Fact is - I'd be surprised if he's not in the bottom 4 starting second rowers in the game…
And he's our "best"? - I see that as a real issue...
Who is better than him ? On the left edge I'd have Kikau, Wade Graham (pretty close) & Tariq Sims (pretty close). I see Lawrence as one of the better edge second rowers in the game at the moment. He runs great lines with speed and power on that left edge and he makes his tackles most of the time.
He was probably our best forward last year and he is no plodder. Plus he is a good guy.
One in every bunch…
I havent put much thought into which edge, just back rowers in general...
But at a quick guess - If i'm thinking left edges.... Boyd Cordner, Joel Thompson comes to mind, as does Gavin Cooper... John Sutton, Tohu Harris, Tapine - Blokes like Gillett and Aubusson (played both) even Fellas like Ma'u, Glenn, Hoffman and Guerra are on par with him...
I get the loyalty and all that - I really do..... But loyalty don't equal numbers.
You'd be the only guy i've ever heard of have Wade Graham, Tariq Sims and Chris Lawrence there or there abouts on par...
I think that basically every player you mention is on par or worse than Lawrence. There are areas within our team that we need to improve on but I don't see that position as being a problem.
I know sometimes that fans overrate certain players but I also think that fans underrate certain players. Brooks is a guy who has been underrated for a while and Lawrence is another that fits that category. You see Tariq Sims play a great game and forget when Lawrence played a great game. Tariq Sims isn't consistently great. If you were talking about Frizzel that is a different story. Frizzel is a gun. Lawrence isn't in Frizzel's class but he is probably the best edge backrower in the game.
