I do agree there are question marks around signings and squad management. I think we also try to sign versatile players that is a blessing and a curse.DaveO wrote: ↑Thu Sep 23, 2021 9:43 amAnd only one of those is a centre! Bibby is a winger and Hardaker a full back. Yes they can also cover centre but that's what they are doing, covering. Just another example of the shambolic squad management and recruiting that forces square pegs into round holes. I still don't know why the club brought in Field when we had French and needed a centre. Apart from playing academy players who are specialist centres at centre (which is not the kind of thing he does anyway sticking academy backs on the wing) Lam has no choice but to compromise.nathan_rugby wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 6:08 pmBecause Gildart was injured, Hardaker injured or covering fullback and Bibby covering wing for injuries.Southern Softy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:50 pm
Well, for most of the season we had Isa and Farrell as centres.
We signed French when we didn’t really need him. But he absolutely has delivered at fullback and didn’t Zak get our player of the season at centre?
If Gildart was on old form, I’d be happy with a centre pairing of Gildart and Zak. I much prefer Bibby at Wing also, so would want Halsall to start getting opportunities at centre when the time is right.
With regards to Field it is again a strange one. He’s likely to be on a cheap ish contract, he really needed a club and to get his career going again. The club were either signing him as a versatile back OR mitigation against French or Hastings leaving. That risk hasn’t paid off but you can see the thinking given he is labelled as a fullback or stand off. If the club signed a half back to mitigate Hastings leaving and it was French who left, we would have been left depleted at centre as Zak would move to full back.
It’s all ifs, buts and maybes but it does feel like the squad management hasn’t been the best the last couple of seasons.