Someone mentioned balance. Good, then let there be balance to this debate. If Willow is such a balancing factor to the side, then why is there such inbalance in his performance in an overall sense but especially in relation to attack
Willow isnt a **** player but he sure is one dimensional. His workrate in defense is great and is where he provides solid dependability. His time on the field and his abilities in attack are sub standard and the stats say well below par in comparison to his backrow teammates. Willow falls down in most indicators in attack. Line breaks, metres gained, offloads and tackle breaks are all too low. Â
In comparison to our last lock forward, well…....stats and otherwise, there just is no comparison really.
We have choc and stewy2 providing almost full time service in the backrow while Willow provides 50mins. What if we were to have a lock who was out there for longer saving on much needed interchanges for props and provided more spark in attack?
Where I think Ryan is coming from (and if so I agree with him) is that we know we need to improve on last year to beat the likes of Melbourne this year, then if we had the choice of Willow at lock or say Kennedy, then we would take Kennedy in a heartbeat.
But I do agree with others that to date (off season & trials form aside) we have no clear indication as yet as to if aspirants such as Wells/Afa are going to take that step up.
For mine, I think the real question is about the choice of either having Beaver in the backrow with Stewy2 moving to lock and then what format the bench forwards might look like.... and alternatively having Beaver on the bench with Glen to lock and one of Wells/Afa/Cuthbo/ to starting 2nd row.
That last sentence sounds like a sure fire invitation for a YART doesnt it ? Knock yourselves out