Lam better without Farrell?

[Mike]

THe story that AJ just posted is interesting. It seems that Lam's upturn in form has conicided with Farrells absence. I remember John M? saying that Farrell actually makes the rest of the team under perform. I didn't agree with this, but this story looks like good supporting evidence for their theory.

However, if you are willing to accept the OPTA index as being a good guide as to a players form and impact in matches (as you must if you are going to use this story as evidence for Farrells infleunce on the side), you must also accept that Andy Farrell is the best player in Super League 2002, as he has the highest average index score.

So you can have it one way - Andy Farrell is the best player in the Wigan side, but other players don't perform as well when he is present.

Or the other - the OPTA index is not a good guide of a players impact.

I'd say that the first view is the more likely, however, if you take a good player out of a team, the onus falls on the other players to raise their game to keep the side winning. We will just have to see if Lam's form continues when Farrell is back in the side and fully-fit.... to be continued.

[John M]

To be honest,i think farrells absence has been the main reason behind Lams great form.However i dont believe that Opta stats say it all.
Yes Lams opta stats have improved with his performances but this is mainly due to the trys hes scored and he is now involved in doing of everything.Ive always said that the opta stats are only good as a rough idea of what a player is and isnt doing.Just because Farrell is top of the opta stats for last year does not mean he was the best player in Super league.One big reason Farrell has such high stats is because he is involved in the play so often.Every time he touches the ball he adds to his rating,so much so that he still tops the stats frequently despite not making a great amount of tackles.
Another way you could look at it is because Lam had Farrell hindering him he was not allowed to fulfill his potential but it did not make him a worse player than he is now.He just had less chances because of Faz.Now if Faz comes back and leaves all the field kicks and the playmaking to Lam then his (Faz) stats will drop because he is not as involved in play.