I said this about Quinlan the first time I seen him play. His defence is worst ive ever seen from a saints fullback. It's the fact he can't tackle but the fact he just Doesnt want to.



He's got good hands and good support play but his kick returns are shocking. I don't think he's beat a man all year on a kick return.



He's up there with one of the worst fullbacks ive seen in a saints shirt. I can only think of Leon Felton who's worse.

Given the problems we've had just putting a body in the full back jersey this season we should be thankful Quinlan's as good as he is. The truth is we could have been much, much worse off.

But what does he give us? Yes he supports well and he's hot good hands but the kick return on the first play is the most important carry of the set. It can determine how the set goes and he's dead with the ball or flings long passes to swift which gives defenders time to get up on us.



I can see why he Doesnt play NRL as he's not physically up for it.

He needs to play better than this though he's had enough games now to settle into the structure, I don't think I,ve seen him make one successful one man tackle yet. Just get the feeling come "knock out rugby" time it will cost us, like St Pete says he doesn't play NRL its far too physical for him. Somehow we need to give him less exposure to a one man tackle but thats easier said than done I suppose.

He's got pace so why not try and run around the defence?

Beggars can't be choosers. A half-dozen games is hardly time enough to integrate fully into one of the most difficult positions on the pitch. It took Talau a full year to get going at centre. And let's not forget that he's a half-back recently moved into that role.



There's no point wailing about it. It's not like we've got a dozen young full-backs champing at the bit for a game.

It's the fact he won't do any contact in attack and defence which has nothing to do with only being here one week or one year.



Tackling at fullback and kick returns are not effected by game plans or being here a short time. Id kick to him all day as he cant hurt anyone with the ball.



The is no excuse for that williams try when he was basically skinned

Thats correct, its the very basic element of the game to be able to tackle, his timing to defend is the worse I,ve seen in the Superleague and Championship. Great when he's being put through a gap and picking up an offload, but he is very much a passenger in defence, lets hope he can sort it out.

The was always a reason why he doesn't play first grade and that's it. Funny that some wanted us to sign him for next year lol

No different to Steve Prescott. I saw him beaten in a very similar manner by Sean Edwards at Knowsley Road.



He has neither the build nor the bulk to be a fullback. But he's all we've got.



Deal with it.

Preccy was a much better defender one on one, he was good at bringing the ball back to the opposition, quite often beating the first man. He's scored quite a few 100 metre solo tries as well.

I don't think so. Preccy was actually HANDED OFF by Edwards on that score. At least George Williams is quick.



Stevie could have been one of the greats with a few extra inches. But he was a horrible tackler.

Preccy did make quite a few one on one tackles in his seasons, Quinny has not made any at all so far.



I think I,m going to leave Preccy alone now, just in case we start to go down the wrong road with this one

Yeah, well - seasons vs games is not a fair comparison.





People really need to remember just how dire the situation was when Quinlan got the call. Sure, Tommy would do a good job. But only at the expense of an entire wing.



Besides, it's not as though great fullbacks are everywhere in this league. Take away Hardaker and you are left with a very shaky bunch indeed.



Wigan's starting fullback dropped more clangers earlier this season than anyone.

Not sure why Steve Prescott's got brought up, however, in a Saints shirt I thought he was excellent in the fullback position. That isn't rose tinted specs, I genuinely thought he offered a lot in attack and was very very good on the 1 on 1 tackle.



And Shaun Edwards made everyone at some point look rather silly because he was a legend of the game. One of the greats.

Aye. Precky was light so he wasn't much use when a forward broke through and ran straight at him, but he was brilliant in situations like that Williams break.

You mean, aside from when Shaun Edwards (a considerably slower player) did him in very similar fashion.

Edwards wasn't slow.



Not sure why you've even picked him out as an example. Quinlan is very very ropey in defence and tackling 1 on 1, Prescott wasn't...why are we comparing them and to top it off using a one off moment were he got done by one of greats of rugby league?

Mugs is off on one.



But I've no idea why after a really good win the faults of our fullback are ahead of mose's impact, Turner putting in a more creative shift at 6 than we've seen most of this year, swift following up a hatrick with a great finish, Walsh playing a blinder and showing he can take on the line. Defending God knows how many repeat sets. Etc etc



So much good to pick from but as ever the focus on the one or two negatives

Not forgetting Makinson's match winning tackle mate!

True true or percy getting up in Wigan faces causing errors,

Or quinlan himself stopping a goal line try, percy grounding the ball before was it Williams.



I could go on and on and on and on and on......

Why are we comparing? Oh I don't know. Perhaps it might have something to do with them both being small, sleight in frame and weak tacklers because of it? And no matter how fast Edwards was - others have already pointed out that Prescott was quick enough to go the length of the field. So no excuses. Certainly not for being handed off also.



For someone playing out of position, away from home and likely without any inducement to stay Quinlan is doing OK.

Precisely. I thought last year this board couldn't get much lower in terms of negativity. But this season really has set a new benchmark.



At times I feel like I'm in a minority of about five regular posters who think this is a damned good side.



Forget about comparisons with other seasons. They are gone. We can only beat what's in front of us and given the nightmares we've endured this campaign - not to mention a rookie coach - I think we have a lot to feel proud of.



I mean, where are the usual crowd of Adam Swift bashers? Seem to have gone awful quiet once more. That move he put on in the corner for the try was mesmeric.

I just wished we used Percival as much as we use Jones. Can we swap them around? Seems daft to have our best attacking threat gathering dust on the right.

I agree that Percy is underused. But possession is a two-way street. If a strike player doesn't feel he's getting enough ball it's up to him to go looking for it.



It's the one area of Percy's game he needs to improve. Look at Turner. He's always making himself available and it's no co-incidence he's got 100 tries in SL.