Cruse signs extension

[hookender]

I understand this could happen in any position but hooker is probably the most specialised position in the whole team. for the majority of positions others could switch positions and fill in. Other specialist positions rarely have two relatively young and inexperienced players and only one proven senior player. I may be worrying over nothing and both prove to be outstanding.

Is the hooker the only player who can throw the ball in at a line out?

No anyone can throw the ball in, has been a back in past history, it evolved into a forwards job and eventually became the norm for hookers who were generally shortest on pitch and not much good at jumping high.

[Trevs Big Tackle]

Given how good those two players are around the park and in the back row and centre (), if they were particularly bad at throwing into the lineout they wouldn't have gone through all the age group teams at hooker.

[baldpaul101]

Wasps did quite well with Big Trevor as Hooker, the only thing he could throw straight was KFC down his neck!   

[Rossm]

I understand this could happen in any position but hooker is probably the most specialised position in the whole team. for the majority of positions others could switch positions and fill in. Other specialist positions rarely have two relatively young and inexperienced players and only one proven senior player. I may be worrying over nothing and both prove to be outstanding.

Is the hooker the only player who can throw the ball in at a line out?

No anyone can throw the ball in, has been a back in past history, it evolved into a forwards job and eventually became the norm for hookers who were generally shortest on pitch and not much good at jumping high.

When I was playing, the wing threw in. I have always thought that a tall player would be better at it than a shorter player.

[wasps]

I don't think there's much of a problem having a different player throw in.

However, at elite level, it's about repetition to ensure you have the same action every time, that you throw correctly every time and to ensure you throw the exact distance you require every time.
That means lots of practice over an extended period of time

It's not like you can chuck the ball to the winger and expect it to just work.


Hookers practice this throughout their entire youth career (at least those that play hooker at age grade).
You often find the ones that transition to hooker late (Tom Lindsay as an example) are the ones that struggle at the lineout the most.


If a winger was to throw in at the lineout, you'd want them to have been practicing it for years before being expected to do it at elite level



And if you then had a hooker in the team who didn't throw in, there would always be question marks as to why.
That player would be unlikely to have an international career and would find their options limited when looking for other clubs.
It's really not in their interest

[hookender]

Others must practice just in case hookers (including replacement) get injured.Might also consider it if you want to increase line out for driving maul.