Marsters was below par in 2019 with the ankle injury, and I can understand the levels of frustration amongst supporters.
However when fully fit he has many attributes that make him difficult to handle in defence, a big body, powerful, footwork, strong fend, good hands, accurate flick pass, late offload. Both Marsters and Nofoaluma are very good at the late offload, and they’ve done so with three defenders wrestling them, without knowing the figures I imagine their accuracy percentage would very high at executing it, and second phase play certainly creates attacking opportunities, and opportunities to advance the ball down field when working out of our own end.
Marsters is a definite keeper in my opinion at this stage, and I’d be sticking with him solely as a centre. He’s looked reasonably comfortable playing both left and right edges which is an advantage for the team having that flexibility. When fully fit again I’d like to see him supplied with a bit more early ball, so he can line up and trouble a defender. And there’s also that try burned into my brain when he burst onto a short no-look Marshall pass to score a try that was an awesome sight behold, more of that full-steam straight running too please!!
It’ll be interesting to gage during the preseason which side of the field Madge will be working with Marsters - Brooky’s or Benji’s...? Marsters looked great on occasions when running straight and hard off Benji, but Madge shifted him to left centre at the back end of the season and that could well be worth persisting with considering the success with the Brooks/Garner combo. Not a bad option for Brooks to go out the back to Marsters or hit him with a face ball, as an alternative to the short pass to Garner.
My gut feeling just at the moment is Marsters will stay at left centre, Momirovski right centre with Tommy Talau next in-line as the third centre option.
I’m starting to think Mbye will shift to hooking duties and share that role with Reynolds next season. Considering their senior status and the money they are on they’ll both need to roll up the sleeves next season to make a contribution more befitting of their big salaries. Neither has built up the capital (consistent performances and influences on results) to feel any strong entitlement to play in their favoured positions and roles within the side at this point in time, and therefore they should embrace any role Madge wants them to play that’s best for the team. Those two sharing the hooking duties could be just the threat and footballing smarts we need out of dummy half for next season.
Anyways, that’s my considered fluff piece at this point in time with our roster as it currently stands, as my thoughts can shift and change with player moments and other info when it comes to light - or even those enlightening pearls of wisdom from fellow forumers.
