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Message: [QUOTE="rnabokov, post: 2529145, member: 1847"] My whole point in wanting to play Oates on the wing is this, and I do not mean that is where he should stay for the rest of his career. 1. He is a gold mine. End of story. He is exactly what we need FOR THE TEAM in 2014. We need points. How many tries did our wingers score this year and who were the they? I rest my case. 2. He is 18 and learning the ropes. Wing is IMO a good place to start for someone like Oates who has clearly shown he can play there, enjoys it immensely, and outscores any winger we have except Hoffman (who is a specialist winger pretending to be a FB). On his contribution this year, he is therefore a gold mine for us while he comes to grips with 1st grade. 8 tries in 9 games? Yes please. Kahu is too slow, Drew is nowhere near Oates yet, if ever, and then there is Maranta 2. Wing is, unlike a number of idiot journos who say : "... relegated to the wing", a vitally important position yet has less pressure on a junior player as it is a specialist position with specialist skills BUT less than say a centre, who is required to perform a broader range of functions, with more pressure to perform them well or else ... like heavy defence, setting up plays, turning on a dime and chasing; Again, Oates has taken to wing like a duck to water. He is learning support play, finishing, catching and running. Anyone who can give Uate a run for his money = a good winger, and later, a good centre or back rower. 3. The last thing we need is to overload him at age 18/19. Sure, we can whack him in the forwards and use him as a battering ram under Hook's coaching methods but I feel that is both counter-productive, and we have enough back rowers at this point in time 4. Centre. For mine, Kahu is the ideal fit. He is relatively experienced, quick enough, has great instincts, a beautiful step and can pass. Ideal for mine until Hodges returns. 5. When necessary, Oates can always be benched if we are desperate, say through injuries to key players Like I say, for mine, Oates has the potential to be the next Gene Miles. The last thing we need to do is to do a Norman on him and throw him in the deep end with only an ego for a life raft To end my rant, the LAST THING HE NEEDS IS TO BULK UP. He is long and lean. He is not a Papalli, or Bukuya or Parker. Hands off the pies Hook [/QUOTE]

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