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Panchitta Marra wrote:

Mike wrote:We look better with Powell on instead of Micky Mac tbh. Have done for a while.

Your watching a different game to me Mike.

I must be watching the same game as Mike.

The 6 and 7 get it in the neck by many on this forum when it's as plain as a pike staff that our biggest weakness is the 9 position. But M M has the same sanctity as Sinfield had at Leeds without any real skills but brute force which doesn't equate with brains unfortunately. Contrast Brisbane 9 with what we've got and you'll see my point.


PS save the abuse. I be heard it all before

There is an old saying 'You don't know what you've got till it's gone!!'

.......time will tell!!

Don't rate MM in attack so this will be an interesting one.

I do believe Powell offers more in attack at hooker as he at least steps out, draws players etc.

I genuinley believe that our style of play would make it impossible for any hooker to do well, thats if it is down to Wane.

I would just love to see our forwards hitting lines behind the markers, our hookers stepping out and drawing players in.

I can't agree with you Whelley. A number of tries came from a line break and no full back anywhere in sight. Am I wrong or isn't the full back supposed to be the last line of defence? I am not saying he may have stopped any of the tries but he should at least be there

MM distributes the ball from the ground and rarely takes a step or runs from dummy half so the markers are not held in position. There is no disputing his defensive qualities. SP may add a dimension to attack but is never going to be the same as MM in the defensive line.
There is another option, put Smith in at hooker and the 2 young lads in the halves. I'd like to see them given an almost free rein to attack defensive lines. It might give us the fresh approach in the last 20 we need to open up defences

Well, Powell is what we have for the foreseeable future so we have to accept it. Like Logan Tomkins, one of the question-marks was over the speed and quality of his passing. However, where Logan went away and worked on it until his passing from dummy-half became quick and sharp, Powell still throws slow and loopy passes (often at the receiver's head) and seems not to be able to change. Add to that, his propensity to give away penalties when under pressure and there still looks to be some major problems there.
That slowness in passing doesn't help our ponderous passing game across the field which explains why so many of our tries come from kicks (often from Matty Smith) to the wing for either a pat-down to the centre or for the winger to use his speed to get in to open space near the try-line.
If Matty Smith has a major knee problem, following Saturday's piece of irrelevance, then heaven knows where our tries are going to come from.

If Smith is injured badly then Hampshire will be back this week or next he hasn't played for Cas yet I dont think.

Huge chance for sam powell and although i've been critical of him i thought he played well on Saturday.

What this does show as i stated on another thread is that the decision to let Logan go was short sighted. We have people who can cover Sam Powell's 1st choice position but we have no one ready to step up who's a specialist hooker.

Sam has got his chance and I hope he takes it with both hands. But I still feel it should have been him and not Logan that was let go.

sheepsteeth wrote:Huge chance for sam powell and although i've been critical of him i thought he played well on Saturday.

What this does show as i stated on another thread is that the decision to let Logan go was short sighted. We have people who can cover Sam Powell's 1st choice position but we have no one ready to step up who's a specialist hooker.

Sam has got his chance and I hope he takes it with both hands. But I still feel it should have been him and not Logan that was let go.

Got to agree with you Sheepsteeth re Logan, but that option has now gone. I hope Sam Powell steps up to the plate.

My suggestion for the situation would be to play Matty Smith (if he's fit) at hooker, with Sam Powell off the bench to give him cover, get Rocky back from Cas to play standoff with George at scrum half.

Mike wrote:We look better with Powell on instead of Micky Mac tbh. Have done for a while.

Not sure I'd go that far, but Powell was really good at the back end of last year in the Super 8s I thought, and I don't really understand why he is so disliked by so many.

Also, what you might lose in d-line intensity without MM's rushing up and hitting hard, you'll gain in sticking to tackles and not letting offloads away - as whilst MM can bounce off or miss a lot, SP doesn't miss many at all. They might make a few more metres in contact, but they won't make as many splash plays from the missed contact MM brings. Basically, Powell is not a bad defender at all, he's just a different type to McIlorum - and there aren't many like Mickey out there in his position. Clubb, Flower and Lockers will have to maintain the intensity we lose from MM.