Wigan squad for Salford

[Exiled Wiganer]

Why are some fans calling for a dummy half who runs? It's the most one dimensional form of rugby.
The best hooker I've ever seen is Cameron Smith and he very rarely ran from dummy half but his ability to find the right pass at the right time and his kicking game from dummy half put him a class above the rest.

There are 2 main reasons. If you never run, the defence can spread out and cut off more important playmakers, and there are lots of times when running is the best option - against Cas there were a number of occasions where the markers were pretty much non existent, and he just passed rather than playing what was in front of him. I hope he does become better because we are stuck with him for many years to come regardless of what he does.

[nathan_rugby]

No mention of Sam Powell on here suggests he must have had a decent game!

Radio Manchester commentators picked him out a number of times, and he got a mention in despatches from Matty Peet.

Now wait for the response . . .

Sam had a very good game as did a number of others. Powell, Byrne and Bateman probably had their best game of the season. I think Byrne would be better advised to lower his body, he is to upright, when going into contact. That’s not a criticism by the way but just my view on how he can improve. On thing we are still lacking is vision from our half backs and that is not something you can coach. They are both honest grafters but we may need more to win the big prizes. Brodie Croft has it in spades and I would certainly be looking to see if we can snare him next season.

It is a criticism of Byrne and one that is correct. The angles that you run and angles of your body into collisions or inbetween players is very important.

[nathan_rugby]

His raids from dummy half coupled with his workrate show how effective he could and should be. Reminiscent of 2020. I'm not sure why he doesn't do it more often. It's clearly in his armoury. I hope that's just a taste of things to come from him this season. Alongside Bateman, the best player on the field yesterday.

Reminiscent of 2020, He's only been in the first team since 2012 and the best we can come up with is 2020, says it all really doesn't it

I guess it does Meds. Not sure why when he's clearly capable of it. He was very good last night but it comes on the back of a couple of games where he's been anonymous, at least as far as any attacking play goes. We need more like last night from him.

Being capable of running from dummy half and being effective / good are too different things.

I’m capable of running a marathon, it doesn’t mean I’ll get a good time.

[moto748]

Why are some fans calling for a dummy half who runs? It's the most one dimensional form of rugby.
The best hooker I've ever seen is Cameron Smith and he very rarely ran from dummy half but his ability to find the right pass at the right time and his kicking game from dummy half put him a class above the rest.

That's a tad unfair, no straw. Cam Smith was a one-off, we won't see his like again. Yes, he didn't run often, but if you asked who was the second-best dummy-half after Smith, you'd probably get plenty of runners, yer man at the Bunnies, for example. In fact, I'd probably go further, and argue that the game has changed even since Cam Smith's time; six again, etc. Never been a better time for running dummy-halves.

[Flash]

Why are some fans calling for a dummy half who runs? It's the most one dimensional form of rugby.
The best hooker I've ever seen is Cameron Smith and he very rarely ran from dummy half but his ability to find the right pass at the right time and his kicking game from dummy half put him a class above the rest.

That's a tad unfair, no straw. Cam Smith was a one-off, we won't see his like again. Yes, he didn't run often, but if you asked who was the second-best dummy-half after Smith, you'd probably get plenty of runners, yer man at the Bunnies, for example. In fact, I'd probably go further, and argue that the game has changed even since Cam Smith's time; six again, etc. Never been a better time for running dummy-halves.

And Powell doesn't do the things Cam Smith could do so it's irrelevant anyway. Powell needs to run. It adds a lot to his game when he does.

[blindsideprop]

Well i have heard it all now,using Cam Smith as a comparison to Powell.

[EagleEyePie]

Why are some fans calling for a dummy half who runs? It's the most one dimensional form of rugby.
The best hooker I've ever seen is Cameron Smith and he very rarely ran from dummy half but his ability to find the right pass at the right time and his kicking game from dummy half put him a class above the rest.

That just simply isn't true. Cameron Smith would run from dummy half as much, if not more, than most hookers in the NRL. I don't know where this 'Smith doesn't run' myth comes from to be honest. What he doesn't do that much is run from dummy half into contact, but that's not what people are suggesting Powell needs to do. They are suggesting he needs to step out of dummy half and engage the line more before distributing. That's something Cameron Smith is excellent at. I really don't think anyone wants to see Powell run the ball into contact 10 or 11 times per game. But what they do want is him to get out from dummy half maybe 4 or 5 times a game on the back of good carries and a quick play the ball. The result of Powell when he's in his pick and pass mode is that no defender has to be concerned about the ruck area. When he's actually willing to get out from dummy half (like on several occasion on Friday night) it forces defenders to switch their attention to him when he carries the ball and delays the movement of defenders down the middle.

For reference, this is where Cameron Smith ranked in the list of most dummy half runs in the NRL:
2020 - 6th
2019 - 2nd
2018 - 4th
2017 - 1st
2016 - 1st
2015 - 3rd
2014 - 6th
2013 - 2nd

I'm not posting this to add to the Powell criticism. I've said before that I'm pretty much a fence sitter. I think he's a good player to have but I don't think he's at the level of the best hookers in the competition. I do think he can play much better than what he has in the last year and a bit though.

Ultimately the best thing about Smith was he would get out from dummy half at the right time.

[pedro]

Reminiscent of 2020, He's only been in the first team since 2012 and the best we can come up with is 2020, says it all really doesn't it

I guess it does Meds. Not sure why when he's clearly capable of it. He was very good last night but it comes on the back of a couple of games where he's been anonymous, at least as far as any attacking play goes. We need more like last night from him.

Being capable of running from dummy half and being effective / good are too different things.

I’m capable of running a marathon, it doesn’t mean I’ll get a good time.

but you have to be capable to run to be effective/good