Jonh?

Said this time and time again but..... Hes not good enough at hooker but would make a great back rower.

He prides himself on his defence, has the speed of a good second row and hits extremely hard in the tackle.

As a hooker he has bad distribution and does not have the organisation skills.

Instead of signing this bloody Lauaki we should just switch McIlorum to SR and sign another out and out hooker to pair up with Tommy.

Personally i agree, we have Mickey Higham or Jon Clarke take your pick

Good squad player but I think we need to keep Tommy on longer. He could easily do longer minutes and is being under used at the moment.

As for Micky Mac he'll always do a solid job especially in defence. He rattled Westwood with a beauty yesterday.

hes too 1 dimensional........tommy can dictate play from 9, and play runaround links.
micky mac just passes the ball and lets the halfs dictate.

and tommy was none too pleased about getting replaced yesterday......he was going spare at the coaching saff.

we've already tried them both and got rid..

Re McIllorum

I don't know to be honest. I know his distribution can be erratic at times but he offers so much in defense that he can sometimes nullify the threat from his opposite 9.

He is one hell of a grafter but we do lose structure when he comes on.

I really like McIllorum, he tackles anything that moves and alway give his all. Tommy may be more dangerous but Micky is solid cover

He isn't consistent enough yet. He can outplay the best hookers in SL on his day (Cunningham and Roby to mention two). Not many teams go with an 80 minute hooker these days, having two 'different' hookers in your 17 will usually benefit more than not.

Been saying this for months. He's a good player but no 9. Try him as a Luke O'Donell esq SR or cover 13. People have been overlooking his issues as a 9 because he's so strong in defense.

Time to sort it out. I like the idea of trying out Logan on the interchange with Tommy.

A grafter at 9 is a total waste.

He has no game skills, never will. I do not doubt his application but he simply lacks the talent to make it and the longer he is in our 17 the more damage he can cause us.

Excellent analysis.

I take a massive sigh of relief as someone on here can actually see what's happening!

Good post.

Whilst i don't disagree, i do think that it would be a shame to get rid all together. Without wanting to trot out the old "cant have a team full of superstars in the SC era" adage, it is true.

As a 2nd choice hooker he does an "adequate" job and on occasion plays very well indeed.

It is just a shame he does not have the frame of Joel or the Hoff, because he would be on hell of a back rower. I know that it has been touted having him in the 2nd row, but that for me is a no go as with Faz and Tuson we are already a little lightweight.

He occasionally does an adequate job, generally we really struggle when he is on the field.

Christ! You make him sound like bloody Vaeliki or something

Id love to see Logan given a go at Hull on Friday.

He's clearly an issue. No ones talking about a team of superstars, but we potentially already have better 9s in the making already in our ranks.

I'll second this.

to be fair the team did not fall to pieces as often as it does today when McIllorum comes on when DV played.

That's unfair, there are a lot of other personnel changes that happen around the same time that could be equally relevant. Taking yesterday's game for example, I'd argue Hansen's being subbed for Hock was a much more significant substitution.

At least some people on here can see his value, given he's currently 9th in our "player of the season" race, ahead of a lot of players who seem immune from criticism.

Amen brother.

If McIlorum is a "major problem" then there are lots of teams in worse shape (Higham and Clarke for starters)

He has big strengths and big weaknesses but if we had the chance to replace him with a creative hooker we should take it without question.

I don't disagree but it is like comparing British centres. I know you like him Brian but he is a very limited player. He has it all but the smarts and in my opinion it will never come.

Certainly a SL player but not good enough for a top club. I also doubt Logan is, I think that we may see one of our halves moved there and given a shot.

ill concede the point about Hansens substitution, and im glad more than me niticed how poor we were when Hock came on.

but think back to early season when finch was out......we had MM playing 80 , and IT WASNT WORKING.
if Madge hadnt got Tommy in at 9 as soon as, no way would we be top of the league now.

MMs good for spelling Tommy why he has a breather, but i would also revert to a tactic we used earlier......think it was huddersfield game.......keep MM on when Tommy comes back, switch him to 13, and let a back rower have a rest