The link role

[The Skeez]

Since Radley has been out injured, our attack has suffered in the link role. Butcher has the closest skill set but had trouble executing on the night and then injured himself further.
The other night Jared was passing more than usual, assuming the role where our middles keep the defence tight, only to shift to the halves where we can ignite our backline and get numbers and one on ones.

The question is,
Can someone fill that link role and be a ball playing forward creating width our edges can exploit?
or
Do we alter our attack to suit the skill set we have?

[OMR]

I honestly think Butcher can fill in that role to some capacity. He doesn’t have the same skill set as Radley but has an offload to compensate. Also his tidying up defense in the middle is often overlooked and his return will certainly tighten up the middle and put SST back where he belongs at prop and shift Collins to his rightful role of a bench enforcer who can come on and provide plenty of energy and sting for 20-25 minutes.

[Thirteen]

I know Butcher had an offload. Did it often and well against kids in the 20s. It’s not so prevalent at NRL level. Some are suggesting he can play Radley’s role. I’m not sure why? He doesn’t have the passing skills of Radley.

[The Marshall]

I know Butcher had an offload. Did it often and well against kids in the 20s. It’s not so prevalent at NRL level. Some are suggesting he can play Radley’s role. I’m not sure why? He doesn’t have the passing skills of Radley.

Or the leg speed

[zac]

you're not going to get a like for like replacement for rads. when butch is fit he can do a bit. flanno can step up a bit too.
as much as we miss rads if we tackle better and hold onto the ball better we'll go alright

[Lydon]

Butcher does not have the skill set of Radley, nor the ability of Radley so I think it’s unfair to expect that of him..

I am sure Robbo has an alternate plan, whether it’s finding someone else to fill that role or attacking to different strengths to suit the team..

Unfortunately though at the moment he is probably more focused on fixing our defense up the middle after last weeks effort.

[Rooster1908]

Long shot and will get yelled down but give Lam a crack , has the passing game and can tackle , I know he's small but can see Butcher supplying the same ball service

[zac]

Long shot and will get yelled down but give Lam a crack , has the passing game and can tackle , I know he's small but can see Butcher supplying the same ball service

the qld soo team played a half off the bench for a while. from memory cronk played in the middle off the bench. don't know about lam doing that but he has looked good in his 2 games this season. even on thursday he looked dangerous with the ball in hand.

[Thirteen]

Long shot and will get yelled down but give Lam a crack , has the passing game and can tackle , I know he's small but can see Butcher supplying the same ball service

Only problem is that he is too small to run the ball up the middle.

Good thing about Rads was that he could run it like a front rower or pass it like a half. Kept the opposition in 2 minds.

[GC6]

I think either Butcher or Liu will get the lock role. I think that Liu is possibly the better ball player.

I was thinking about it in the Cowboys game. I really think that Sitili could play this role. He will need a few games to get there but I really think that he has good hands on him. He is quick off the mark like radley so defence would be in two minds with him. His only downfall is that he isn’t as good defender as Radley, Butcher or Liu.

[The Skeez]

Radley dug into the defence like a half and was still able to shift it while committing at least two defenders.

[Teddy]

It’s Victor’s defence that we miss more then his attack, we still score plenty of points without him, however it’s his menacing mongrel presence we miss in the middle, whenever he hit players it was like kissing a charging bull.
Our defence has leaked points like a busted damn, prior to the Drizzle game we had conceded only 67 points in a combined seven matches at 9.5 ppg and scoring 28.1 ppg, compare that to our last three matches, we have conceded that exact amount 67 points at 22.3ppg and scored 91points at 30.3 ppg, our defence and our ball control has been atrocious and the better teams have made us pay for that, however it can be fixed by Robbo, it’s an attitude adjustment, missing Victor in attack is the least of our problems right now, we need to get back to basics.
No excuse in the world will be acceptable if we lose any of our next three matches.

[FREEMAN89]

I called it yesterday in another thread, I'd be tempted to throw friendy into the 13 and play Lam at 9 with Aubs as our utility.

Friend has the defence, leg speed at the line and also a passing game.

And lam has proven in his previous 2 games that he has quality enough service in the 9 not to disrupt our tempo or style of play.

[Thirteen]

I called it yesterday in another thread, I'd be tempted to throw friendy into the 13 and play Lam at 9 with Aubs as our utility.

Friend has the defence, leg speed at the line and also a passing game.

And lam has proven in his previous 2 games that he has quality enough service in the 9 not to disrupt our tempo or style of play.

May work but can we afford to weaken the dummy half position?

[FREEMAN89]

May work but can we afford to weaken the dummy half position?

Definitely,

Run Aubo on bench, if lam isn't up to the pace or demand of the match, then friendy shifts back to 9 and Aubo can finish the match at 13.

Also, same scenario can happen if we lose a half, Lam can switch into 6 or 7, friend back to 9 and Aubo into 13.