: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:56 pm  

Chris28 wrote:

Too much game time IMO. He was running hard for 80 minutes at a time and it was bound to catch up with him at some point.

Agreed.

Can't blame a punch from a huge bloke or the loss of his mum - many, many other players have come back from both of these without it ending his career.

His body is shot at, and he has burned out - Graham will do the same, and Saints will have similar business sense as Bradford had and farm him out to some sucker of a club.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:44 pm  

Nick NJ wrote:

...He should read this thread if he needs some motivation and desire to get back to anything like his former self.

I would agree but the only thing gonna shake him out of this rut is himself. He shows signs of doing so from time to time but sums up Wigan in the last few years - one step forward, two back.

I think any British RL fan would love to see Stu Fielden back to his best and thumping a few Aussies but in my opinion, he was probably at his best between 2001-2003, so we've just as much chance of gettin a decent 80 mins out of Brendan Hill or Andy Platt.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:01 pm  

Cragganmore Kid wrote:

Agreed.

Can't blame a punch from a huge bloke or the loss of his mum - many, many other players have come back from both of these without it ending his career.

His body is shot at, and he has burned out - Graham will do the same, and Saints will have similar business sense as Bradford had and farm him out to some sucker of a club.

ahem..

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:44 pm  

To be perfectly honest, the guy was a pretty good prop during Bradford's decent days, but I think the club may well have burnt him out by him playing 80 minutes at such a young age, which is what I fear we may do again with Sam Burgess.

Quite controversially I'd add, I never thought he was the best in the world, I thought he got carried alot by the likes of Jamie Peacock. You only need to remember the Mason incident to see Fielden on his jacksy, and JP steam in and give it to Mason!

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:57 pm  

Could a year out do it for him? I'm thinking he may choose retirement after his Wigan contracts up anyway.
Paul Rauhihi had a year out a few years back through injury at Wire and he cites that as the reason he's still able to do a job now at over 35 (might even be near 36). Fielden just looks too lightweight for me and his techniques wrong.
He's still not a BAD player, just a shadow of that prop I remember.
If he did a tendon for a year now i'm thinking it may be a blessing in disguise for him.

: Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:33 am  

Dico wrote:

If he did a tendon for a year now i'm thinking it may be a blessing in disguise for him.

If that happened I think he'd most likely retire.

: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:29 am  

I could have sworn that I posted on this thread yesterday.

What happened? Did it degenerate into mindless drivel after I'd gone home and some of it got removed?

: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:03 pm  

I'd have him at Wakey, I think that Kear and more importantly Paul Broadbent would do wonders with him.

Look what they have done with Wilkes and Moore.

: Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:03 pm  

Cragganmore Kid wrote:

I can't recall Fielden ever getting involved in the biff, to be honest.

He was good at raising his fist in an oh so threatening manner, but can't recall him really mixing it with anyone.

The one time his bluff was called, he was put on his harris.

Mind you, surely copping a good shot on the chin shouldn't be enough to finish a career?

He had a go with Barrie Mc in 2003/04 time iirc

Cant believe how bad he has got since Mason floored him and his Mam died tho he was one of the best props in the world when at Bradford yet now hes not even in the top 10 best props in SL

: Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:23 pm  

TBF even before he left Bradford he was on the downward spiral. His last good game for the Bulls was the 2006 WCC. But leading up to that game and the games after it until he joined Wigan his performances were nothing special