exile in Tiger country wrote:
Maybe I'm looking for the wrong thing, but although I agree he rarely takes a backward step(unless it looks like he might have front up to Feka for a bit of aggro) he always seems to play to "win the floor" as the popular phrase goes.
I think you must be looking for the wrong thing.
2009 metres made
No 1 James Graham 4713m
No 2 Jamie Peacock 3933m
Last year our top metre maker was Pat Richards on 3481m!
The sheer amount of work he does driving the defence backwards would make him my first choice prop for England every time.
Gareth Thomas before his first game: "You wanna spend 10 mins getting smashed up by these guys..Big dudes here.."
The two things missing from the stats on metres made is "made in how many carries?" and "how much does stopping him take out of the opposition?"
The thing about players like Graham, and the rejuvenated Fielden is that they are staying on the park a lot longer. It's great fun watching Feka's barnstorming runs, but I've never seen him on the pitch for the full 80. Fielden at Bradford always did, and is returning to that now. Graham does go off for a rest but his work rate is amazing. So in both cases they make the opposition run out of steam come the last quarter.
The nice thing now is having seriously good guys coming through the ranks and getting a crack at the first team. I did see Farrell play (at Leigh pre season) and can see him fitting well into the first team. And also Tomkins number 3.
This season really does feel good doesn't it?
