We have to get some value out of Berrigan , we've had precious little so far. To me it's clear that he was a decent centre and has the brains and experience to help organise wider out, something we lack at the moment. Houghton has done well recently , especially with the extra game time and coaching from Webster. We have only one player in our backline playing in his proper position , Yeaman. The rest are makeshift. Berrigan in the centre allows Turner to go to wing and Whiting (who is never a winger and who's performances have been getting steadily poorer) to , at last , get nearer the action. I'd have Whiting at loose but at the moment I'd give him a go at Stand Off. Things happen when Whiting has the ball. It would surely be better even if 13 or 6 was deemed not to be an option for Whiting to be on the bench , offering true utility? If Berrigan performed at centre and got involved he could help give Long a bit more space by providing another option wider out. Currently shut Longy down and apart from "the Tansey link up" on the left, that's it.
Berrigan though just looks so uninterested whether he's sat on the bench , on the field , walking to the team bus....... Does he want to stay here or would he be off like off a shovel if someone offered him a deal back in Oz?

For someone who speaks a lot of sense the whole Yeaman to the backrow is baffling

Not a chance he could play there!!

Who will play back up hooker then? Houghton can't do the full 80 every week. Also I thought we wanted pace in the centres, Berrigan?

youve got him confused with another poster



what Dave speaks sense, you could write on the back of a stamp with a paint roller

Wonder what position he played as an amaetur

Sorry, but that’s a special kind of rhubarb you’ve just come out with there. If players just naturally develop as they get older without input from senior players, we’d have a much better team than we currently do. In recent years, Houghton is an exception as a player whose stepped up to SL well, we have far more who have struggled or fallen by the wayside altogether.

There’s a direct link between young players’ development and the senior players available to them to learn from. Look at the last time we brought players through to the right standard, it was Horne and Cooke. Why? Jason and Tony Smith. Likewise for Yeaman with Toa Kohe-Love and Richie Barnett. A few more examples in recent years and who they had teaching them:

Sam Tomkins – Trent Barrett
Kyle Eastmond/Matt Smith – Sean Long
James Graham – Paul Anderson/Jason Cayless/Maurie Fa’asavalu
James Roby/Scott Moore – Keiron Cunningham
Ryan Hall – Scott Donald
Shaun Briscoe – Kris Radlinski
Danny Houghton – Richard Swain/Shaun Berrigan

You can even look at Gareth Widdop learning under Billy Slater, and how about Jordan Tansey? Wasn’t until he went to Sydney Roosters that he finally started to come good on his potential IMO, and he did it at fullback. Who do they have on the books? Anthony Minichiello.

That’s why top sides have a better strike rate of turning promising youngsters into genuine first-teamers, because they have the better players passing on their knowledge.

See the pattern?

I'd bring a hooker in.

Why couldnt Yeamo play in the back row? Defensively he is sound and wouldnt need the positional elements that he needs at centre where he is week. In attack he isnt pacey but has bags of strength and a great fend, why couldnt he use that in the 2nd row?

I remember when it was tried a while back, and it wasn't that effective IMO. I know time has passed since then, but I'm not convinced he has the offloading game to be dangerous enough. We'd go from the winger not seeing enough of the ball to neither the centre or winger seeing enough of the ball.

I still dont agree that Yeamo cant pass.

Me neither - it's just that he doesn't.

It's not as bad as made out, but it is a problem. But I actually meant offloading from the tackle. Do you think he gets his hands free often enough for a backrower?

While Houghton should be given kudos for his remarkable development, Berrigan was definetly a big constributing factor to that.

Berrigan in my opinion brings a lot of shaped and organised play to our side, wereas Houghton brings a great deal of go forward. Both offer a significant contribution to the team.

I say, we should keep him. Not that we are able to get rid of him anyway - so not sure of the point of this thread.

I'd be unfair to judge him as a backrower without him playing there imo. He gets his hands free a lot when thats the brief. I remember one of his first games for FC giving a little pass out of the side of his hand to set a try up. He did it at Leeds too this year. I get the impression that it's a part of his game that he has had coached out of him to secure the ball if i'm honest though. I dont see why he hasnt got the upper arm strength to become a great offloading back rower.

Not big and strong enough. He would struggle to make yards, our backrowers are more like battering rams than angle runners and he does not have the size to constantly take the ball up to the opposing forwards. I also think he would struggle with the amount of tackle he would have to make.

He is doing well at centre so why would we want to change him? We should sign another centre and play him and Yeaman there with Whiting and Turner as cover.

Spot on.


Slightly edited.

Like you I am a big supporter of Yeamo, I personally like him at centre also...however Turner as cover ? for the last few games he has outshone Yeamo and if this continues it could be Yeamo as cover

Gleeson anyone? Just a whisper I heard, out of favour recently at Wigan.

Be very happy with him still a class centre, been linked to him the last 15 years.

Got dropped only a few weeks ago, not sure why though.

If Berrigan doesnt leave of his own accord we cannot afford to pay him off, we might as well keep him and hope he gets back to form.

Was very good in his first year, (look at his stats), but the last 2 years has been disapointting, would at least like to try him at centre and see how he goes.

Would maybe like to see him given a go at 6 this week.

Centre is not really a problem it is wingers we lack.

I think he has the upper body strength and the leg drive to make a very good go of playing in the back row. May lack a bit of size but size isnt everything according to your mrs!

I also don't think his running style suits the backrow, he tends to duck into tackles a bit too much.

Your missus does not mind about size, she just enjoys the company when you are off in Norwich

Breach of club discipline, I believe.

Longy would be happy to have his old drinking buddy around.

'kinell, may as well bring back Cooke and King and sign Hock for good measure. Would be the best centre in the city by a country mile, mind.

Don't know if you've read Longy's book, but him and Gleason once did 20 pints of Guinness in a night.