.
Wouldnt swap Fonua for anyone at the moment even given his mistakes and he is still very young with a lot more to come from him.

Jesus......sorry for having a opinion of players after watching the game for 40 yrs

That's exactly what it is, an opinion. Calm down. If we all thought the same, we'd live in Stalinist Russia. It's called debate.

If you can't take folk having counter-opinions then perhaps forums aren't your thing.

Fonua is unplayable - look at the last derby. He makes the odd mistake but setup 2 tries and was close to one more himself. Running out wide, he attracts 3 players, slips a one-hander to Michaels and the try is sealed. Josh Griffin is a very similar player and will be Yeamo's replacement. We will then have some power on both edges.

Friday was a classic game where a more creative/better half than carlos would likely have opened up the wigan defence when we had a lot of ball in their end. I think we have enough back rowers to lose one and not lose that much but the addition of a top 6 would make us much better IMO

Back to Pritchard. Thought he wasn't 100% fit but was fairly solid. As Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Mini, Manu, Ellis and Green were exceptional it made the Tank look worse than he probably was in comparism.

Gets more and more strapping on his knee every game, obviously a problem at the moment

If you attended games you'd probably get more of a feel for fonua's influence. He makes mistakes and isn't always great defensively but he is massive going forward

Spot on. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time and makes very few mistakes. I was dubious about his signing to say the least but he's been a cracking addition to the squad.

Minichello's intensity does not drop off.