Hi guys,
As the title says ,Could Chris Lawrence Move into the Middle ?
Here me out here . He’s still a good runner of the ball , has a quick play the ball and is very strong defensively as well as he’s extremely fit.
It would also limit his 3 biggest flaws moving forward

1. He has hands like feet. Usually from dropping balls whilst hitting a hole . Middles tend to not have to run that crash ball as much .
2. His lateral defence. He won’t have to cover way more dynamic 2nd towers eg. Nikora, Tapine ,Fifita . And he’s big enough and strong enough to match the intensity of the middle .
3. His speed . He would actually be an asset speed wise in the middle. Not a liability .
   There is a precedence to this . Ruben Wiki started in the centres and ended up a very good to elite middle .

Too small.

Why would he bother?

I’d rather the likes of Matterson, Aloiai and Twal in the middle.

Next thing we’ll hearing from fans of Marsters saying that he should try his hand at hooker and Eisenhuth fans saying he could be a starting centre.
Good lord.
Why even consider shuffling the decks to accommodate poor players?
This fad of getting attached to every player just because he wears our colours is destructive!
See endowment effect.

@bigsiro said in Could Chris Lawrence Move Into the Middle:

Next thing we’ll hearing from fans of Marsters saying that he should try his hand at hooker and Eisenhuth fans saying he could be a starting centre.
Good lord.
Why even consider shuffling the decks to accommodate poor players?
This fad of getting attached to every player just because he wears our colours is destructive!
See endowment effect.

Steady on!

Lawrence is definitely NOT a poor player.

@bigsiro that’s ludicrous. Why can’t it work , especially if he’s on minimum wage ? And have a look at the guy next to the big boppers , and you will be in for a rude shock . He’s actually pretty big .

@willow I’m not saying in the starting lineup . I meant as a depth player . If he’s the 25th best player in your team . That’s a pretty good depth player in all seriousness .

The whole ‘Lawrence isn’t any good’ idea around this forum is a headscratcher. At this stage he’s a standard NRL player still playing because he’s a heady veteran. Earlier in the season I thought he should have taken the season off but he’s helped us.

99% of players would kill for a career of his length and achievements. Watch him leave and I’ll bet he’ll help a more successful club for a year or two. It’s the least he deserves.

I think it’s a good option if he re-signs. Matto would be more effective wider.

Yes! I have wanted this all season! He has the ball playing skills, and the forward skills. He isn’t as fast as what he was, but could thrive in this new position. He has played two games in the position and scored 4 tries. It is worth a shot.

Taylor hits the ball up harder and makes more meters than Lawrence & is a better defender - should we move him into the front row?

G’day @Strongee: You’ve raised some brilliant and intelligent suggestions re “could Chris Lawrence Move Into The Middle”.I agree with you completely as he still has so much to offer 
Thank goodness someone has at last recognised the positive side to Chris, to counter the disrespectful and over the top criticism of him

This is absurd. He gets absolutely smashed playing back row. In the middle he wouldn’t even last 20 mins. How many props under 100kgs are there running around. ET has a much better chance of becoming a prop than Lawrence.

Chris could perform a great function in sharing his experience with the young up and comers in Flegg and CC. With his profile he would be a huge plus in recruiting youngsters.