I cannot believe you want to drop Welsby who for me is the cleverest player in the squad & keep Dodd in the side . It seems to me Woolf has told him to stay out of the way . This cannot be right .
As far as I can see, no one has suggested dropping Welsby ? He can come off the bench & play virtually anywhere as required. The proverbial ace in the hole. Fages is injured, Dodd is a specialist scrum half & is our future. Why would you not play Dodd ? Surely you didn't expect Woolf to say to Jonny.... OK Jonny, just let Dodd do everything, you have a rest ? Dodd did just fine against Hull, a couple of runs, kicked the ball well & did brilliantly for Welsby's 3rd try. He certainly didn't stay out of the way.
Not sure what you mean by this? Told who to stay out of the way? If you mean Welsby then you're way off. You won't get many bigger admirers of Welsby than Kristian Woolf.
It's not about dropping Welsby as such, it's about what combination provides the best options for the team. Just because Welsby had a good game at Wembley at 7 doesn't all of a sudden push him in front of Dodd in that position.
Woolf has said Dodd is getting a crack at 7 now so he isn't going to start chopping and changing that. Dodd has waited patiently and played out of position to physically prepare him for this chance and now he's ready for it. He's a round peg in a round hole to replace Fages.
Welsby in many ways does deserve a starting position and I see where you're coming from with that, but he offers so much versatility off the bench and can come on and really impact the game so it's a perfect fit for the time being. He can still have a huge influence. He can cover anyone from 1-7 who gets injured or he can spell Knowles at 13. Woolf can decide how and where and when to inject him into the game depending how it's going, which is a great luxury to have.
Being on the bench no longer means you're not as good or as important as those who are starting. It just means it sometimes works better that way. James Roby won a Man of Steel largely off the bench let's not forget.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
One of Welsby’s other tries also came from a Dodd kick. The kick was intended for Coote but the ball was batted back to Welsby. At this stage, Dodd should be allowed to play at 7 and he and Welsby work well together. Welsby maybe at loose forward. Welsby can work some magic no matter where he plays and having him and Dodd on the pitch mean that Catalans can’t focus on Lomax as much as they’d like. There’s something like “if we hadn’t known such riches” in James’ “Sit Down”. No one should complain because Welsby is coming off the bench.
Coote has one “bad” game in about 20. I thought he was outstanding at Wembley. At Hull he was a bit off with his kicking and was at fault for the Swift try but he still managed to provide assists for two tries. Plus he’s such an experienced organiser from the back. He should and will be full back on Saturday.
Coote and Roby were below par for the first third of the season, both a bit ineffective and couldn't get us going. At the time we just had the one pivot and everything was going through Lomax. Last 4 or 5 games Coote and Roby are back on it and the Welsby uprising is giving us so many options now, more so if Dodd joins the party going into the play offs.