Ulster Midfield

[bootlaced]

We had one about the Ulster no 10 a year or so ago ,so why not one on the midfield?

Two positions,12 and 13.

Players vying for those spots in alphabetical order:

Cave
Marshall
Payne
Spence
Wallace
Whitten


Spence,Whitten and Wallace seem to be 12s

Cave and Payne seem to be 13s

Do we want to play crash ball up the middle from our 12s,or would we like a play maker to exploit space for the 13 and the wings?

Do we want a defensive midfield and hope that we can pick up loose ball for our wings to exploit?

Do we just want to keep it in the mix and play players out of position?

How should Ulster utilize these players in their best positions to benefit the team.

[Snipe Watson]

Spence is not a 12. His distribution is not good enough.
Payne is a 15

[notj]

No way should Payne play centre for us! Great player, but we have two of the most exciting young centres in Ireland in Marshall and Spence, a current Ireland international in Wallace and two excellent club players in Cave and Whitten. Thats serious strength in depth- five very decent Irish centres- and bringing in Payne to play centre would be a bit nuts. Nah, he'll play fullback.

As for our centres- I think Spence and Cave is the right partnership for us right now. But Luke Marshall has to be given a chance to play in this team, he's simply too talented. I think he has to be accommodated on the bench for us. He can cover fullback, Spence can cover wing.

Suffice to say that even without Wallace we have three great centres, so whoever McLaughs picks he's gonna get some grief from the keyboard warriors

As for Whitten- I rate him and I think he's developing a nice offloading game. But he may well end up on the wing though because we have four quality players and it's very hard to compete. Wallace is still an important player for us; a lot of experience there.

I agree Spence is not a complete 12, but the way we're playing in the first two games of the season we're using 15 as an auxiliary playmaker. This ameriolates his lack of distribution and his strike running is very effective.

[Snipe Watson]

Dizzy will only be on the wing as emergency cover.
For me, Cave is still the most complete centre we have on the books. Spence catches the eye with the sheer physicality of his game in both attack and defence. Marshall is a star in the waiting.

[bootlaced]

But Luke Marshall has to be given a chance to play in this team, he's simply too talented. I think he has to be accommodated on the bench for us. He can cover fullback

Agree that is why I copped out and did'nt include him in the centre mix,I don't know what his best position is,he appears to be quite useful at 10 as well.

[nonplussed]

He's a 12, still not fully fit

[cjp]

The IRFU have told Payne he will play 15 as we have so many IQ centre's, would read nothing into the fact he played 13 for the Blues this season as he had played in the back 3 before then. Payne will be our first choice 15 and personally I would have Wallace and Spence at 12 and 13 and finally allow Spence a bit more freedom to isolate defenders.

[Ardglass2]

Spence is a better 13 than 12.
Payne himself says he is a 15 first and a 13 second.
Cave is the best 13 at the moment.
Best 12 is highly questionable between Wallace and Marshall.

[notj]

But Luke Marshall has to be given a chance to play in this team, he's simply too talented. I think he has to be accommodated on the bench for us. He can cover fullback

Agree that is why I copped out and did'nt include him in the centre mix,I don't know what his best position is,he appears to be quite useful at 10 as well.

Aw, he's an out and out 12. Perfect like for like replacement for Wallace. He's too talented not to get gametime; I'm excited about the potential of Gilroy, McAllister and Spence but Marshall is our brightest talent in my view

[cjp]

But Luke Marshall has to be given a chance to play in this team, he's simply too talented. I think he has to be accommodated on the bench for us. He can cover fullback

Agree that is why I copped out and did'nt include him in the centre mix,I don't know what his best position is,he appears to be quite useful at 10 as well.

Aw, he's an out and out 12. Perfect like for like replacement for Wallace. He's too talented not to get gametime; I'm excited about the potential of Gilroy, McAllister and Spence but Marshall is our brightest talent in my view

Always good to hear from you Luke

[notj]

Nah, but he is a good player

[Snipe Watson]

Aw, he's an out and out 12. Perfect like for like replacement for Wallace. He's too talented not to get gametime; I'm excited about the potential of Gilroy, McAllister and Spence but Marshall is our brightest talent in my view

They are all good and will all be fixtures in green.............soon.

[rumncoke]

snipe

Your the only person so far to post the truth.

There are to many idealistic spectators posting who consider that every ball that is passed from out half will end up in a try if x or y plays inside/ outside centre. That every time the ball is made available to the backline it consists of outhalf, inside centre, outside centre ,and wing and the opposition don't exist. That line up of backs exists only 30 -40 % of the time.

If a team has 50% of the possession its breaking even if the backs outside the out half have 10% of the ball is a rarity to receive the ball in space and have space in front is a miracle .

Spence is a 12 because he is abrasive in defence as well as attack Cave is a 13 because he reads the game and has guile a feature totally lacking in Spence. Cave makes space, Spence devours it

Ardglass states Spence is a better 13 than 12 where is the evidence for this assertion because I have not seen any its not in his individual try scoring its not in the trys score by players outside him which, those who say is not a 12, will state is because his distributions bad if that is the case he is definitely not a 13 because all the opposition have to do is mark Spence because the wings are dummies.

Luke Marshall I reserve judgement but from what I have seen talented yes but worthy of the HYPE he gets no in the under 20 World Cup the only Irish player of any note was Conway of Leinster.

If you get 2-4 Internationals out of an under 20 side is exceptional . A player can only get 1 or 2 seasons for the u20s -- some players are Internationals until they get their pensions.

[Rooster]

Cave is the best 13 we have, end of story.

[Harold7]

Luke Marshall I reserve judgement but from what I have seen talented yes but worthy of the HYPE he gets no in the under 20 World Cup the only Irish player of any note was Conway of Leinster.

Hmmm I'd say his performances for Ulster last season, in particular against Cardiff, would be more indicative of his potential for us rather than the one and a half broadcast games I suspect you saw him play for Ireland U20s in a JWC where the Irish pack were comprehensively outplayed by all comers.

As for the topic in general, all I know is that right now Cave has to play 13 for us, 12 is wide open. I wouldn't be surprised if Whitten's move to the wing is something we see a bit more of given the log jam of players in the midfield and the lack of wingers we have, even with Trimble and Danielli back.