One position I wouldn't mind seeing Russell have a shot in would be centre. He's an electric attacker and he could provide us with some real spark in that left centre position when Carmont leaves. I remember Kyle Eastmond playing some sensational rugby at centre and Russells stature and attacking style remind me of him. He'd need time learning the ropes defensively in the position but at least his weakness under high kicks wouldn't be tested as often.



One things for sure, he's too good to be playing u20's or even championship rugby and I think he knows that.

Sam has shown this season that he can pass.



He is now making a judgement of when to pass, when to hold, when to dummy. Last season when we ran out of steam, he seemed to get a little 'found out' by the opposition, he was often guilty of always holding onto the ball.



Now he puts so much doubt into the opposition - will he pass or go himself, last season they didn't need to worry about the outside man.



Passing at the speed he runs is far far harder than passing when virtually standing still and your legs are planted.



He is now playing far more as a hybrid fb/stand off - he gets involved earlier at times and at others as 3rd man - it's not going to be a real big leap for him to move to 6.



He will need a more structured 7 to play alongside though otherwise we could lose some of the organisation we currently have - but he has shown he has the brains to adapt and play a team game.



It all depends upon the recruitment for next year - we have a few options and where he plays will depend on who we retain or sign.



If we only sign smith and lose finch, I think sam will play more at 6 and Russell at 1.

my thoughts too.



hes gonna get targetted in defence if he goes to 6, which will slow down his attacking game.



maybe when hes older, 28 ish, he may have bulked up a bit and be more reliant on using his brain as opposed to his speed ( finchish)

Having taken part in training sessions with him at my old amateur club were he was coach, even at 18/19 he was unbelievable at passing. He could pass from one touchline to the other and accurate

Spat coffee all over the keyboard whilst reading that. Excellent sir.

When i first heard about Finch not signing i thought about it myself but it wouldn't work



We would lose so much strike power it can be compared to putting Pat at full back he is safe but far better on the wing and Sam is the same we have an extra half back coming into the line with him there and his foot work the way it is teams cant cope with it

I would love to know what his wrong with his passing game and which FB's have better passing games than him?

Sam has turned into the top fullback in super league and is probably in the top 3 in the world a the moment. Why on earth you'd want to move him is beyond me. He's played better at fullback than he has in the halves. We are loosing a half back, possibly 2, if so replace 2 half backs and leave a player in his usual position were he's playing out of this world.

Sam is arguably in the top 3 full backs for his attack but certainly not his defence. He's less than perfect under the high ball, in fact I don't know why more teams don't bomb him.



If Wigan can utilise his attacking from 6 then we would be much better playing there off a creative/controlling 7.

There is always the option of playing Lockers as a 1st receiver on one side with (perhaps Smith) on the other with Sam sill linking up in the 3/4 line.



We have the players who have the silk sets to be interchangeable depending on the play, this will keep the defence guessing. Personally I'd like to see Sam having a 'free role' attacking from 6.

people can say hes obviously a fullback but we havent seen him in a halfback role in almost two years and i think we can all say hes developed alot since then so id personally like to see what he could do.

If we were to move Sam from FB to SO all we'd lose would be his kick returns IMO. Just because he'd be down as a 6 on the team sheet doesn't mean he'd have to play first or second receiver all the time, if ever if he didn't want. Smith and Lockers could act as first and second receivers with Sam chiming in at the end of that, with Russel running lines off all three. I'm not for or against it. I just don't think because Sam would be named at 6 we'd see much of a different attacking structure than we already do, mainly thnx to lockers and his ability to play 6.



I'm still reasonably confident Finch will stay, making this topic null and void.



However I still hold the opinion that Sam's career will mirror that of Lockyers, by which I mean he'll play the early part of his career at FB, moving to SO as he age's.

That's fine in theory, but you say "replace two half-backs" as if they grow on trees. I don't see a huge pool of quality halfbacks that are queuing up to come to Wigan.



In an ideal world, yes, I agree, Sam at #1 would be best, but as things stand at present, we have no halves confirmed for next year, only rumours. We have a fullback (Russell) who is just about ready to step up (judging on his Hull performances), but neither Mellor nor Powell, IMO, are quite ready to take over in their positions. That makes us reliant on signings, and while I would be delighted if we could find someone of Finch's or Tommy's ability that is available, I don't see many out there.