nathan_rugby wrote:
Maybe but its a salary capped sport so that must have played a factor + Greenwood may see his opportunities dwindling with Farrell, Isa, Bateman likely to make up the most minutes in the 11, 12, 13 slots.
Would have prepared the following to depart first though to free up space:
Hankinson, Navarette, Jake Shorrocks, Mitch Clarke.
God knows why anyone would put Isa in before Greenwood.
Caboosegg wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:05 am
One that could potentially bite us in the backside.
Maybe but its a salary capped sport so that must have played a factor + Greenwood may see his opportunities dwindling with Farrell, Isa, Bateman likely to make up the most minutes in the 11, 12, 13 slots.
Would have prepared the following to depart first though to free up space:
Hankinson, Navarette, Jake Shorrocks, Mitch Clarke.
God knows why anyone would put Isa in before Greenwood.
I agree but there are 3 versions of Greenwood, Injured, off colour and really good - the issue is he spends a lot more time injured or off colour than he does in form
ISA is not as good as Greenwood on form but hes consistent and rarely injured and is more useful to the squad over a season
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure
nathan_rugby wrote:
Maybe but its a salary capped sport so that must have played a factor + Greenwood may see his opportunities dwindling with Farrell, Isa, Bateman likely to make up the most minutes in the 11, 12, 13 slots.
Would have prepared the following to depart first though to free up space:
Hankinson, Navarette, Jake Shorrocks, Mitch Clarke.
God knows why anyone would put Isa in before Greenwood.
He's more consistent and better in defence?
What he does in defence is to tackle hard and well but he is frequently caught out of position when retreating in defence. It's one of the reasons why we need Bateman to reinforce that right side. Also, if Bateman is to play second-row and not be fiddled around in the centre as he was under Wane when we were short in that area, will Isa play at all? I would have thought that Greenwood offers more in attack - Isa doesn't have the speed to break defences but it's another case of settling for the average player, rather than keeping a more talented one. Bibby over Davies and Burgess comes to mind.
Although i think that the decision to let Greenwood go may bite us in the backside, the criticism of Isa is bullpoop.
Isa has been a solid part of the team for years now and is constantly picked, the right side defence looks alot weaker when hes not in the line up and although he doesn't cross many times himself he is part of the right side attack which has done okay this year.
These are two reasons not to trust people.
1. We don't know them.
2. We do know them.
Caboosegg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 10:12 am
Although i think that the decision to let Greenwood go may bite us in the backside, the criticism of Isa is bullpoop.
Isa has been a solid part of the team for years now and is constantly picked, the right side defence looks alot weaker when hes not in the line up and although he doesn't cross many times himself he is part of the right side attack which has done okay this year.
I hope we see him playing 13 (extra second row but middle of the field) next year, of course when Partington isn't. I want the club to keep Farrell and Bateman as second rowers as this is where they are most effective. Outwide running the angles/lines away from the props in the middle.
This always seemed likely when Bateman was announced as returning. The salary cap forces these decisions on clubs. I know lots of people would rather see us get rid of Burgess, Clark, Navarrete etc before seeing Greenwood depart but there are obviously other factors at play.
Greenwood certainly offers something different for us. He's a big body outside who has a decent offload. Unfortunately though he's not better than Farrell or Bateman. They will be 11 and 12 based on their recent performances and likely salary cap value. That's obviously going to mean another high earning back rower isn't a necessity.
That puts Isa and Greenwood in a similar position. Each has pros and cons. Greenwood is a player who can create and cause problems, provide offloads, and is a big body out wide that we don't usually have. He's also unfortunately missed lots of games through injury, struggled for form at times and not quite reached expectations. He also doesn't defend with a high intensity or line speed, which is an important part of our game. Greenwood also seems limited positionally. Every coach has seemed reluctant to play him on the right side of the field, and he doesn't look capable of playing down the middle either. He seems to be a left sided back row only, and that position is Farrell's to lose. To play Greenwood always seems to come with the down side of having to switch Farrell to 13, and in turn that impacts on players like Partington, Havard, Smithies and Shorrocks who will be fighting for that 13 role.
Isa, while not being the most talented player, basically played himself into a guaranteed starting position through consistent performances, rarely gets injured, plays with intensity, can cover either side of the back row, down the middle and at centre, and has improved his passing and offloading since he came into the side. Isa isn't a gamebreaker. He's not going to carry 3 or 4 players with him in a carry and slip an offload. He's got limitations. However, his versatility, consistency and intensity probably make him a better choice to keep hold of. He's also probably on a smaller contract than Greenwood, so we'd free up more money by letting Greenwood depart.
It's also easier to get rid of Greenwood than other players because he's still a decent player. If a club is looking to offload Greenwood, Clark, Hankinson etc, it's Greenwood who is going to interest other clubs. I'm pretty sure Clark and Hankinson will be offloaded to other teams at some point.
Prop is still the position where we seem to be a bit weak. If we're cutting costs then sadly it had to be Greenwood with Faz, Bateman and Isa on board and a whole host of players who can play 13. Plus Smithies, Shorrocks, McDonnell and Pearce-Paul back up for 2nd row too.
I've no doubt he'll be a really good signing for Huddersfield. He could cause us havoc when we play against him. We can't just keep hold of every good player though. Even if we end up in a scenario where our back rowers get injured or struggle for form and Greenwood rips it up for Huddersfield I don't think you could say the decision would have come back to bite us. We'd have had to sacrifice another player in another position to keep him and there aren't many positions we have the depth to allow someone to leave.
I hope we see him playing 13 (extra second row but middle of the field) next year, of course when Partington isn't. I want the club to keep Farrell and Bateman as second rowers as this is where they are most effective. Outwide running the angles/lines away from the props in the middle.
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+1 Bateman needs to be playing in the 2nd row on the edges.
Caboosegg wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:05 am
One that could potentially bite us in the backside.
Maybe but its a salary capped sport so that must have played a factor + Greenwood may see his opportunities dwindling with Farrell, Isa, Bateman likely to make up the most minutes in the 11, 12, 13 slots.
Would have prepared the following to depart first though to free up space:
Hankinson, Navarette, Jake Shorrocks, Mitch Clarke.
Jake Shorrocks’ contract has expired and he has not been offered a new one.
I am sorry to see Greenwood go he added a big body to a small pack and could offload in the tackle, we seem not to give players time to settle in as seems to be a regular occurrence with players we sign .
