Could Blake Austin play centre?

R

Roysta59

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I really like what Blake brings to the table. He is 94kg plus, runs well and his defence is getting better.
Could he be a possible centre with Lawrence lock or leaving the club (if rumours are correct). Moses will be no 6 next year if he can bulk up.
Austin has great energy and when he makes a mistake he doesn't shut down he keeps trying.
Just a thought as I see we need him
 
He's got the running game and has that extra ball playing ability. I suppose the question becomes "do we get value of Blake playing in the centres?"
 
I feel teddy would be to small considering the size of te average centre (although croker and gagai are not that big)
 
both teddy and austin could play centre. Its one of the options for this year…Rowe to full back Moses to 6 and Austn to centre.
 
I think he would play anywhere to get on the field and do a good job , when people talk about Brooks , Teddy, woods , Moses , being great young players , he will be right up there with them

Position 6
 
Dugan and Inglis have made the switch look easy. I know it's not. But a multi dimensional player like Austin would have what it takes.
To answer Willows question on if we get value out of him at centre, I think we do. He wouldn't be one of those centres that just hangs out wide. He would inject himself into the play when we need to keep building momentum.
Plus at full strength we need him in the starting side so we can have four forwards on the bench. AtM he's the perfect fill in player with all our injuries. Long term he'd make a good centre, best off grooming him at centre this off season. For the rest of this year he should play 5/8 or fullback as that's were we need him.
 
Austin at 6 has straighten up the opposition defence so well, giving Moses time and numbers to create a lot.

I believe that he maybe best at 6, moses at 1 until he thickens up, which could be a few years, and teddy in the centers like he did for Italy.

_Posted using RoarFEED V.4_
 
If he improves his defence he could well play a Jamie Cryin' type role in the centres. An extra ball player in the line would keep the opposition guessing. God forbid one of the halves go down he could then slot in at pivot and you could slide a second rower into the centres to cover.
 
No no no no no!
Austin is our 6 he's not a centre. Leave moses chiming at fullback. As for teddy who knows what will become of him when he returns, he may never be the same again.
 
@TIGER said:
No no no no no!
Austin is our 6 he's not a centre. Leave moses chiming at fullback. As for teddy who knows what will become of him when he returns, he may never be the same again.
Click to expand...

This is true as well.

Hypothetically if Teddy was injured severely enough that he couldn't play on (not necessarily talking about his current injury, but given this clubs track record with career ending injuries you never know,) we don't really have a problem. But Teddy will most likely return at the start of next season and Austin is really too good to not have in the run on side. I think he is wasted on the bench.

Anything can happen between then and now though so it's not worth getting too far ahead of ourselves.
 
I'm sure he could, he has enough natural ability and certainly seems to have the mental drive to achieve. He could be like a younger, modern version of Justin Hodges.

Speed - tick.
Step - tick.
Hands - tick.
Kicking game - tick.

I reckon the big question is, does Blake want to play centre? Because the above is more of a #6 than a #3.

I really like the idea of having a player with those abilities in the backline though, it would certainly add another dimension.
 
To be honest, I think he is going to make a great 5/8 for another team. A person with dreams and drive toward a goal, will not and should not waver.

he said he wants 5/8 and he will get 5/8 regardless of team.
 
I think blake Austin could play any where because he is a natural football one of the best buy wests tigers have ever made I just hope we can keep him happy
 
@thesquid said:
To be honest, I think he is going to make a great 5/8 for another team. A person with dreams and drive toward a goal, will not and should not waver.

he said he wants 5/8 and he will get 5/8 regardless of team.
Click to expand...

For sure, and he hasn't wavered - always been clear on wanting the 6 - and definitely seems a focused, head strong young fella - part of what's so likeable about him.

Having said that, if it meant keeping him, I think he'd be a great centre, if allowed to roam a little, and inject himself as Benji did against the Dragons last year.
 
Blake could play pretty much anywhere in the backline and has played centre in the lower grades at Penrith but I think he would be wasted a little there..he is best getting his hands on the football so 6 is ideal for him… moving forward I think given his versatility makes him the ideal 14...however given injuries will strike he'll find himself in the starting side more often than not...
 
best for the team I think is this
1- teddy his power running game is the best we have and he can play as 2nd receiver
3 0r 4 - Austin could and would make a good centre has that allround natural ability
6 - moses he will be one of the best and don't forget how good he and brooks go together

the above is what would be best for the team, and consider we have no money to buy any more players so it may well be what happens.
 
If we could go back in time, he would have been a fantastic inside centre but playing him anywhere that doesn't use his organising skills would be a waste. So, yes, he could play centre but he shouldn't.
 
He has already shown he could play any position except maybe prop, but he real value to the team is in a position where he gets plenty of ball. AS I said before, he will play 6,7,1 and 14, depending on team requirements , and when he is off contract he will be hot property for a lot of teams
 
If Moses and Brooks are the best two organisers in the team why wouldn't they be halves? They will be.

14 has to be a prop forever more, so no Blake Can't be 14 going forwards. In fact no back ever should be on the bench, unless there's injury concerns (in which the injured back is either fit enough to play 80 or they aren't).

Blake's greatest strength is his running game. So let him run. He can still pop up nice balls for his inside or outside man. He'd be like a Shaun Berrigan, started out as a halfback but ended up playing hooker then ended up as a centre and scoring a bucket load of tries.

Lyon isn't exactly void of touching the ball at Manly because he plays centre… Due to our lack of depth at centre it makes a lot of sense to play Austin there...!
 
He could , but I'd like him to spend at least 3 months learning the defensive aspect of playing centre

I'm Teddy's biggest fan , but he played well in the WC at centre and if Austin continues to improve the best for all involved might be to have all of them on the field

The only issue for me would be Tedesco probably lacks the size to play centre

Will really depend on our recruitment over the next 6 months on what actually happens
 
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