Why would you move Sarginson to FB when he's just started to make an impact at Centre (a position that's incredibly weak in SL)?

We must be able to find another FB from somewhere.

Manfredi, after the way he caught that bomb, then again , I'm better than Bowen

Unfortunately, the better this kid is, the more likely the NRL or yawnion will be doing the handling.

Hope I'm wrong, he looks a phenomenal prospect from what little I've seen of him.

That pace of the mark around the middle of the pitch could be devastating this year if he's used at stand off. He doesn't look as dangerous running on the end of those wide plays and teams seem to read him that bit easier.

It's not just his running game I like at Stand off either, he's got a good passing game and really looks to boss the team about. Show him half a gap though and he's gone!

I'm a big Williams fan but Hampshire could take the league by storm this year at 6 if he's given the chance.

When Bowen isn't available I would move Burgess to fullback, he is very good under the high ball and could be devastating in attack.
He is supposed to be going to the NRL at the end of the season so it wouldn't hinder his development as a winger for Wigan and it would give Manfredi much needed game time instead of only getting a game when Charnley or Burgess are out injured.

I worry the coaching staff trying to find the right positions for players are harming the development of certain young talent.

For example Jack Hughes, a SR forward who breaks into the team as a SR, then he's told he's going to play centre, even given the number 4 shirt. Then when HH is injured he's moved back into SR, Thornley replaces Jack in the centres, HH comes back and Jack is pushed out of the team not knowing if he's a SR or centre.

Then Sam Powell, a 6/7 comes through as a 6/7, plays an excellent game v NZW rolls his ankle and is brought back primarily as a cover 9 for McM, now is a half or a 9, this chopping and changing might be ok for senior players who know the game but for development a player needs time not only to adjust to SL but to that position, I worry his development might cost him.

Hampshire is now the same 1 or a 6?
Just wait, groomed as a 1. Bowen leaves, Sam returns early and Rocky is out.

Additionally I can't help but think Williams has the 6 shirt by default as both Hampshire and Powell missed a lot of game time last year due to injury not ability; if they would have remained fit it maybe we'd be starting with a different 6.

Spot on, it's almost the 'in thing' putting players into positions that they've never played. It started with Sam who, whilst being an undoubted success, i would still prefer to see @ 6. World Class 1's come around quite often but world class 6's are once in a generation. I still don't for a second doubt that Sam could have been the greatest GB stand off of the last 20 + years.

FWIW, and i've held this opinion for a while, i don't think any of our options at 6 are good enough for next season. I think it takes more than a season to really establish yourself in the first team and get to a point where you can impose yourself on the side. None of our 6's are currently in that position.

Noticed that in Shaun's post Leigh match brief he mentioned "Rocky went well in the halves".
He did and was very dangerous too. SW didn't of course mention how he went at FB. For those who've insisted on here that Hampshire is a 6 then the Leigh game went a long way to confirm that.
As there aren't many (any) English SL halves with real pace Ryan H could make a name for himself at stand off if given the game time.
He must be the fastest half back in SL and that has to help a great deal.

Whilst I do agree with most of the views expressed on this topic. Rugby League has many great examples of players switching positions, Ellery Hanley played from Wing to Loose Forward. It's not Union where each position has a defined role. League allows players to switch positions much easier. The best example I can think of is the great Don Fox who started out as a scrum half and ended up playing prop!!!

The best example I can think of is the great Don Fox who started out as a scrum half and ended up playing prop!!!'"

, you never go to games, but maybe 2 a season.

And?

By no means do I think a player should only and always be the position they played growing up etc but I do think the development and coaching process can hamper a players development if they aren't given time to learn and develop the skills of a particular position.

In some cases it even requires a different physicality to play a different position.

In the case of Hanley, he developed his game in a different time, had first team experience before making a change, and lets face it Hanley was exceptional, so was the likes of Ruben Wiki who moved up from centre to prop or Luke Lewis, from wing to half to back row.

At times it works, at times its detrimental, I feel with Hughes, Powell and possibly Hampshire the development could have harmed the progression.

I hope Hughes gets a good run of games in the SR at Huddersfield, bulks up more and becomes a big strong confident runner of the ball living up to his potential.

All the best props that I can remember started off in a different position.
Brian McTigue was a centre.
Andy Platt was a loose forward.
Terry Clawson was a back row.
Peacock was a back row.
Kevin Ward was a back row.
Andy Farrell was a loose forward.
They all had speed which helped them to break the line whereas out and out props, apart from a few exceptions (Barry McDermot) weren't able to do this.
For example: Ricky Bibey, Gil Dudson and Terry O'Connor.
When a loose forward moves into a position where he needs more speed and agility, then I don't think it works.
I never liked seeing Farrell, Sculthorpe and Sinfield plaing stand-off.

Terry O'Connor in the same sentence as Bibey and Dudson....how rude

Terry O connor was far better than Barry Mac, was the best prop at the club by a mile.

