We lose one part of Pooper and you want to send the half to the bench even though he was pretty much our best on the park?
I had the same response as ^^^^^^ but he explained why, and his reasoning could be justified.
He was looking at balance - fair - through some red c
ellophane.
I cant see Hooper being shifted from 7, so the 8.
McMahon - who plays combination of a 6 & 7 type role? This may have a bigger impact on game tactics, I think he provides great cover an impact off the bench.
McCalman - I don't watch enough of him to fairly comment.
Palu - shit that last game against the chiefs, and a number of others his combinations and balance work with Hooper. But he's 40 minutes.
Gill - as an 8, nobody saw Pockock as an 8 until it happened, most of us were talking Pooper as being 6 & 7. Will be interesting, i don't think we should be carrying Gill & McMahon on the bench though it is one or the other.
Houston - As per McCalman - I havent seen enough of him.
Two great traditional 7s doesn't work - see the Smith and Waugh experiment.
And after last night i want a pilfering 7 in the starting side, paired with a ball running no 8. Gill is the best we have in that role at the moment. But Hooper and Gill together give away too much in the collisions and line outs.
So I'd play them both, but not together.
And I'd rather start with the pilferer and finish with the more expansive player.
It's all about balance in the back row.
I think Smith / Waugh worked at times, the times with Smith played 8 much the same as Pooper.
Question, what brings more;
- Fetcher?
- Winning and dominating the collision?
AB's don't run with a raw fetcher any more, and they want to dominate the collision, and create that raw go forward and compliment it with the pop pass, or offload.
NSW haven't had that raw fetcher since Waugh.
When you have the best like Poey, Smith, they are there without effecting the game plan, but when you don't have the best, don't ruin team balance trying to have one.
