Just not sure either are ready for the first team, Lyne looks the better player but is still too young to be playing every week IMO.

Lyne also played most of his junior career as a centre.

Not sure what the options are, the Raynor thing didnt help.

Need to look for winger for next year, I have changed my mind about Calderwood, he must be kept IMO for a year due to the lack of backs at the club.

True about Raynor, it makes you wonder what type of pay off he and king got and if we could bring in a targeted player now.
With regards to Tuffour he's 20 now and should be ready for a first team apperence but as was said Agars playing it safe.
Calderwoods a must resigning for me even if we do sign a new winger we still need 3 in the squad ready for first team duties.
It will be interesting to see who resigns in the coming months.

I think for this season i would stick with what we have, unless we get a few injuries. If we where playing Quins or Salford at home I would be tempted to give Tuffour or Lyne a game on the wing, keep Briscoe there for the moment, I think everyone knows that his big weakness is dealing with hight kicks, I know that he has been practising them this season, hopfully it will contiune to improve. I would be tempted to put Whiting as his centre partner, so he can help out or even swap them when we are defending in our half, so whiting can deal with the kicks.

I have heard that the club where interested in a winger for next year, think Aaron Murphy has been mentioned, but havent really seen him play, Richard Owen is OOC but is more of a FB, but has played on the wing a few times.

I certainly wouldnt use a quota spot on a winger, just feel that it is a Waste, unless it is a Vainkolo type winger.

I like Hall a lot, but Whiting deserves a shot. Lets not forget a couple of weeks ago, man of the match, (ok at fullback) but then dropped to the bench.

I hope that this is simply Hall being replaced by Calderwood. I think it probably is and we will see Hall back at centre sooner rather than later.

A harsh assessment -
1. that pass was rocketed behind him, hardly bombed. Who passed it? I don't think it's just Hall's defence that needs work.... but having said that, these are things that he can improve on.
2. Whiting scored a try against Wigan so his pace, whilst not the best, does not stop him being in the right place right time ([ia la[/i point number 1).
3. His defence is much better than Hall's - no debate. It's hard to judge his defence over the past couple of years becasue of injuries and the number of positions he has played. However this year, comparing him against arguably the best specialist, Keith Senior - Tackles Whiting 97, Senior 98; missed tackles 6:3. He doesn't seem to be doing so bad (obviously for some of those stats he was not at centre)

Hall did not even need to pass to Whiting for that try so both could be blamed. Whiting also supported the break from Horne and has enough to finish off the move for a try.

He had a poor game against the Crusaders but so did many others. For me they are equal this season in terms of performance, well Whiting is slightly ahead overall as he got motm in one game. Hall scored a blinder against Quins but has not done much else.

I prefer Hall in the centres but this season Whiting has had the better season so far.

In a nutshell I think you are spot on. Hall would be my preferred centre but Whiting's performances justify his selection.

What makes people think Briscoe is going to make a good centre? I've seen no real passing ability and his footwork isn't that great either.

aaron murphy would be a poor signing really not a bad young player but thers alot better players and would see us going backwards in regards recruitment. on the other hand owen would be a great signing but i know he likes to play full back instead of wing so dont think thats an option. to be honest there isnt many good english wingers now anyway so giving calderwood another 1 year deal may be the best option at the moment. id be tempted to give tuffour a game against salford to see what hes like at this level becasue at the end of the day he needs that oppitunity at super level or we"ll never know what hes like.

A tricky assessment to make when Hall has hardly played in his specialist position.

ATEOTD he's contracted until 2013, so he's always going to be given more opportunity by the club than other players who are OOC at the end of this season, 5 years was too long a deal, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Even to the detriment of the team?
I'm not sledging the kid, just don't think he's going to be the brilliant creative centre we need. People are lebelling other members of our squad as 1 trick plodders, apart from kick returns due to his impressive leg power what has Tom got?

I think some of it is just based on the assumption that a player of his age and size will automatically move to centre with good effect.

he doesn't need to be a creative centre, whatever that means, he's got the pace and the power he just needs to improve his foot work and learn how to put his winger away. Considering his age i don't think that will be a problem.

Remind me what arguement you favoured when Whiting was dropped to the bench and Hall played centre?

Would of liked to see Hall at centre as I think hes going to be a top centre one day, but I think its important we just get back winning ways on Friday so Whiting is the safer option. Hopefully though, when the grounds firm up, then Hall will get more games.

For me I wouldn't have Tom Briscoe in the centres for a couple of years yet, would be happier with Hall and Yeaman.

Hopefully Moa will be in for Cusack too.

Also, why isn't Yeaman being questioned, he's played well this season but it always seems to be Whiting or Hall.
Hall's a left centre IMO.

You've answered your own question there.

My argument was that Tansey rightly came back into the full back role because he is our best full back. Not sure of your point BDT do you think Calderwood should NOT come straight back in or do you think Agar should have left Whiting out of the squad?

I meant in the broader scheme of things

My arguement at the time was that Whiting shouldn't have been dropped out of the 13 for Tansey and if anything Whiting should have been moved to centre at the expense of Hall. You're arguement back was that it was more beneficial to have Whiting on the bench as utility to cover Berro's spells.

Dont get all this drop Briscoe nonsense

Hmmm. I thought Whiting was more beneficial because of the poor form Houghton was showing and we had Hall playing well in his natural centre position. Did Hall deserve replacing from the centre after the Quins game? I dont think he did. My main point was that Tansey should have come back in simply because he is our best number 1 and was in good form before he served his suspension.

The current predicament is simple. Calderwood is back on the right wing and Whiting and Hall are vying for the right centre berth (both are right centres!) so I guess it is a case of who deserves the shirt this week and will they play well enough to keep it.

Fair enough, Hall deserves the shirt but has been used as the scapegoat again imo.

For me both Hall & Whiting are good players and both have different attributes to their respective games, for me I prefer Whiting as I think he is a much more solid and alround player but Hall is a very good attacking player and to be fair his defence has improved.

ATEOTD the fact is that 2 does not go into one and inevitably one of them is going to miss out at some stage not through anything other than its a team game and we can only use 17.