The 12 jersey

[wixfjord]

For me, the most interesting call when we ahve the lads back is who slots in here.

Plenty of options and horses for different courses, but I do think we need to pencil someone in.

Options are probably Reid, Madigan, Ferg, or else move Te'o in.

But based upon Luke Fitz' performance there today, surely he'd be worth a look? Not a great distributor, but him and Te'o would offer a fairly serious threat.

Would allow us to get Isa, Rob and Dave K onto the pitch too.

Exciting times.

[leinsterforever]

Henshaw will be unavailable for large parts of the season, so we'll need steady back-up. For me Reid is lacking in crucial areas of inside centre play so I'd like to see McFadden considered at 12 and Tom Daly brought through. What's the deal with Daly not having come through yet? Is he lacking defensively, or from a temperament point of view, because from the outside it looks as if there's a lot of raw material there for the coaches to work with? He's got the physique, kicking game and leadership qualities, and his sevens experience will have made him a good long passer and hopefully given him good attacking instincts. Thoughts?

[goreyguy]

Daly's got to contend with Teo & Reid always being available aswell as Luke Fitz. Plus he has been unlucky with injury at times.

[flustered]

McFadden at 12.....why??? Luke Fitz would be a good option at 12 but would be another away with the Irish squad, haven't seen a whole lot of Daly or any of these young guys so giving them a shot would be worth it.

[johng]

McFadden at 12 is soooooo...... two thousand and ten.

[Ruckedtobits]

For remainder of this season I'd go with Te'o and Ringrose in centre or Te'o and Luke or Luke and Ringrose.

We are now in trophy-hunt period, not performance focussed period. Don't want to see any unnecessary experimental selection, notwithstanding that Daly has shown potential at A team level in 12 jersey.

Reid still has capacity to creat gaps and opportunities but does not spread confidence, among either team-mates or fans, with his defensive displays. Mads is possible option at 12 but needs J10 alongside if he to wear the 12 jersey effectively.

If that is selection however, you could play any of Te'o, Ringrose or Luke in 13 jersey and I wouldn't be worried. However, there has not been a 12-13 combination who have nailed their colours to those jerseys with a stellar combined performance. There's still time and any of the next 3 weeks who suit perfectly.

[leinsterforever]

McFadden at 12.....why??? Luke Fitz would be a good option at 12 but would be another away with the Irish squad, haven't seen a whole lot of Daly or any of these young guys so giving them a shot would be worth it.

McFadden's a rubbish 13 but I think he's actually a useful 12. It's a simpler position and his strong tackling and ability to get over the gainline could be useful. He's not a skillful player but he's actually a competent passer so could put width on the game

[simonokeeffe]

McFadden at 12.....why??? Luke Fitz would be a good option at 12 but would be another away with the Irish squad, haven't seen a whole lot of Daly or any of these young guys so giving them a shot would be worth it.

McFadden's a rubbish 13 but I think he's actually a useful 12. It's a simpler position and his strong tackling and ability to get over the gainline could be useful. He's not a skillful player but he's actually a competent passer so could put width on the game

McFadden not known for his distribution and his head down approach (coupled with his size) isnt going to make too many yards in heavy traffic, my avatar aside
Plus hes played on the wing for so long now
Plus Luke is a much better 12 than him

[leinsterforever]

McFadden at 12.....why??? Luke Fitz would be a good option at 12 but would be another away with the Irish squad, haven't seen a whole lot of Daly or any of these young guys so giving them a shot would be worth it.

McFadden's a rubbish 13 but I think he's actually a useful 12. It's a simpler position and his strong tackling and ability to get over the gainline could be useful. He's not a skillful player but he's actually a competent passer so could put width on the game

McFadden not known for his distribution and his head down approach (coupled with his size) isnt going to make too many yards in heavy traffic, my avatar aside
Plus hes played on the wing for so long now
Plus Luke is a much better 12 than him

Luke is a much better 12. He'd be my first choice 12 for the rest of this season but next season he's likely to be away when Henshaw's away, and surely he won't be playing 12 when Henshaw's available? Plus there needs to be a contingency plan for when Luke is unavailable through injury

edit: and I don't think distribution would be a big issue with Ferg. He throws a pretty good pass to Rob Kearney for Luke Fitzgerald's try just after half time against Bath in 2011 (5:20 and replayed at 5:55 in video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69xdh1p7Mr8
I don't know how good he is passing the other way but I don't think there's any doubt that he'd be better than Te'o

[simonokeeffe]

Luke would be available slightly more (possibly) and if the management are smart theyd (partially) rotate the rest days between them

But yeah Luke will be 11 when Henshaw is 12, but if Ringrose is out Luke probably goes to 12 and Henshaw to 13

[LeRouxIsPHat]

My Steve Crosbie alarm just buzzed.

