Freddie Steward

[fortysix]

Its apparant that Freddie is losing ground to the ultra quick No15 speedsters such as Josh Hodge, George Furbank and Joe Carpenter, and could easily fall by the wayside.

Would this not be the time to convert him into a Centre, and with some Margot Wells type sprint training, morph into a very dangerous unit?

What do you all think?

[TigerFeetSteve]

Its apparant that Freddie is losing ground to the ultra quick No15 speedsters such as Josh Hodge, George Furbank and Joe Carpenter, and could easily fall by the wayside.

Would this not be the time to convert him into a Centre, and with some Margot Wells type sprint training, morph into a very dangerous unit?

What do you all think?

I think he's a world level 15, seen as such by both the current Tigers Head Coach and the current England Head Coach. As such I can't see him moving to a position where his real standout skills (high ball & ability to land from a high ball and make yards with a mistimed chase) are negated.

[Rugbygramps]

Its apparant that Freddie is losing ground to the ultra quick No15 speedsters such as Josh Hodge, George Furbank and Joe Carpenter, and could easily fall by the wayside.

Would this not be the time to convert him into a Centre, and with some Margot Wells type sprint training, morph into a very dangerous unit?

What do you all think?

I think he's a world level 15, seen as such by both the current Tigers Head Coach and the current England Head Coach. As such I can't see him moving to a position where his real standout skills (high ball & ability to land from a high ball and make yards with a mistimed chase) are negated.

Agreed and not being a stato, I would imagine his yards gained per game are up there with all the others

[Tiglon]

I don't think he's losing any ground whatsoever, he's still a top class full back. There may be games where a Carpenter (not sure he's the quickest either?) Or Furbank might be more suitable.

The idea of having Josh Hodge in an international is a bit scary to be honest. A great player for the media to gush about with a few spectacular runs, but his basics aren't good enough for a team that might actually want to win games consistently.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

There are aspects of Freddie's game that could do with him working on, but moving position not sure.

[Rugbygramps]

There are aspects of Freddie's game that could do with him working on, but moving position not sure.

Does the perfect player exist. Surely all players have aspects of their game that need working on.
It’s been mentioned before that once he gets up to speed not many run away from him, because of his long levers he may need a couple of strides

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

There are aspects of Freddie's game that could do with him working on, but moving position not sure.

Does the perfect player exist. Surely all players have aspects of their game that need working on.
It’s been mentioned before that once he gets up to speed not many run away from him, because of his long levers he may need a couple of strides

It was more his kicking & occasionally his positioning in defence (non kick related), the odd session with Geordan Murphy wouldn't go amiss, maybe Felix Jones will provide it with England.

[westwinds31]

Agree with a lot of this ^^^ - as good as Hodge & co are, they'll soon find that you don't get as much space at international level as you do in the Premiership, assuming that he gets an opportunity. Steward for me has really improved his carrying and returning the ball. Metres made will confirm this I suspect.

[anz3001]

Its apparant

Is it? Not for me.

One of the things that is still existing is how good Freddie already is and yet there’s still room to improve, he’s just turned 23.

[sam16111986]

I've seen this sort of questioning a few times of Steward in the lead up to the world cup and then afterwards. Same points come to mind each time:

1. He's a young lad who's still developing. There are elements of his game that do need more work still. They are reducing with time.

2. Fans seem to have forgotten what it was like to not had the stability Steward brings at fullback. Furbank is being touted as the form pick at the minutes with people casually forgetting him looking like a deer in headlights when on the international stage previously. Hodge isn't close to realistic selection until he sorts out some of the weaknesses in his game and gets over his bad luck with injuries.

3. He needs more touches in attack. He's a powerful carrier. Coming into the line at pace he'll cause carnage. If he can find a way of finding those extra touches a lot of these questions will disappear.

[Hot_Charlie]

I don't think he's losing any ground whatsoever, he's still a top class full back. There may be games where a Carpenter (not sure he's the quickest either?) Or Furbank might be more suitable.

The idea of having Josh Hodge in an international is a bit scary to be honest. A great player for the media to gush about with a few spectacular runs, but his basics aren't good enough for a team that might actually want to win games consistently.

And there's a reason why the younger Steward emerged out of Hodges shadow. The media seem to gush about Hodge like he's a 20 year old. He isn't.

Steward's game is slowly improving and becoming more rounded but Rome, as they say, wasn't built in a day.

[kk20gb30]

Its apparant that Freddie is losing ground to the ultra quick No15 speedsters such as Josh Hodge, George Furbank and Joe Carpenter, and could easily fall by the wayside.

Would this not be the time to convert him into a Centre, and with some Margot Wells type sprint training, morph into a very dangerous unit?

What do you all think?

Lets not forget the actual ability to defend here....
Who would you rather under a high ball ?
Who to make the last tackle ?

Freddie Steward is , for me world Class in his position , and still getting better. Not perfect , but still untapped potential..
Again , for me, Josh Hodge, George Furbank and Joe Carpenter are not ( yet ?) close defensively .They have attributes but not enough to displace a world class number 15

[Offside]

Hodge had a mare against Sarries. Freddie has one or two misfortunes, if not mistakes, as bounce of ball etc can get you. Hodge was targeted by Sarries, they dont do that with Freddie!
Have 3 Freddies in the back 3 would be wrong. Need a balance of skills, speed and power in the back three. He contributes well to that blend at international level. I am not sure others do as well in comparison.

[Rugbygramps]

I would be interested to know from the OP what skill sets Freddie has got that would make him a 12, because, just imo, I don’t see it

[Hot_Charlie]

I would be interested to know from the OP what skill sets Freddie has got that would make him a 12, because, just imo, I don’t see it

'Cos Jordie Barrett can play 12 and 15 innit, and Steward's about the same height as him? Obviously means he'd fit in perfectly at 12!

Other than that, no idea.