I think Staggs would be a great option as an attacking 2nd rower, but let's be honest defence is often an afterthought for him. If the centre he lined up with was also even slightly below standards in terms of coordinated defensive structures (i.e. Mariner) then we'd be almost giving the opposition a free passage to our try line.
I'd love to see Madge have Staggs run Riki's lines in attack as at present Riki is a great kick chaser, a great front on tackler but his lateral defence and defensive concentration on our line is suss. he's also bog average at running onto a ball close to the try-line and especially in traffic. How often has he put a pass down with the try-line open in front of him? Having said that, Riki is the 2nd rower who I think Madge can improve the most. Ben Te'o is just the guy to sort him out and give him a more calculated ruthlessness to match his physique.
As things stand Piakura is stealing a huge chunk of our salary cap. As each season goes on I find myself more and more asking what did so many people see in this guy? He's injury prone, his ability to read and defend a sweep play is non-existent, he is often found still on the ground after making tackles close to our line thus leaving an easy hole for the opposition and that's provided he manages to stay on the field due to HIAs and sin bins. Granted, many of these short-comings can be fixed but he's being paid like he's already mastered them all. He's being paid Tallis/Thorn/Gillett money and playing like a poor man's Whitchurch.
The line Jetski ran for Paddy's sublime offload on Thursday night was an exact replica of what some on here are raving that Piakura can do. The thing is, how much less are we paying this guy? add to this he manages a heap more minutes than Piakura offers.
