Watching the Dragons vs Dogs game and it got me thinking. Where do we want Lomax next year?
Conventional thinking says you put your more experienced / better players at Centre but has the game changed?
Lomax on the wing is a massive weapon. His finishing and importantly his catching ability which is probably the best in the game. You only get those chances on the wing.
I propose that wing is now a more expensive position than Centre.
To'o at Penrith is a stand out meanwhile his centres change regularly through injury. You wouldn't move To'o ever.
Looking at the Eels in 2025 I'm excited having Lomax but I believe he's a gold plated winger. He offers the Eels enormous value on the wing. I hope Ryles keeps him there.
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Need a top class hooker
Who?
Definitely on the wing.
He is everything our current wingers aren't.
We need another quality winger, two quality centres and a top notch hooker.
I honestly don't see us adding much more than Lomax to the squad next year.
I wouldn't be opposed to having him in the centres honestly. I'm not sure he is a good defensive winger. But that could also be his centre jamming in and forcing him to come in too. Then again that is what Penisini has been doing a lot lately. So you could have Lomax in the centres and have the winger outside him also an aerial threat. The defending centre can only block the path of one player.
Just on To'o, I don't know how teams haven't realised he jams in like Addo-Carr. A chip kick into the in-goal area, over his head and you score everytime.
He is killing it on the wing but you could still play him at centre and he could swap to the wing on 5th tackle kicks if need be. Either position I think he is going to be an asset and he and Moses are going to form a deadly combination.
It all depends on who you have in your squad. At Parramatta we are short on centres, besides Penasini there's not much, so I think it's more important both in attack and defence to shore up centre before we think about wing.
Centres have a vital importance to organise in defence on whether to slide or come up. Lomax is a very experienced centre. We have Simmonson and will probably look to purchasing another winger. Not sure if Penasinis brother or Miller Stephens will be pushing for positions, maybe EA would know
For mine Lomax will play centre here.
That is it for me too Chief. I value Centres more purely on their impact in defence. You can have a poor defensive Winger and a poor defensive Centre, the Centre will hurt your team more. Not saying the Winger wont, but Centre is more vital.
Though Wingers are getting their due deligence of late, good on them. Gone of the days where the position had a certain stigma attached to it as you are the odd one out of a team if you played Wing.
I will go against the grain here.
I'm hoping Ryles puts Lomax at fullback. He deserves it and I think he wants it. He would do well at fullback. He won't say it but we all know that's the real reason he was disgruntled at Dragons. He trained in their off season as fullback, only to be change by Flanagan at the last minute when Corey Allen was ruled out for the season.
As good as Dyl has been, he's just a bit disappointing in 5/8. There are games where he should be stepping up to take control as one of the halves, but he doesn't. I'm talking game management, creativity and kicking variety, which he doesn't seem to possess or is just doesn't come natural to him at key moments. He is a super strong runner and defender, best suite to centre. He would stiffen up that area where we got blown away by Penrith a couple times out wide.
That puts Gutho, IMO, to play 5/8. He's a thinker, natural leader and I think he can easily learn some of those game management and short kicking skills we miss from our halves, especially our 5th tackle options. Lockyer made similar transition well and Gutho can do the same IMO.
If we can't find a flyer in the off season, our starting wingers should be Tago and Simonsson.
Lastly agree with our hooker position. I just don't know where we can find a decent replacement for Hands. This is one of our weakest positions.
I think Ryles wants lomax in centres. I think Arthur's intention was to play him at fullback though. Gutho will remain at fullback next year
This is a discussion that has come up a lot recently putting forward the importance of one or the other. Centres have always had a bit of respect around the position, while Wingers have only started to garner the respect in the last decade or so with the importance of having good ones. To'o has been added to the discussion as he is the exception with how good he is. However, the talk of paying him close to a million dollars is pure insanity for the position.
To me, having good Centres is more important than good Wingers. Look at Sivo for example, whenever he has had a quality Centre and a quality defensive one at that, he has been at his best. A great Centre can make his Winger look better, not all the time but can happen a lot. A great Winger does not too often make his Centre better. Defence wise, Centre is more important. I mentioned To'o, put him in Wests Tigers they may win another few games. Stephen Crichton however, he has transformed Canterbury, he has impact on that game more.
Wingers are so much more important than they ever used to be, particularly how they start sets and they are the main try scorers in teams. If anything, of late Centre's have sort of dropped in value. I think both positions values are roughly the same, but i would not pay more than $700k for a quality one, To'o being a rare exception where i might go max $800k but that is pushing it if you are desperate.
Though, on the other hand it can also depend on the system in which teams play. A Winger might be more useful in certain schemes compared to a Centre. In terms of where to play Lomax, it doesn't really bother me to be fair as he would be great at either spot. Being on that right with Moses at either spot is mouth watering. You can move him around both spots too during the game to make it more dangerous, even better if you pair him with Simonsson who can play both roles too.
Nice blog Mutts, very good topic to bring up and discuss.
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