goulding should get a chance at center before joel

[Wes]

TrueBlue thats a good shout Im a fan of Atkins too, not sure on his contract situation but a downside is he seems injury prone and Id like to give Joel the rest of this season so we can assess him in the off season and say yes ok hes shaping up nicely or thanks for filling in Joel but youll be back in 2nd row next year.

Incidently CP's usually good regarding our own youth, do we have any good centres coming through after the charnley and marsh age group. Isnt Ryan King a good prospect?

Only worry I have in the centres is Carmont is going to retire so even if we decided to give Joel or Charnley a shot it is usually beneficial to have at least 1 proven centre!

[pieaterinLeigh]

I think Goulding does offer options at centre as does Marsh but given the size (and speed) of many of the SL opposition centres Joel is probably the best option at the moment given the unexpected departure of Gleeson. Whether he stays there in the long term is a different issue.

While Joel does seem to seek contact, that's part of what a younger second rower will inevitably do and may become less frequent as he plays more as a centre. I think he may mature into a decent centre in time but really needs the input of a veteran Gene Miles type player alongside him ( or intensive outside coaching from someone who has proven himself at centre) to help expedite the process. My biggest critisism of his play currently is that he seems to always run his winger out, cutting down the space outside and has a tendancy to look for an inside drop-off too often. This makes him easier to play from an opposition point of view, as he becomes predicatable. Passing at speed over a distance of 10-15+ yards is a skill that second rowers dont need to develop but which is crucial for centres to play wingers in if they are going to be successful in 2 vs. 2 situations.

These are the 2 things I would like to see Joel improve on as he spends more time playing in the backs. Then we (and more importantly) the Wigan coaches can decide on a longer term strategy.

[pieaterinLeigh]

ooops I didnt see the Gene Miles idea further up and am not jumping on the bandwagon honest

Great idea though CP lol

[cpwigan]

Bar Goulding, Marsh and Charnley I do not see any centres in Academy. Hence, we have brought in the lad from London and now the lad from Cumbria. King is an out and out winger.

[deancartwright1990]

just thought with goulding being a natural center ..... to the thoughts of atkins would most defo take him down here, dont think we would have a chance of snapping him up.. marshy needs to grow a little for me outwards and upwards

[Nezza Faz]

I've posted about this player before & still think he's out of contract - that is Kris Welham of HKR. A big improvement in his all round game this season - scoring tries for fun & creating plenty of other chances.

Also his defence, which was his main weakness, has come on even more.

He's pacy, puts himself about, and is quite big as well for a centre. Importantly, he's still young but got enough experience at S/L to hold down a regular slot in any of the top teams.

Definitely worth keeping one-eye on him on Monday, and would imagine our people would be weighing up his performance against us.

Anyone else rate him (or not !). IMO he would definitely help our backline.

[butt monkey]

I've posted about this player before & still think he's out of contract - that is Kris Welham of HKR. A big improvement in his all round game this season - scoring tries for fun & creating plenty of other chances.

Also his defence, which was his main weakness, has come on even more.

He's pacy, puts himself about, and is quite big as well for a centre. Importantly, he's still young but got enough experience at S/L to hold down a regular slot in any of the top teams.

Definitely worth keeping one-eye on him on Monday, and would imagine our people would be weighing up his performance against us.

Anyone else rate him (or not !). IMO he would definitely help our backline.

Not sure I understand the logic of signing a player with aspects of his game that need improving, whilst others criticize our own incumbent squad players for needing exactly the same improvements and hence labelled as "not good enough"!

[StarAndy]

i agree BM

[Dobby]

Joel is not a centre for me. He seems to lack some of the body awareness or type that can translate into the skills required for a centre. Look at him trying to stoop to pick up balls from the ground for example, he is very ungainly.

I can't see him ever really getting close to a great centre. Think about the skills of that scouser Jamie Lyon. Those are what make a great centre, not second row bash.

I think you've got an easier job converting an outside back to a full on centre rather than a second row - but even that doesn't always work - look at how Pat struggled in his first year.

I'd give Goulding a run at centre, he has more potential IMO. But i guess we have millions of second rowers and we need to find something to do with them.

I totally agree. Tomkins has not impressed me in the centre one bit and basically plays the same as he did at second row when running just one position in. As a result he has messed up an awful lot of attacking chances down the right because he just doesnt have the skills of a centre. He is not much of a threat with the ball in hand and lacks the pace to go around players. He is also too easy to read because he is greedy and is not a good passer of the ball. Teams seem to have him sussed fairly easily, they just show him the outside and let him run his winger out. He is a much better second row than centre thats for sure and he should return there.

[GeoffN]

They're both very different kinds of centre, not really fair to compare them, but I think there's a place for both....and don't forget Joel has still had very few games at centre, and seems to be getting better there with every game.