Thats a point I discussed with another poster earlier on in the thread, I think that to play prop effectively you need the balance of the two, lean muscle weight and body fat.

That said, his lean muscle weight never harmed him during his Bradford days.

Fielden has gone back into his shell after getting back to good form for the latter part of last season. He doesn't look like his heart is quite into it at the moment which is a big problem for us as we need him to be at the top of his game and leading us every week.

He's always been a player that only truely turned up when the big games came around and at Bradford he could get away with that as the likes of Anderson and Vagana would do enough work on his off days to see them through. He isn't afforded that luxery here because the rest of the props either aren't good enough to lead a side forward or in Feka's case don't so it for long enough.

As for his future long term at the club i'd offer him a long-ish term deal tomorrow on a vastly reduced deal in the hope that we could sign him a fellow prop to help share the load but i'm not sure he'd accept it until he's considered all his options. If for example a team like Celtic or Salford offered him twice as much as us in a couple of years i reckon he'd take it which probably shows another problem in him. He admitted when he came here that half(and probably more) the reason was for the cash so a move to a team near the bottom of the league probably wouldn't worry him.

Overall i'd be suprised if he's here at the start of the 2011 season.

He made 5 like I said on page 2. One carry he knocked on, one carry made 10 metres. And I counted 3 missed tackles. No idea where they got those stats from.

Compare Peacock's stats from the same game:

28 Carries (Fielden 3)
208 Metres (22m)
20 Tackles (37)

Fielden is not at the races big time and gets banged most times he takes it in. You could say he's been at the top a lot of years and maybe his body is a bit knackered, but so has Peacock and he seems to get better if anything! We were defending most of the game last Friday so maybe not the best game to compare stats as Leeds were on the front foot a lot more. I, like most here, really want to see him turn it around.

There was a point in the game when Fielden carried the ball up (1st half think) when he hit Peacock head on and broke the tackle and kept going. He made 10 meters then and did again in the second half.

There is no way he carried the ball 4-6 times and made 22 meters.

Having said that I think he runs in too upright at the moment and gets hit back a lot. Get his head down a bit and bust the first tackle and his confidence will soar.

He tackels at a high rate, plays a lot of game time, her lacks belief in his own go forward.

I think any coach who has a prop forward that makes just 3 carries in a big game really needs to question that players desire and commitment.

The only reason he made so many tackles is that the leeds forwards targetted him as a 'spot' player. Which is also probably the reason he ended up missing so many.

And now Roberts

Well they are the facts.

I agree with Hoofer.
At Bradford, Fielden was part of the awesome foursome with Vagana, Anderson & McDermott. When McDermott retired they moved Peacock to Prop.
That's a front row we can only dream of.
Fielden's OK, Feka can do enormous damage, Coley isn't at the races and O'Carroll gives 100% but is nowhere near a starting prop. He may well be another Danny Nutley or Andrew Gee but not for another 4-5 years yet.
If rumours were anything like right Richard Moore was to be our fourth experienced prop and if he'd arrived then Coley would have been replaced making a good four. Right now there's no Moore and Coley still isn't doing it.
Fielden and Feka are the only two the opposition have to look out for. Hence the reason we don't often win the battle up front!

I'm no Coley fan, but I think he's been o.k. in the last two games.

Compare Coley to people like Skerret, Platt, Cowie, Craig Smith, O'connor and he's pretty awful.

Accepting players like Coley is nothing more than embracing mediocrity, we'll never win a trophy if that's the standard of player we are willing to accept.

Exactly.

The need for another prop next year is massive and he has to be a very good one. Andy Lynch would be my top target and him starting alongside Fielden would be superb with Feka and O'Carroll/Prescott coming from the bench.

As for this year i think Prescott warrents a game on Friday. He's meant to have been going great in the reserves and i'd possibly look at putting him in ahead of O'Carroll. Eamon has been great so far this year but we don't need to rush him and a rest would do him no harm. I'd be loathed to drop Coley this week as surely a game against his ex team will fire him up(abit).

We need to get the balance of using Prescott and O'Carrol right for the next couple of seasons

Any suggestions to the best way of doing this?

All I can think of is rotating them every 3 games or so (fitness permitting)

But Carmont is no Bell, Miles, Inga etc.
Ainscough is no Offiah, Boston, Gill etc
Toomy L is no Greg, Edwards etc
Sam is no Barrett, Botica, Bolton etc

IMO Coley has played reasonably well in his last two games and deserves his place.

I'm not his biggest fan and think he'll be moved on at the end of the season.
I really like O'Carroll but think he'll be the one to miss out for Prescott on Friday.

We're very fortunate to have two good young props who we can rotate.

I think you just rotate them as and when you see fit really.

It's hard to say lets do it on a regular 3 game basis because of issues with form and fitness. O'Carroll has gone really well at the start of this year but after a hard physical game against a good Leeds pack on Friday maybe now is the time to give the guy a rest. Prescott deserves a shot after his form in the reserves.

I think the long term goal has to be to get both in the 17 on a regular basis but that may be a few seasons down the track.

More or less what I was implying on the post above yours.

hi agree with you rogues lets go through the team



there is no

radlinski
robinson
connolly
miles
offiah
edwards
gregory
platt
dermott
mctigue
betts
farrell
hanley

Unfortunately not.

Boston before Robinson though.

Isn't this Coley's first visit to the Willows since he signed?
If ever there was reason to perform this game would be it!!

I think he will get a 'less than favourable' reception from the nutters under the shed.

Quote ="MR FRISK"hi agree with you rogues lets go through the team there is no radlinski robinson connolly miles offiah edwards gregory platt dermott mctigue betts farrell hanley '" Why oh why do you keep prattling on about past teams? It seems to be every bloody post you submit! Either you are a troll or a little bit simple....in fact i'd liken you to a Wigan version of Fredie. viewtopic.php? ... highlight= Quote ="MR FRISK"RADLINSKI ROBINSON CONNOLLY MOORE BELL PAUL SMITH COWIE MCCORMACK O CONNER BETTS HAUGHTON FARRELL'" viewtopic.php? ... highlight= Quote ="MR FRISK"how about radlinski robinson connolly moore bell paul smith cowie mccormack c conner betts haughton farrell'" viewtopic.php? ... highlight= Quote ="MR FRISK"we could do with these.... Paul Robinson Inga Connolly Offiah Botica Edwards Cowie Hall Skerrett Betts Mather Clarke '"

Quote ="MR FRISK"hi agree with you rogues lets go through the team there is no radlinski robinson connolly miles offiah edwards gregory platt dermott mctigue betts farrell hanley '" Why oh why do you keep prattling on about past teams? It seems to be every bloody post you submit! Either you are a troll or a little bit simple....in fact i'd liken you to a Wigan version of Fredie. viewtopic.php? ... highlight= Quote ="MR FRISK"RADLINSKI ROBINSON CONNOLLY MOORE BELL PAUL SMITH COWIE MCCORMACK O CONNER BETTS HAUGHTON FARRELL'" viewtopic.php? ... highlight= Quote ="MR FRISK"how about radlinski robinson connolly moore bell paul smith cowie mccormack c conner betts haughton farrell'" viewtopic.php? ... highlight= Quote ="MR FRISK"we could do with these.... Paul Robinson Inga Connolly Offiah Botica Edwards Cowie Hall Skerrett Betts Mather Clarke '"

Can't see them both being regulars for another 2 seasons yet though and I can see where jonh (I think its him) is coming from when he says sign Petero

Can't wait to see them in 3/4 years

Prescott is the ideal starting prop lets just hope he can put his injury problems behind him because I think he has massive potential. Eamon will be great off the bench IMO hopefully another Danny Nutley

To think we nearly didn't give Eamon a new contract last season

in the current team i would imagine just young ainscough might get a subs bench and maybe pat would get a game or 2

He isn't as good as when he was at Bradford, but I wouldn't say he was past it. He will probably stay at Wigan now, but with a dramatic decrease as others have said. As for the 22 metres that must be incorrect.

He may have made more than 22 yards but he was also completely anonymous against Leeds - barely noticed any difference when he was subbed. The three Wigan forwards who stood out for me were Feka, Hock and McIlorum (sp?).

If he made these yards and that few carries there must be one of two things going on. He is injured (so why is he playing) or 2 we have purposely not used him much to carry up.

I would imagine it is almost impossible for a prop to carry this few times unless instructed to do so.

That or the figures are wrong.