Quote ="Salty"All the best props that I can remember started off in a different position. Brian McTigue was a centre. Andy Platt was a loose forward. Terry Clawson was a back row. Peacock was a back row. Kevin Ward was a back row. Andy Farrell was a loose forward. They all had speed which helped them to break the line whereas out and out props, apart from a few exceptions (Barry McDermot) weren't able to do this. For example: Ricky Bibey, Gil Dudson and Terry O'Connor. When a loose forward moves into a position where he needs more speed and agility, then I don't think it works. I never liked seeing Farrell, Sculthorpe and Sinfield plaing stand-off.'" When I first looked at your list Salty I thought in the back of my mind I had Andy Platt starting off at Centre, I could not find this but maybe it was as a junior at St Pats. What I did find though is that Andy's son is playing grade Rugby on the Gold Coast. I also found this little snippet from over 20 years ago, off topic but interesting. www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... t6CubbxGog

Quote ="Salty"All the best props that I can remember started off in a different position. Brian McTigue was a centre. Andy Platt was a loose forward. Terry Clawson was a back row. Peacock was a back row. Kevin Ward was a back row. Andy Farrell was a loose forward. They all had speed which helped them to break the line whereas out and out props, apart from a few exceptions (Barry McDermot) weren't able to do this. For example: Ricky Bibey, Gil Dudson and Terry O'Connor. When a loose forward moves into a position where he needs more speed and agility, then I don't think it works. I never liked seeing Farrell, Sculthorpe and Sinfield plaing stand-off.'" When I first looked at your list Salty I thought in the back of my mind I had Andy Platt starting off at Centre, I could not find this but maybe it was as a junior at St Pats. What I did find though is that Andy's son is playing grade Rugby on the Gold Coast. I also found this little snippet from over 20 years ago, off topic but interesting. www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... t6CubbxGog

Quote ="stillinthepast"When I first looked at your list Salty I thought in the back of my mind I had Andy Platt starting off at Centre, I could not find this but maybe it was as a junior at St Pats. =#FF0000What I did find though is that Andy's son is playing grade Rugby on the Gold Coast. I also found this little snippet from over 20 years ago, off topic but interesting. www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... t6CubbxGog'" Christian is back over here but as far as I know isn't playing for anyone. He's probably about 20 years of age now and was in the U15's and U16's scholarship teams alongside Williams, Tierney, Lever etc.

Quote ="stillinthepast"When I first looked at your list Salty I thought in the back of my mind I had Andy Platt starting off at Centre, I could not find this but maybe it was as a junior at St Pats. =#FF0000What I did find though is that Andy's son is playing grade Rugby on the Gold Coast. I also found this little snippet from over 20 years ago, off topic but interesting. www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... t6CubbxGog'" Christian is back over here but as far as I know isn't playing for anyone. He's probably about 20 years of age now and was in the U15's and U16's scholarship teams alongside Williams, Tierney, Lever etc.

I have said on other threads that my main concern for next season is in the centre position where we have little experience and depth.
Sargininson a recent convert and Gelling another convert who for me is still intrinsically a forward playing centre.
I think the stand off role is a little different.
We have potentially 3 younger guys namely Williams, Hampshire and Powell who could play stand off. At this point one or more could make the position his own. For me one of the exciting things to look forward to next season is who will make that position his own.
Personally longer term I would like Hampshire at stand off, Williams at scrum half with Smith at cover for hooker/scrum half or even exiting due to the fact that he can't make the scrum half position his own.
I think we could finish anywhere from from 1st to 6th next season dependent not exclusively but very much on how effective our new half back pairing whoever they are perform.
Let's sit back and enjoy hopefully one of 3 exciting youngsters developing into a longer term fixture at stand off.
As I said I hope Hampshire is the eventual "winner" however, if it's Williams or Powell so be it as long as we improve season on season. Next season is very much a transitional season however, recent history suggests we can still compete for trophys whilst there are many changes in personnel.

I agree with much of that, but I think more highly of Smith than you seem to. He was good for us last season, got into the national side and did pretty well, and I don't see why he shouldn't build on that this year. But of course it's all good that we have young talent to call on, and I wish them all well.

Well spotted Rogues, I fell into the trap of reading an Aus newspaper article and not checking that the web page was 4 years old, did Andy have another son because the son in the article is named John ?. Cheers.

I think there's two very different points in discussion which have slightly crossed over. One is about player development and the other is which position a player ended up.

I know this topic is completely off topic now but I just want to throw another name into the mix. When I first saw this list I thought that one of the most famous props in the history of the game was missing and I was expecting one of our St Helens friends to put us right.

Alan Prescott the old ST Helens prop and Captain of both club and country made his debut for Halifax as a 15 year old winger and signed for Saints in 1949, he went on to play loose forward, second row and finally prop for St Helens.

I recall a Castleford fan , whom I was working for at the time , telling me that Kevin Ward started off at Centre

I think he was referring to Jonathan who is playing in australia..