Adamv6
An entirely reasonable disagreement of opinion.
I will stand by my assertion that Crane's carries do not lead to quicker ball though I may be guilty of slight exaggeration, in my view he is insufficiently dynamic to really accelerate the delivery.
In terms of turnovers, I confess I was thinking of Waldrom getting isolated and getting pinged for holding on or losing the ball to good work on the ground rather than spills. However given he carries the ball a lot, turnovers are to be expected esp in conditions like Sunday. I believe, as you obv do not, that Waldrom is a net positive even given the turnovers he might be guilty of. I can't concede that he is easy to put to ground, compared with Crane.
The tackling, as you say, is very subjective. I don't believe that Waldrom is esp. weak in this area but I will watch him this weekend with an eagle eye.
My point about the work in the contact area is that given a choice, I would always rather have my slower, less mobile, players in contact and faster, better ball carriers, standing off. This is as true for Waldrom Crane as it is for the backs. Of course you would rather have Castro in contact and Manu standing off to cover the wider channels, same in my view with Crane/Waldrom.
I was referring rather spitefully to Crane getting the big up from SBarnes in the game against Sale about his "control at the base" when he promptly tried to pick up and knocked on. I agree he has better footwork at the base but I would question what net benefit that brings us when he is so ineffective a ball carrier. Waldrom isn't THAT bad. It's a bit like TY's throwing in, it costs us but the net positives given his ball carrying, scrummaging and work in open play still means he is now a better pick than Chuter. Not many perfect players out there and for me, Cranes "control at the base" is a pretty negligible positive over Waldrom.
We agree, Crane's selection as captain is bizarre but c'est la vie Cockerill. I would be happier with Kitchener, Parling, Cole, Flood, Allen or Hamilton as captain instead of Crane who may be getting the 8 shirt a la Borthwick for England. Not worth his place but we made him captain so we have to pick him?
We also agree he is short of form and match fitness. My question to you is, is he fit but just not the player he was?
Further, we agree Toulouse back row is awesome.
I will watch for turnovers from Waldrom next weekend and you watch Crane and see if he achieves true gain line success. Let's reconvene