Quote Originally Posted by DavidBouveng View Post
im not quoting this as gospel, just a theory.

i found that a few guns started form bench this week in some teams.

douglas for us, graham for doggies, and merrin for dragons mainly,

i wonder if its a way of minimising interchanges

if you accept that even though douglas can play 80, carty would prefer him to play 60-65, then to start him, give him a rest, then bring him on costs two interchanges.

bring him on after 20, leave him on, he gets a breather at HT, then plays the match out and you use one less interchange, which we now need considering weve never really needed to use one on rotating a hooker before when friend was here.

im saying its right or wrong, i think mini is best as off bench as well, im just saying there might be a more tactical side to the decision than just loyalty or the poor judgement of thinking minis a better starter than douglas.

The coaches that think like its a 17 man squad are a step above the coaches choosing their best 13 first and then next best on the bench.
In attack, some forwards can still penetrate a fresh, solid line with size...others are more damaging when a line in tired and broken.
The forward rotation is important and some coaches make it hard for the playmakers when not done right.