Re: Gildart : Thu Nov 14, 2019 10:30 pm  

Pre-season is vital. Hopefully Lam will experiment with a few different combos.
As much as I’d like to see French given a go at FB I’d also like to see how we plays off a dominate half in Hastings. As a 6

Re: Gildart : Sat Nov 16, 2019 4:26 pm  

Nothing I've seen from Hardaker at centre, for Penrith, or Wigan, or GB/England, says to me that he is a centre at all. If French plays full-back, I don't see ZH as an improvement on Hankinson or Bibby.

Re: Gildart : Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:08 am  

I think it’s good that we have such versatility in the back line with several players able to play multiple positions. Personally I’d go with French at #6 pairing with Hastings mainly because I don’t see who else can play that position at the moment other than Harry Smith but I concede he needs more time and exposure to SL prior to being given the starting shirt.

1. Hardaker
2. Marshall
3. Hankinson (replaced by Gildart)
4. Bibby
5. Burgess/Manfredi
6. French
7. Hastings

I’ve seen all the other recommendations and to be fair they all look equally as strong.

Re: Gildart : Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:57 am  

100% Warrior wrote:

I think it’s good that we have such versatility in the back line with several players able to play multiple positions. Personally I’d go with French at #6 pairing with Hastings mainly because I don’t see who else can play that position at the moment other than Harry Smith but I concede he needs more time and exposure to SL prior to being given the starting shirt.

1. Hardaker
2. Marshall
3. Hankinson (replaced by Gildart)
4. Bibby
5. Burgess/Manfredi
6. French
7. Hastings

I’ve seen all the other recommendations and to be fair they all look equally as strong.

Let's hope we see a few positional changes and combinations in pre-season. Be good to see how people respond in different positions; namely French as a 1 or 6; with Hardaker as a 1 or centre.

Re: Gildart : Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:49 pm  

Last Son of Wigan wrote:

Let's hope we see a few positional changes and combinations in pre-season. Be good to see how people respond in different positions; namely French as a 1 or 6; with Hardaker as a 1 or centre.

I think in the pre season games you’ll see those switches and combos. Some which on the face of it may seem strange but it’s the perfect time to try them out. I’m actually quite excited with our back line for 2020 given the versatility. If you think of it in another way it creates uncertainty and unpredictability. It’s an aspect we should be looking to exploit

Re: Gildart : Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:55 pm  

Gildart was out of form anyway at the end of year.

Re: Gildart : Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:18 am  

The_Enforcer wrote:

Gildart was out of form anyway at the end of year.

Like the rest of the team then yeah?

Utterly irrelevant leading into a new season.

Re: Gildart : Wed Nov 20, 2019 1:34 am  

100% Warrior wrote:

Like the rest of the team then yeah?

Utterly irrelevant leading into a new season.

Not at all. Its not unusual for coaches to take into account the form of players at the end of a prior season when picking the starting side of the new season. This is how coaches get the best out of players, by making them earn their starting place if they have become a bit lethargic. It also sends a message to the rest of the team for the rest of the year that if you're not delivering the goods, you will be dropped no matter what your name is.

Re: Gildart : Wed Nov 20, 2019 9:30 am  

The_Enforcer wrote:

100% Warrior wrote:

Like the rest of the team then yeah?

Utterly irrelevant leading into a new season.

Not at all. Its not unusual for coaches to take into account the form of players at the end of a prior season when picking the starting side of the new season. This is how coaches get the best out of players, by making them earn their starting place if they have become a bit lethargic. It also sends a message to the rest of the team for the rest of the year that if you're not delivering the goods, you will be dropped no matter what your name is.

No they don't. What coach does this to one or this best players - make no mistake either Gildart is not only one of the best players that we have, but also one of the best centres in the league.

Are you always so reactive when it comes to players? A short dip in form is hardly something worth mentioning imo. Likewise with your other post on Hastings, a couple of mediocre games doesn't seem enough to cast any kinds of doubt about how good of a player he'll be for us.

Re: Gildart : Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:04 pm  

Gildart has without doubt earned the right to be classed as our incumbent starting centre.

I agree he did have a little dip in form but nothing significant enough to warrant dropping him.

What will be interesting is to see how things develop for the others lads now they will be called upon to start the season. Both lads will be fighting it out for 1 space and unless Gildart hits the ground running he may find himself under pressure for his shirt.

I’m expecting Hankinson to improve with another offseason in him and I really rate Biby, think he will be a dark horse for an England shirt come this time next year.

Spending the most important part of the year from a physical prep point of view injured isn’t ideal for Gilly but hopefully he should be in a position to do lots of leg work to help compensate for his upper body injuries.