I've started to comb through the data allied to having seen all 480 minutes as to my thoughts on 'best team'.
I'll start with the outside backs, maybe do the rest of the team if this is interesting to anyone.
Fullback: There's not much to choose between the candidates. Iliess MACANI has been the best I've seen this season with 85 metres made from kick returns and 6 tackles made from 8 in the highly pressurised game at Leeds where he also did extraordinarily well to stay in the field of play with bombs and grubber kicks raining down on him and also made 2 tackle busts. Ben FARRAR looked relatively solid but offered little returning the ball whilst Nesiasi MATAITONGA averaged over 7 metres a run but looked disappointing as a defender missing 5 from 14 attempts.
Winger: Obviously Kieran DIXON would be an automatic choice but he is injured so I'd go for James DUCKWORTH has by far the highest average gain at 11.73 metres per run and has also not missed a tackle this season although only having comparatively few tackles to make. This compares very favourably to Atkins who has missed 9 tackles from 30 attempts and O'C who has missed 6 tackles from 22 attempts. Both of Atkins and O'C have looked impotent near the opposition tryline. This is the position I feel needs most strengthening in the team as Duckworth has had injury problems since the Under 19s Grand Final last season and there seems to be a good loan market for wingers.
Centre: Mason CATON-BROWN has made 482 metres, averaging 6.89 metres per run and has made 16 tackle busts and 4 clean breaks scoring 3 tries. However, whilst he has made 77 tackles he has also missed 7 and given away 6 penalties for off-side. He would be in my first XIII and looks our most potent attacking threat.
Centre: Thomas MINNS probably gets the nod; he has scored 3 tries, mainly from following up kicks into the in goal area and averaged 20 tackles a game but he has missed 16 tackles and if I was being kind I'd put that down also to lack of work from the winger alongside him and lack of speed from the forwards rushing into make a tackle as they should. That being said Minns has made 0 try assists, 0 clean breaks and under 5 metres per drive with only 293 metres in total for someone who has been ever-present. If Iliess Macani was not already in the team I would give him a run in this position which is one I feel would benefit from genuine competition.
Winger: Denny SOLOMONA looks an automatic choice. He has averaged 8.96 metres a run with 3 tackle busts per game and crossed twice, with just 3 missed tackles and virtually no errors, penalties or off-sides conceded. He would be better if he did more to assist his centre partner.
In theory we could have a backline of:
Dorn - Caro - Channing - Sarginson - Sharp or Colbon.
Luke Dorn's 109 tries stand him in good stead for a place in the team but the other names in there I would suggest are also defensively a bit lacking although have a little more potency in attack.
I've been watching the club about 10 seasons now and I think the best we've put out would be:
McLinden - Jones-Bishop - Sykes - Howell (providing he promised to retire in 2009 upon signing!) - K.Dixon
Arguably we have not really had top quality in the centres at all in the past decade.