cpwigan posted:
He was dropped because he signed for Northampton. Nobby picked him from the start of the season as his fullback over Withers. He played fine, still scored some tries, supported well. On the Tuesday he told Nobby he was leaving, that week he was dropped in favour of Withers. I am no lawyer BUT the falling out of favour seems linked to his signing for Northampton.
Pure speculation. He has not played as well as he did tonight all season so far IMO.
Since then he has been pushed out and treated as a scapegoat by some fans. Withers gets injured, Ashton knows he cannot be pushed out and he comes up with a great effort.
We will miss him and anybody who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves IMO. The fullbacks we would need to replace him are in the NRL and too expensive.
I think there might be something in what you say about him feeling secure in the FB spot now Withers is injured but if we are right in this it shows IMO he could not handle the competition for his place which is perhaps not surprising for such a young player. He seemed to be trying too hard and as to him being dropped after signing for N'Saints and for that reason then if so that wasn't a bad idea by Nobby given the publicity and I doubt it was down to spite. It could have also been down to form because Ashtons was not up to his standard of last season until tonight. And yes I think we will miss him next season unless we get a pacey replacement.
I think Chris is an impetuous and immature young man. So yes he would be affected by being dropped and feeling left out. He is outwardly confident BUT how deep that confidence goes mmmmm...
One thing I am convinced about is that fullbacks are now a key attacker. If you look at the NRL, all the best teams have fullbacks who are great attackers first and defenders second. Your Bowens, Slaters, Whessers, Carmichael Hunts, Stewarts are more like Ashton than the fullback we often see in Britain.
cpwigan posted:
I think Chris is an impetuous and immature young man. So yes he would be affected by being dropped and feeling left out. He is outwardly confident BUT how deep that confidence goes mmmmm...
One thing I am convinced about is that fullbacks are now a key attacker. If you look at the NRL, all the best teams have fullbacks who are great attackers first and defenders second. Your Bowens, Slaters, Whessers, Carmichael Hunts, Stewarts are more like Ashton than the fullback we often see in Britain.
Ashton is not in the same league as any of those full backs mentioned and if Ashton left and was replaced by one of those I would be over the moon. For a start they all have great positional play and nearly always catch a kick on the full, it is like the ball is drawn to them. Ashton is lucky if he is within 20 yards of most kicks and thus oppostion kicks nearly always get far more yards than they should. Also they may be defenders second according to you but they are all much better defenders than Ashton. You can be a good attcker yet still good in all the other key full back areas and Ashton is far from this.
cpwigan posted:
I think Chris is an impetuous and immature young man. So yes he would be affected by being dropped and feeling left out. He is outwardly confident BUT how deep that confidence goes mmmmm...
One thing I am convinced about is that fullbacks are now a key attacker. If you look at the NRL, all the best teams have fullbacks who are great attackers first and defenders second. Your Bowens, Slaters, Whessers, Carmichael Hunts, Stewarts are more like Ashton than the fullback we often see in Britain.
Ashton is not in the same league as any of those full backs mentioned and if Ashton left and was replaced by one of those I would be over the moon. For a start they all have great positional play and nearly always catch a kick on the full, it is like the ball is drawn to them. Ashton is lucky if he is within 20 yards of most kicks and thus oppostion kicks nearly always get far more yards than they should. Also they may be defenders second according to you but they are all much better defenders than Ashton. You can be a good attcker yet still good in all the other key full back areas and Ashton is far from this.
Maybe so, but he's streets ahead of Withers, who wouldn't have had the pace to set up or score any of last night's tries, and he made no mistakes in defence.
King I named those players because yes they are better BUT in terms of Britain who is better than those or Ashton? They are pure attackers too. Bowen and Whesser have both had mares in defence.
BTW - Ashton is maligned unfairly IMO re defence. Last night his positioning for the grubber kicks was perfect, One thing re long kicks downfield. Most SL teams are poor at catching kicks because the fullback and wingers do not work as well as they should as a team. If it is the last tackle and the opposition or down the right wing. The left winger should come almost halfway to a 1/3rd infield. The 3 outside backs function as a team.
cpwigan posted:
King I named those players because yes they are better BUT in terms of Britain who is better than those or Ashton? They are pure attackers too. Bowen and Whesser have both had mares in defence.
Do you mean British players like Platt/Briscoe/Mathers or players actually playing in Britain like Webb?
Hes better than all of those on my opinion (apart from Webb). At that agae none of them are were as good.
People forget he is 20. Rqads at 20 wasnt a wrold beater but became 1. A lot of people on here think he is the finished article and that he isnt good enough. He will get better and Withyers is only going to get worse due to age...I know who I would prefer.
He will be impossible to replace as any class full back will not come for peanuts!
pedro posted:
Hes better than all of those on my opinion (apart from Webb)
No he is not. He is fast and thats it. The others have a much better all round game. In fact I wouldnt even say that he is amongst the best 6 full backs in Super League.
At that agae none of them are were as good.
That is irrelevant to how good he is now though. Potential is a completely different thing.
People forget he is 20. Rqads at 20 wasnt a wrold beater but became 1. A lot of people on here think he is the finished article and that he isnt good enough. He will get better and Withyers is only going to get worse due to age...I know who I would prefer.
He will be impossible to replace as any class full back will not come for peanuts!
Again this is irrelevant as he will not be here to fulfill his potential as he has chosen to leave
People forget he is 20. Rqads at 20 wasnt a wrold beater but became 1. A lot of people on here think he is the finished article and that he isnt good enough. He will get better and Withyers is only going to get worse due to age...I know who I would prefer.
I would also like to say, that Radlinski started at centre for Wigan (in the first team), then moved into the full-back position.
The difference in pressure as far as experience is concerned, in the first team, was different for Radlinski too (never mind the better players he had around him to guide/help and cover his mistakes). Ashton, for his age, could be so much better, but we at Wigan will probably never find out.
