As a kind of neutral (St's have always been my second team - you need one to support when your own team is perenially out of the running by halfway through the season) Wellens is a player I respect and admire for his longevity and great service to RL; I'm also reliably informed that he's an all-round nice bloke.



I'd have to agree with Saddened however, in that his constant chelping and arm-waving at the officials is an embarassment and not really acceptable behaviour from a club captain; it shows the game in a poor light and sets a bad example to young players, not to mention the detriment to his own game - didn't we make a break that resulted in a try when he *should* have been at marker, but was too busy moaning at the ref?



In short - great player, shame about the attitude.

Yup indeed. And I think if you got a physchologist/physchiatrist in to analyse his behavioural issues, the conclusion would be that the route cause was frustration at his own performances.

I too get frustrated at my age with my own "performances" but I don't try to take off like a birdman.



I think he is frustrated more with the overall team performances which he feels responsible for as captain.



I am OK with wello at F/B and captain for 1 more year as I think that he has had actually a much improved second half of the season than the first half or all of last year in fact. Against hudds a couple of weeks ago he was my MOM with some great try saving tackles and against warry he was far from being anywhere near the worst player out there.

Might be at the back end of his playing days but would still walk into most teams for a season or two.Like Sinfield hes still a good player who if he cuts the mouth is a better player for it.The bloke would run through a brick wall for you and you would miss him if he suddenly said thats it Im finished as of now.

For me the jury is still out on Tommy Mack.

He needs to prove his worth for a spot in the starting 17, never mind staking a permanent position of his own!

I think hte general point is that we don't want to be like most teams, we want to be the best. We're not a million miles away, but there are obviously areas in which we must improve, lest we remain also rans.

He plays in a garbage backline with no service to be fair to him, and is still only a young lad probably being played out of his natural position, but nevertheless he's rarely looked much better than average so far this season, and his form has started to dip alarmingly of late with depressing echoes of Foster's decline. He has the makings of a decent SL player but has a long way to go yet.

Nonsense , you only get experience though playing there, he's spent years watching Wello and no doubt other fullbacks far better than Wello he needs to play and not be held back because we arn't ruthless enough to do what needs to be done and move Wello out

I've started to doubt if makinson is good enough to play fullback to be honest. I don't see what he offers which is better than wello.



Wello is safe as houses with any kick, he's great in defence, he postional play is top class in defence and attack, he's got that knack of getting in the right place to pick up tries but his lack of kick return is a massive in us getting on the front foot and it's very rare he makes a break from a kick return.



Makinson isn't as great in attack as people suggest. Has anyone seen him make a break or beat a man? His defence is very very good, he's pulled off some great tackles over the last two seasons. He's now become a liability on the high kicks, he's dropping kick after kick. His try scoring record is poor. I also don't think he's as fast as people think. He's only young as still has a lot to learn and that's why IMO I wouldn't play him fullback yet.



I'm not bagging tommy or bigging wello up but that's how I see it at this moment in time.



This might shock a few but I'd bring back my old mate Jamie foster for the rest of the year now, we are heading into the play offs and kid kicking could prove vital. If Jamie played last week we would have won the game.



With the form of Tommy at the moment and the fact he's dropping kicks just as Jamie does I just think Jamie's kicking and finishing could be massive for us.

Makinson is a better finisher than Foster, imo. Some of the tries he's scored (against leeds and cats spring to mind) have shown a better finishing ability.

I'm not trying to turn this into Tommy v Jamie or say who's the better player, I'm trying to see who'd be better for the team come the big games.



As per usual you'll get the rubbish replies on here turning it into a heated debate.

I think the drop in Makinson's form has shown an issue that happens to most young players. After an initial bright start their form dips as they learn the game and more importantly, the opposition learn their game. I think some of the blind backing of him is down to some people bagging Foster as being woeful when it happened to him, rather than giving him time to try and work through it (which he may or may not do), and them being shown to be wrong about Foster. Given his dip in form, I would not move him to full back at this moment in time, I'd take him out of the front line for a bit to recuperate mentally and physically.



I still think Lomax should move to full back, he is solid defensively, can take a high ball and it also means he can still involve himself as an attacking threat, both in structured and open play. He'll still be involved creatively in an attacking sense, but would also get the space he needs to decide when to get involved, because for me he's floundering at 7 at the moment.