Re: Thank you : Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:25 pm  

Last Son of Wigan wrote:

It's not justified to pick Sam over Zak as much as it pains me to admit it. Or even more so playing Sam in the halves (which he's not played for years) or even more so as a centre just to accommodate him.

Hardaker's success has come from playing FB, so I don't see the point of moving him to any other position.

Both have to be included, but as a Leeds supporter I have to say Hardaker MUST be at FB against the Aussies and NZ if only for his defensive qualities over Tomkins. He is superb under the high ball; great at kick returns and unmatchable on one on one tackles (whether that's because of his strength against hard nosed forwards or speed to get across for quality cover tackles on the speedsters like Burgess).

I would have Tomkins at SO.

Both are too classy to be left out.

Re: Thank you : Mon Aug 10, 2015 11:16 pm  

Well I've just seen the try for the first time and all I can say is "terrible defending"
Seriously though, I think it would be criminal not to have him in the England team, preferably in his best position with Tomkins in the halves.
It's just nice to have a glut of quality backs available for a change.

Re: Thank you : Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:47 pm  

This is so difficult.
As a Rhinos supporter watching Zack regularly, I think his defence and fielding of high balls is the best in Super League, but the current trend seems to be to select the best attacking players in this position, and where Zack is deficient is in his passing, and this often makes him reluctant to pass. Sam, on the other hand, is more creative and very elusive and is good at releasing other players.
Maybe, just maybe, Zack might go ok on the wing, where he could give some defensive backup to Sam.

Re: Thank you : Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:34 pm  

Fred_Pickup wrote:

This is so difficult.
As a Rhinos supporter watching Zack regularly, I think his defence and fielding of high balls is the best in Super League, but the current trend seems to be to select the best attacking players in this position, and where Zack is deficient is in his passing, and this often makes him reluctant to pass. Sam, on the other hand, is more creative and very elusive and is good at releasing other players.
Maybe, just maybe, Zack might go ok on the wing, where he could give some defensive backup to Sam.

I think that's a fair assessment. ZH is undoubtedly a very good player but I think Sam's full skill set puts his clear. Tomkins can be a devastating runner, he's got silky hands a decent kicking game and can drop into first receiver when required.

ZH needs to improve his understanding of the game and his handling in order to be a realistic option imo.

Re: Thank you : Tue Aug 11, 2015 6:51 pm  

That's one thing to take in to consideration (Hardakers link up play) because he won't walk through New Zealand like he does superleague defence so he'll need to be able to put others in to space.

When Sam Tomkins was bossing superleague and making three times the breaks, try's and assists Hardaker does he wasn't ripping the Aussies/Kiwis to shred with his running but he produced some magic moment to assist other scorers.