w.thomas wrote:I'd always want props to be big and strong and bust tackles and attract players it creates space. Hate that dropping down to their knees soon as a fingers laid on its just crap! True Hamlin doesn't look the biggest but apparently he's 96kg certainly doesn't look it. Like people's said though that's hardly heavy and we are looking even more lightweight for next season. Add in the missing mtrs gelling use to make and it's not looking good on the meter making front. We've never really replaced big lads like mossop or Taylor who were both 110kg+ in my opinion.
I agree
Scott Taylor is 118kg according to wiki
Warmsley - 115kg
Hill - 107
Joe Burgess - 98kg
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure
I know pics can be deceiving but if FPN does leave we are going to look a very small team
FPn was with the squad the other day on granada tv I think
Willie Isa put a live video on Instagram from the players training camp in Wales earlier and Nuuausala just seems like a total plank. He came out with some dross it’s pointless repeating about a certain body part of his which Isa could film, all whilst being the only player lied down on his backside like he was tucked up on his sofa.
The blokes on his holidays. He was all last year and I see no reason why that will change this season.
Wiki has Milner down as 6ft 1 and 91kg so ~3 inches taller than gabe and a few kilos lighter.
I admit size isn’t everything and there are plenty of players who have done well will smaller frames - but even those with smaller frames seem to be as big or bigger than this guy.
Cas play Milner to accolade both him and mcshane being on the field when they need an extra set of attacking hands.
Wane seems insistant on bringing in “props” in the mould of himself the smaller players playing above their weight but maybe this is why we end up with so many injuries?
I’m not trying to get at gabe i was taken back though by how big he is or isn’t in this case
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure
Wintergreen wrote:The problem with a small player, especially a prop, is the wear and tear on the body.
Time and time again you can see this. A current worry is John Bateman (I really hope I am wrong on this one).
A better example would be the year we got steamrolled by a huge Bradford team in the Grand Final a few (!!) years back.
Yes you can compete, for a while at least, but the stress on the body is much greater as size decreases.
You are spot on, I have the same worries about Bateman.Eventually players like JB show the wear and tear and smaller successful forwards in todays game are few and far between
cherry.pie wrote:It was mentioned that he plays prop but he's been loose forward for the Rabbitohs juniors for the majority of the time. Some clubs haven't conflated the prop and lock roles completely and have their 13 play a different way than their other 'middles'.
I'd imagine Hamlin's style will be something in between Flower and Isa. Hitting the ball with pace, using late footwork and being able to hit the ground on your front are pretty useful traits and from the few clips I've seen that's the way he plays the game in attack. That's how Flower plays and in my opinion he's one of the most underrated props in the competition and probably makes every opponents tip sheets when fit.
Adam Milner played 13 for Cas this year and he's smaller than Hamlin, so just because he's a little on the small side doesn't mean he can't be effective. I do agree that if he was used as most prop forwards are at other teams he'd be less effective but alongside the right sort of players he could be very useful.
Our pack is smaller than most on average but if you look at some of our props they aren't exactly small. Tautai, FPN and Flower are around the 110kg mark - similar to the likes of Watts, Sene-Lefao, Millington, Singleton etc.
There are good props like Cuthbertson and Amor who are around 105kg's which puts them at the same size as Clubb and Tomkins.
Size isn't the reason why our props don't play well. Most have performed well at times but just haven't done so consistently. Clubb finished the season in very good form, Tautai was outstanding at the start of the year, Sutton has had some cracking games and was considered one of the top prospects in Super League. Even FPN had some good moments at the end of last year only for him to fail to produce this year.
I'd agree that we're probably lacking a big, powerful front row forward to offer something different but more consistency from our pack would also make a huge difference.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Hamlin can do. He's not going to play like Taylor or Walmsley but not every forward is like that and there's room for lots of different styles. I just hope that our props that do have a bit more size actually start to play to their best otherwise it's going to be harder to get what we want from Hamlin.
