Billy Slater now hanging up the boots, leaving Cameron Smith as the last of the 'Big Three' still at Melbourne but with some young guns on the up, do the Storm have what it takes to replace the irreplaceable? For those of us born anything much after 1950 who did not get to witness Clive Churchill live, the mercurial Slater is the best fullback we've ever witnessed – certainly over a long career. Despite turning 35 in the middle of 2018 he was near his best most of the season again, with the club falling one hurdle short of another premiership when downed by Cronk's Roosters in the decider.
The logical answer for Bellamy is to leave the halves pairing of Brodie Croft and Cameron Munster intact and give Jahrome Hughes first crack at fullback, with Scott Drinkwater the back-up and Hughes able to provide cover in the halves if needed. Munster had his best season in 2018 (the grand final notwithstanding) and there will be plenty of pressure on he and Smith to do plenty of ball-playing as Croft continues his development but all four will likely need to be at their best to cover the massive gulf Slater leaves behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment