I made the point about Shaul so far not having shown any '3rd pivot' type play before the final. He's young and inexperienced - it may well develop. At the moment he's a Shaun Briscoe type FB but with greater acceleration than Briscoe had. He sniffs around centre field when an attacking play starts which is exactly what Briscoe used to do and scored a lot of tries from it. He may well make a better winger than FB ultimately.

If he cannot become the 3rd pivot then we need to start utilising a ball playing number 13

Just give the 2nd rowers more ball handling responsibility.

You mean, give them more creative allowance rather than just run the drop off all game long? You must be dreaming!

The third pivot talk is a bit tough on Shaul IMO. I would actually say that McDonnell started to struggle with it as the season went on after a great start, and that it was not entirely down to the fullback. As teams have started to work us out our use of the fullback behind the line has gotten more and more predictable, as well as being harder to pull off as we have been on the front foot less often and with less dummy runners to mask it. Shaul came in at a difficult time for that part of the fullback's role, so I'd like to see him in better circumstances to see whether or not he can do it or if it's just that we currently stink at that play.

Mcdonnel to come straight back in at 1. Shaul on the wing, to get a bit more experience. Been really impressed with mcdonnell. Wasnt really expecting much when he signed. He looks pretty slippery, must be a nightmare for defenders.