He was very lazy in defence, although IMO he more than made up for it in attack. The fact we had 3 very defensive back rowers alongside him helped a lot

Exactly.

You can carry a player like Hock with ease when playing alongside guys like Hansen, Bailey, Lockers and Fielden.

It becomes a problem when he has to defend alongside guys like Feka, Tim Smith and at times Joel Tomkins(who just seems to sleep in defence now and again).

Aye spot on

But now we have no Tim Smith, a fitter Feka so he's probably not going to be a liability in defence.

However I do agree about Joel. Not only does he go asleep, he gets dominated in tackles as well. Something he needs to work on if he wants to be in the 17 for me

Of course they need to give more, never had a problem with people feeling that Fielden can and should give more for the salary he's on. My only issue was people trying to make out that he's somehow the 4th best prop at the club, when if you take the size of his contract to one side, it's quite clearly nonsense.

I understand jonh's point about the statistics, and although it's true they don't show some things, but neither does 'opinion' and 'feeling' about how a player performed because it's influenced by emotion. I've found that the best way to actually analyse a player's performance is to look at the stats and review the games again on the TV some time after the match when there's not the same emotion involved, deliberately ask yourself questions along the lines of 'am i being fair', talk to some of the players who play alongside him and get their views, and also try and look at other teams matches and statistics to.

I'm not trying to make a case that he's performing to the level of Jamie Peacock, but i am trying to say he's no damn Luke Burgess either, and i'm also optimistic that there's more to come next season under a new setup. I do feel however, that there's a small element of the fan base who'll slag off and want rid even if he was a man of steel contender next season

On last years performances I personally do not think he would have been missed as much as Coley or Feka.

He is playing the role of the supporting which is not good enough, and sadly we cannot in the age of the cap, remove performance from wages.

The teams that succeed get value for money from there players Fielden has thus far not offered this.

Next year is really last chance saloon for his career, under a new coach and new regime at his age if he does not significantly improve i seriously think he will struggle to attract much attention from any other clubs for 2011 or beyond.

I think one thing he did offer last year was a sufficient defensive workload to enable us to have a luxury like Feka in the forwards.

As for next year on the [iright[/i contract i'd sign him up now - I however think BN moving on will be the best thing that's happened to Fielden, as I think BN had totally no idea how to get Stu firing again. I think if anybody can do it it's SW, MM and Bitcon - you're right if he has a poor season then he's had it career wise, I'm just pretty optimistic that he'll have a good one.

He's been given the No. 8 shirt so MM must see something in him.

Big season required from SF......

I noticed this, he had no problem dumping Feka/Bailey/Goulding and rewarding Sam/Phelps/Coley. So Stuart must be showing something to warrant his squad number.

Possibly without the lens of emotion and his contract value, Stu's not quite the poor footballer he's made out to be?

He hasnt been "poor" by average SL player standard, the problem is we bought George Foreman and we have seen George Formby.

In the days of the SC, his contract value cannot be taken out of any opinion of SF.

It has to though when he's on a contract already and there's bugger all you can do about it for a few years. As a coach you've got to pick your most effective team, it doesn't matter if a player isn't 'living up to his contract value' if he's the best option you have for the spot then you pick him regardless. All you can do is wait for the contract to be up, and then renegotiate or not renew it. Anything else in the meantime is either cutting your nose off to spite your face, or just causing yourself angst over a situation that you can't change

About the only situation I can think of to drop a player who's still the best for his spot is for disciplinary reasons.

Come on AJ, 'happy clap' you just might find you like it

It's a happier more peaceful world as a fan if you do

Maybe we need a theme tune we can happily clap along to together

I've given you the song on previous posts
Johnny Cash "I saw the light"

or "Oh happy days"

Check you chube

Never underestimate the power of the clappy side

Why should you be happy if you've got the clap?

1st season away from Brian Noble - a chance to change for Fielden although it may well be too late. But obviosuly MM sees something in him or else he wouldnt have thatnumber 8 shirt next season.

Stu Fielden is, and always has been one of the best trainers and most dedicated pros in Superleague. I'm sure Maguire, Bitcon and Wane will have taken this into consideration when handing out the squad numbers.

I honestly think the squad numbers have barely been given a moment's thought.

That's not a criticism, its just I feel they've been released to help boost shirt sales which makes sense. All the numbers handed out are common sense selections based on last season.

Or could it be that bedause Stuart offers no impact whatsoever when coming off the bench that MM has decided to start games with him hence the shirt number

Or perhaps Maguire has seen that Stuart has finally come out of his comfort zone, is training really hard and has got back a bit of much needed freshness and desire to his game?

Is the sun pink on your planet?

I think people need to realise this...

I agree. They needed to give the players squad numbers so people could get them on the back of shirts for Christmas. As you say the numbers are common sense selections based on last season and players natural positions. Gleeson in the 17 before Goulding is no slight on Goulding for example.

As others have posted they don't mean much anyway because if a player with a 1st 17 number does not shape up he is going to get dropped.

Dave

We don't need Fielden to return to his absolute best form. If MM and SW can just get Fielden, Coley and Prescott playing a bit better than last season and get Feka fit then we'll have as good a set of props as anyone. Yes Peacock may be better than any of the four we have, but we have real strength in depth at prop IMO.

I don't expect massive improvements from any player next season (apart from in fitness terms), but we don't need massive improvements. We weren't a million miles away last season, despite the awful inconsistency and poor conditioning and tactics...A small improvement from each player in the squad will close the gap on Saints and possibly even Leeds. Fielden has a key role to play in this as he has been underperforming. He may not be capable any more of world class performances, but if he can recover some of that lost ground, then it would be an important piece in the jigsaw next season.

Mate for what he is earning he needs to be the stand out prop week in week out bar the odd dip in performance, this is what he was brought in for back in the day. I hope this is the change he needed and now out of his comfort zone thinks its Sh1t or bust for him with regards to a new deal.

As for the rest coley will always be a average player at best imo. Preck will improve so long as he keeps injury free. Feka by all accounts has lost a bit of weight so providing he is used correctly and not when the egg timer says so on the bench he should go ok .

If Fielden aint capable of any world class performances then who is ??