CC TIGER said:
the thing I like most is his closing speed an ability to get a fist on the ball
I think this is a FBs greatest strength, particularly with the new hands in the back rule and the move away from contested marking with the introduction of the heavy & precise possession game.
That I can see, there is little reward for FBs in the modern game who purely wrestle body to body with the gorillas. FBs the likes of Mick Martyn are dinosaurs in the modern game. The position has become so much more than the ability to purely negate. They must also create.
Whilst
some size & muscle is important, a successful FBs wits and athleticism is far more important in beating their opponent.
Silvagni, the full back of the century, was a relative stick when he played on the likes of Lockett and Dunstall. He rarely played the wrestling game and his success with that approach speaks for it's self.
Even Darren Gaspar, no man mountain, successfully relied on his speed and smarts at his best, more so than strength and muscle. From my perspective it's not ever been Gaspar's ability hold an opponent that's been under question, it's his weaknesses in other areas.
For this reason I have hopes that one of Thursfield or McGuane with a little extra muscle & experience will take Gas's spot soon enough. Time will tell which of these two will have what it takes. 8)
