HK, you obviously dont like Schuster and your perception reinforces that position. You're obviously a Foranophile.
Lets look at this year.
Hardly a great start for Schuster. 5 games, two quite ordinary, unfit and still injured. Yet in those few games he has 7 try assists, 4 line breaks, one try, an 88% tackle efficiency rating and a 32.6 rating on Fantasy coach.
Compare with Foran this year. 10 games 2 try assists, 5 line breaks and an 87.6% tackle efficiency rating. Fantasy Coach average? 25.1.
And that's despite Schuster's injury problems and the suggestion his defense isn't up to it. Go figure.
I know Schuster had a poor season last year. But in 2021, as mentioned, he not only took on the onerous role of second rower, meaning he was doing much of the grunt work including almost twice as much defensive work as Foran, he was only one of three forwards in the side who remained on the field for the full game. And yet he also consistently played in attack outside of Foran giving space to the backs. The consequence was that Turbo had more room to move and create havoc. Check the figures. What happened in 2022 in his absense but Foran on the field for the full season?
Best game Turbo has played this year by far was the Raider's game. Who was creating the space? And that was against one of the best five eighths in the game, Jack Wighton (7 tests)
Look, at the moment Schuster is certainly rocks and diamonds. When he's on, his performances are a stand out, when he's not he just does his job. The expectations on this kid are huge. Trouble is he is still young, has had, like Burbo, a succession of debilitating injuries. He's played 5 games this season. Hardly good for game fitness, as Woodsie alluded to. And like DCE, he needs good players around him to take pressure off his play. He had Johns...say no more