Utterly ridiculous in an attempt to have a go at Potter.



The only way to stop embarrassing him by exposing his weaknesses is by removing him from the full back position

Indeed. Maybe Anderson would have had him playing full back differently?

Whatever Anderson did with him, I don't remember reading/hearing the whinges and moans about Wello's pace. Everyone knew he was slow, but this negative obsession with the poor guy certainly isn't something I remember being around.

the only place wello could go is back row, do you agree? I'd have wheeler at centre, pryce at 6, wello back row, lomax at fb.

That's because there wasn't to this extent, but that's what happens with a gradual degrading of physical performance, people don't notice it until it's obviously become a problem.



He's also a player who people will blame almost anything or anyone else for his errors as he's a local lad done good.



Anyway, everyone knows that all the tries we conceded last year were down to Meli.

I think you'll find I was concerned about his pace years ago and advocated giving Hardman a try.

Yup, bulk him up a bit and he'd be fine IMO. He's got good hands, can tackle, is a strong runner and has a good rugby brain.



I'd pick him before Flannery every time.

Not having speedy backs is a bit of a red-herring. What's CRUCIAL is having a dominant pack with five props (four of which need to be good), and a powerful back row.



Sure, you might get burned for the odd 90m try, but they're not all that likely if you are smashing them at the gain line.



Props mean pots. I can't put it any simpler than that.

Hardman would only ever have been a stop gap. His pace was akin to Wello's at the time.



He had the potential to be a solid fullback for a SL side, he reminded me very much of Wello in his play, but when a young lad is only equalling the ageing player he is being advocated to replace in terms of pace, it isn't going to end well.

But it hasn't been gradual has it, if we are to go by the hysteria over his pace. It's happened since the world cup. In fact, it happened suddenly, AT the world cup! He degraded at a mighty fast pace for someone so slow!



Wellens is not just a local lad done good. He is an excellent fullback and all his other gifts are well worth keeping him, regardless of his lack of pace, which needs to be managed properly. He'll be gone soon enough and I'm sure he would be more than glad to assist a local lad in learning the ropes if that is the way we are going to go with his position. But he is not ready yet to call it a day IMO. He just needs his confidence back.

At the time Hardman was a good youngster with a fair bit of potential. If he'd reached it I think he'd have been as good as - possibly better than Wellens. But he didn't (a bit like Danny Arnold), which means he's scoring tries for fun in the NL.



But the point is this: In the modern game (NRL) the fullback is the one person opponents struggle to deal with because he can inject himself into the line wherever he pleases. Whilst solid defence is essential, the FB is the most attacking player in the side. And if he's fast he's lethal.