Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:31 am  

He has the Sinfied conundrum without the obvious exceptional game management skills of the England captain. I think he is a 13 but, like Sinfield, you could see him at 9 or in the halves. It's down to the coach to utilise his skills to the maximum, irrespective of the number on his back.

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:32 am  

Depends what you want from your loose forward.

Most teams these days play the 13 as essentially a third prop. Bulls did largely last year too with the likes of Chev Walker and Jamie Langley playing like that when they were in the 13 position.

If you want a ball playing loose forward though, in the mould of the Sculthorpe, Farrell and more recently O'Loughlin, then Addy is probably the best option in the squad.

I personally feel he's best running out wide as a second rower, but I also think he'd make a very good centre. Strong runner, doesn't need to be as big as a back rower, and has the hands to put away a winger properly, unlike most centres we've had in recent years.

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Tue Nov 12, 2013 12:48 pm  

Loose without a doubt. He is a dangerous runner, has good skills and a smart brain. A bit more force in the tackle and there will be nobody that can take the jumper from him for the next five years.

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:35 pm  

Left 2nd row. On the fringe, committing defenders. Runs hard, can pass before the line or get his hands free plus a short kicking game.

With Heath gone LF is going to need to lead the ruck defence and that's not his game.

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:20 pm  

Loose forward for me. His kicking game can be utilized there, he can still make yards, and can still be effective in attack with his ball playing.

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Wed Nov 13, 2013 9:27 pm  

BullCharge wrote:

Loose forward for me. His kicking game can be utilized there, he can still make yards, and can still be effective in attack with his ball playing.

At the moment he is a jack of all trades, oh I would love him to become a master at LF, we have had enough of props at LF oh for the days of Johnny Rae and later Bob Haigh! Am I the only one who wants to return to the days of the ball playing LF?

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Thu Nov 14, 2013 1:57 pm  

11, 12 or 13 for me, where he's given a bit of opportunity to roam. He proved last year that he's capable as a ball hander/playmaker and decent with the boot. As M@islebugs said, I think he's be best used on the fringes to commit some defenders and then pop a nice offload to put through a centre, winger or FB. Used properly, he could be very dangerous indeed.

[Bullseye]

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:21 pm  

I wonder if we’ll ever see the old classical ball handling loose forward like the ones mentioned earlier. I remember the likes of Dave Heron and Harry Pinner. Small blokes in comparison to the other forwards but far more skilful, capable of breaking the line through footwork rather than brawn and capable of putting players through gaps.

Nowadays with the 10m rule the onus seems to be on getting “a roll on” and winning the energy battle. As such a lot of finesse has been lost. Could it come back? It’d need an imaginative coach to make it work IMO. In defence the weaker, smaller forwards are less effective and this means a drain on the energy of others around them as the weak links get targeted. In attack you’d need excellent handling skills to overcome the lack of size or you’d end up getting smashed and the team would lack go-forward.

As far as Addy is concerned I think needs to develop his tackling technique so he can make up for his lack of size. In attack he needs to work on his footwork and core skills so he can get the pass away under pressure. If he’s got runners backing him up it could be a winner. If he’s just taking the ball up alone he’s no threat at all.

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:33 pm  

I think Hull FC are hoping Joe Westerman will also be a ball-handling loose forward. Jon Wilkin at St Helens and Sean O'Loughlin at Wigan are more obvious examples. Stevie Ward at Leeds and Ben Currie at Warrington are probably there with Danny Addy as the 'new breed'.

[Bullseye]

Re: What is Danny Addy's best position? : Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:44 pm  

Wilkin is a good shout. Addy should try to emulate him (without the headhunting). I think to make it at the very highest level he’s not big enough (like Wilkin). The best ball handlers are also huge like Sam Burgess and Sonny Bill Williams.