Riki and Piakura ( if he can stay on the field ) are 80 min players. I do agree its a bit of an issue. Oatesy is back row cover if we leave him on the bench. Our issue is we can cover it if we dont carry a hooker, but i dont think we have an 80 min hooker. I dont think Kobe has it in him to play on an edge tbh.
Yeah so in the situation before where Willison and Te Kura are coming through and looking very promising, where does Kobe fit?
14. Smoothy / Mozer (need a back up hooker)
15. Willison
16. Te Kura
17. Forward utility (Oates, Hunt, Kobe, etc.) - Kobe potentially last here, because what positions is he covering??
If Kobe wants to guarantee his spot on the bench he needs to expand his game... he's a mobile small forward that cuts blokes in half, but he hasn't showed ball playing, an ability to play hooker or an ability to play in the second row or outside backs.
He's basically Jazz or Erin Clarke... who are currently struggling to make the 17 each week... compared to Dylan Walker (ball plays and covers outside backs), Peachey, Connor Watson, Dylan Lucas, etc. You want to be that utility forward on the bench you need to be covering another position for injuries whilst also having a purpose when there are no injuries.
At the moment he's got a purpose when there's no injuries, but he's not exactly helping when an injury does occur... so he needs to be looking over his shoulder because X and BTK are coming.