Rumours thread

[Heathen]

IMO protecting himself against knocks as he made his preparations to join the EAs.

More likely wanting to avoid injury before the RWC.

[Buttoi]

Shields to saints according to RugbyInsideLine. RIL is a saints fan so could be some truth in this. I would happily lose shields for someone with more grunt and nasty like moriarty.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

I'd be horrified to lose Shields.

[SilverShire]

Shields to saints according to RugbyInsideLine. RIL is a saints fan so could be some truth in this. I would happily lose shields for someone with more grunt and nasty like moriarty.

Not sure how I feel about this. Shields, IMO, brings a lot of experience and leadership and you can see that on the pitch. As much as I like Robson and Young I don't think they have the same amount of leadership, as such I was predicting that Shields was going to be captain next season

[InBetweenWasp]

Shields, in theory, is just the sort of Player that we need in our pack.  Great leadership, big physical presence, smart ball player.  But, so far has been injured or away with England and struggled to settle into a rhythm. 

However, we play best when we have YY and Willis at 7 and 6.  Shields isn’t an 8, so it’s tricky to see where he fits in.  Where we have a more physical, potentially tighter game in prospect I’d potentially say we shift Willis to 7 and put Shields to 6 (aka a Plan B which we typically don’t tend to have) with YY on the bench to cover Back Row. 

But, would ultimately prefer we play to our strengths and have a couple of disruptive, fetchers on the pitch causing havoc at the breakdown like yesterday.

[BrackenandMacken]

Brads a good player when he plays but he seems to be another of our players who is hardly ever available due to injury.

Is he worth the money, given how scarce it seems to be currently, I'm not sure.

[MarleyWasp]

Given the amount Brad is on, would we rather let him go and use the money to sign Jack and Tom Willis to long term deals or risk one of the Willis's going elsewhere?

[Neils]

Given the amount Brad is on, would we rather let him go and use the money to sign Jack and Tom Willis to long term deals or risk one of the Willis's going elsewhere?

Probably!

[BG]

Shields is a like for like replacement for Tom Wood at Saints.. an out and out grafter.

He seems like a decent bloke but he simply hasn't played enough for Wasps but presumably must be on a decent wage.

He just needs a bit more game time. I can't see him being in the EPS for this year so hopefully he can play in the euro games coming up and the ones taking place during the 6n's.

I wonder if his contract is up for renewal?

[wasps]

Can Brad play 12?

Seriously though, this is where we need to build our identity.

Our real strength and point of difference at the moment is our breakdown work - largely through Jack and Young.

Jack is truly incredible when you consider that he steals more ball than anyone I've seen in the premiership since George Smith, but is also a massively solid defender and tackler.
He could easily start at 6 or 7 for any team.


I really like the idea of Brad Shields, but ultimately haven't seen enough to know if he's gonna work out for us.
He feels like he should be the glue that holds our forwards together.... But I don't know who to drop to accommodate him.


The other option is that he could play 2nd row, but I doubt he wants that, and secondly I'm not sure he's as capable there as our other options.


With injuries and international call ups, there's plenty of opportunity for everyone, however, that's not the debate.
The debate is what our approach and back row identity should be.
Do we want to be more traditional, or do we want to really disrupt with breakdown/ turnover specialists.



I feel that we're missing Brad Shields' skillset in the team, but not necessarily missing it in the back row

[Raggs]

Shields on the bench is a great option in my mind, but he's not a bench player if you see what I mean. I'd not love losing him, since he offers great depth, but with Willis x2 and Young, plus the likes of Smashley waiting in the wings,  he probably is a bit of a luxury.

[Hymenoptera]

Given the amount Brad is on, would we rather let him go and use the money to sign Jack and Tom Willis to long term deals or risk one of the Willis's going elsewhere?

Are they exclusive then...not sure they are. Shields is a good versatile player, i'd rather have him than not. He's been injured but then so has most of our back row except Carr and Smash.
Is he worth the 350k he's on..i'm not sure but then again its not my money so prob not for me to worry about.
Moriarty? - Absolutely no thanks.

[Rory87]

Would be really disappointed to lose Brad. I'm not sure how much he'll be included in the EPS moving forward with the emergences of Ludlam, Willis and Ben Earl (getting predictably hyped up). So Brad could potentially be available a lot more than assumed when we first signed him

I think Brad would be a great shout for Captain next season. In the absence of Launchbury, he's exactly the on field leader we've been craving. Yes YY and Willis made a devastating partnership, but can't play every game together. Just look at Bath, it's taken them 2 years to get their first choice backrow playing together due to injuries. So I don't want to dismiss Brad based just on one partnership. We're a better squad with Brad in it than out of it so I would say he's worth retaining

If we lost Brad I'd be actually pretty gutted.

[Daeg]

I think having Willis and YY playing at the same time is the luxury, not Brad. I would rather have Willis and YY sharing the 7 jersey with Brad playing 6 regularly. It'd hopefully ensure greater longevity for all of them especially as Willis and YY have been fragile. Willis will be Captain one day... all things going well. But right now Brad is a good shout for Captain... as long as he stays fit. 

[Sting]

Would be really disappointed to lose Brad. I'm not sure how much he'll be included in the EPS moving forward with the emergences of Ludlam, Willis and Ben Earl (getting predictably hyped up). So Brad could potentially be available a lot more than assumed when we first signed him

I think Brad would be a great shout for Captain next season. In the absence of Launchbury, he's exactly the on field leader we've been craving. Yes YY and Willis made a devastating partnership, but can't play every game together. Just look at Bath, it's taken them 2 years to get their first choice backrow playing together due to injuries. So I don't want to dismiss Brad based just on one partnership. We're a better squad with Brad in it than out of it so I would say he's worth retaining

If we lost Brad I'd be actually pretty gutted.

+1
Good captain material from what I have seen on him. Some have suggested Willis. Willis is excellent player and is best to focus on that. Also Captain needs to be both repected AND liked by the other players.