I feel like them giving Teddy the slot on the weekend over Rowe signals that they're not sold on developing Rowe yet. They'll have the off season to work on four options all with good promise in Rowe, Moses, Abou-Sleiman and Hitchcox.
Rowe has the inside running having been there and with some extra size and refining of the finer points of fullback play could come on strong. Would be the most like for like swap with Teddy.
Moses has speed, excellent passing and lots of talk but has shown a shyness with running the ball from what I've seen, could be a bit of a Moltzen re-run. At his best would be a Barba/Tomkins type fullback.
Abou-Sleiman has the size and confidence but is a bit sloppy. Was a star in NYC though and forced his way from obscurity back to the fringes of breaking into first grade so also has shown tenacity. Could be a real smokie if given an off season and an opportunity.
Hitchcox I feel is underrated. I've never seen or heard of him doing much wrong, he's very fast, very confident. More of a ball running back than a ball player. Is a little bit weak under the high ball maybe, but I don't feel like any of the other options are stars in that regard either, unless you throw Nofoaluma into the ring.
They all bring vastly different things to the table so depending on how the rest of our spine develops any of these guys could turn out to be the right option. If the halves share the workload, more of a runner would be the go. If Brooks becomes the go to playmaker and we go with using the six as more of a running five-eighth/backrower type, having a ballplayer back there as an option kicker would be wise.
Throw all that out and as mentioned we also have the opportunity to develop Nofoaluma or Simona into a fullback and bring Koroibete, Fine, Seve, Hitchcox, Taukafa, Rowe or even Akauola up to play wing or centre accordingly.
What I'm saying is that we have lots of options and turning young unpolished talents into solid first graders seems to be a budding strength of ours and going after K Naq or another fringe first grade fullback just doesn't seem necessary to me. Fullback may not even be a position we need cover in if Brooks and Austin or Moses shine in the halves. The Dogs are top of the table with the worst fullback in the comp.
