Glad we're seeing the same things LRIP!LeRouxIsPHat wrote:Ha I'd see things very differently RTB. Molony is underpowered for sure, but I'd be more inclined to get him back to what he was like a couple of years ago where he had great feet before contact and really good hands. Trying to put on weight last year seemed to mess him up completely, and while I think he's got the balance a bit more right this season, he's still been very mixed and some way short of his best form from a couple of seasons back IMO. I'd be delighted if he got back to those levels week in week out for us. Maybe he can put on weight over time and bring everything together, but if he can't then I hope we don't waste time making him into something he's not.
He seems to have got his defensive mojo back which is great (went through a spell of over reading things and being done on the inside), but I'm not too bothered about his carrying tbh. He's a very willing carrier and if he keeps popping up just to set up rucks then I'm fine with that as long as we have better carriers elsewhere in the pack. I certainly don't think we suffered in the tight when he was lighter a couple of seasons ago.
I did think he could become an international quite quickly after he first broke through (which had a lot to do with our lack of options at the time) but obviously that hasn't happened/is unlikely to any time soon, but am still confident he'll be very good for Leinster. Fast forward to after the World Cup and he'll be a 25 year old with a mountain of playing and captaincy experience, not a bad place to be and hard to believe he won't have improved a fair bit by then.
His tackling has got a lot better this season. He was missing tackles like crazy last year and was all over the place defensively, the worst of the second rows by a long, long distance.
Ross can pass and handle and there's a potential role for him in certain situations as the Aly Muldowney type distributor in the middle of the pitch. He's a bright guy with good rugby intelligence, so it's something he could do well. He's got to be more effective at the breakdown though – he's 111kg after all, he's not a shrimp.
The reason I think he'll be a regular Leinster captain is informed by the supposition that he won't be a regular international. For example, Leo only started 6 test matches in his second [2007-2014] stint with Leinster. Being available for selection and unconstrained by international minutes is a big deal for Leinster ... so many of our players are regular features in Irish match-day 23s. I don't necessarily think Molony is going to be THE club captain like Leo or Isa, but I think he'll be in the leadership group for a long time and will play a lot of games for us.