Abilitywise I'm not against Ferg moving inside. Might actually be a good idea given that he seems to have slowed down a bit. I'd also prefer Luke to stick to the wing so it would help facilitate that.

[simonokeeffe]

My Steve Crosbie alarm just buzzed.

Abilitywise I'm not against Ferg moving inside. Might actually be a good idea given that he seems to have slowed down a bit. I'd also prefer Luke to stick to the wing so it would help facilitate that.

I'd rather Daly get a go than Crosbie (especially if we as predicted dont sign a back up 10)
McFadden I wouldnt mind same weekend as a 6n game but nothing regular, back to old problem then of no physicality in midfield

[LeRouxIsPHat]

How very dare you.

I'm not just saying this because I'm president of Crosbie's fan club but I'm not too hopeful about Daly, just think he'll struggle with the pace of the first team both physically and technically. I thought the same about Ronaldson though and he's improved hugely with games.

It'll be interesting to see what we do at ten next season, that'll have a big knock on effect in the centres.

[Peg Leg]

What's Jordan Coghlan up to?

[molloyjh]

We're going to need a back-up 12 who will be available during international windows next season. So we have to consider who else we'll have available then. As it stands Marsh looks like he'll be our starting 10 for those periods. And judging from what I've seen this season we're going to need a hard running 12 capable of making yards in contact and tying down a few players in midfield. Otherwise we'll just being going wide and allowing defences to drift across. We were pretty toothless for the third quarter against a poor Zebre for that very reason.

Of our available players right now we're quite limited in that regard. Reid certainly doesn't fulfil that role, nor does Crosbie. I haven't seen enough of Daly over the last season or so to make a call there. In all honestly I think Ferg is the best option in that regard. Unless we do something with our game plan between now and September we can't really afford 2 lightweight centres. Is there anyone else that could slot into the big 12 role?

Peg Leg - Coughlan signed a 1 year deal with Munster AFAIK but he's back playing in the back row again (although he's not getting much game time). I reckon that experiment of converting him to a centre is well in the past at this stage.

[wixfjord]

I've been really impressed with Crosbie any time I've seen him. Would love him to get a run at some stage in the 12 shirt.

[simonokeeffe]

How very dare you.

I'm not just saying this because I'm president of Crosbie's fan club but I'm not too hopeful about Daly, just think he'll struggle with the pace of the first team both physically and technically. I thought the same about Ronaldson though and he's improved hugely with games.

It'll be interesting to see what we do at ten next season, that'll have a big knock on effect in the centres.

I was president of the Marty Moore fan club and look how well that worked out

I'm re flying the Isa kite again, he played enough 12 in NZ

[Oldschool]

How very dare you.

I'm not just saying this because I'm president of Crosbie's fan club but I'm not too hopeful about Daly, just think he'll struggle with the pace of the first team both physically and technically. I thought the same about Ronaldson though and he's improved hugely with games.

It'll be interesting to see what we do at ten next season, that'll have a big knock on effect in the centres.

I was president of the Marty Moore fan club and look how well that worked out

I'm re flying the Isa kite again, he played enough 12 in NZ

Leave ISA where he is, especially as we have very little cover for RK.
Outside Ringrose and Henshaw, the next wave contenders should be Crosbie, McFadden(12 only), Luke and ANOther young bucko.

[goreyguy]

Daly is quite clearly ahead of Crosbie.. one has a contract for next season and the other doesn't.

[Oldschool]

Daly is quite clearly ahead of Crosbie.. one has a contract for next season and the other doesn't.

We probably need both of them but maybe Nucifora wants Crosbie to move elsewhere.