Matterson has been our best forward (outside ICE) the last month. He should go to 13 permanently imo. Nathan Brown has been great for years, but he is losing his impact and has never been the ball player that Matterson is. This will help our halves (who are likely to be down D Brown next week) and will also boost our bench prop rotation. I think Maka and Kaufusi on at the same time makes us too flat. I would drop Kafusi in this scenario because Maka has a higher work rate. It would also inject a bit of fire back into N Brown.
I suspect BA carries Carty as a replacement if a half goes down. However, I'd be inclined to either play him higher minutes (give Lane a rest), or not play him at all, and have Matterson be the back up half.
I'd also play Perham at 6 this week (if D Brown gets suspended). Poor kid has tried hard since being on the wing, but he's not suited to it due to his size. If not, then play him at 14. Hopefully Russel can play wing.
We need Nuikore back ASAP too.
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He is losing impact and its time for Matterson. Agree Carty needs more time. Lane was totally gassed and he was still left out there when Carty was fresh. Also time for an actual winger.
yesterdays game had the bench actually having more impact than the starters. Our change in fortune seemed to coincide with junior and reg going off and maka, kaufusi and matterson coming on. its not normally the case but it was very evident yesterday.
i would suggest we would lose more effectiveness if matto started than where he is coming off the bench. his footwork and skill seem to me to be more suited playing against a fatiguing opposition than a fresh one and that may be why he has been more prominent in recent weeks.