Is it too late to get Brown?

[hopwood]

This board does make me chuckle.
When he was in his prime playing for England & Quinns he was too slow & couldn't pass, now he has been dropped by Falcons suddenly he's just what we need?

Glad your chuckling.
He's just what we need because we don't have a 15 can provides the basics of a 15, not because Newc dropped him.
What's slower, Mike Brown or a ball that's being fed into the scrum by the opposition scrum half in our 22..having just regained possession.
Momentum is killing us, shitty hands being the major contributor..no more so than at 15.

lets do it again for a third season?, doing the same things with the same players and expecting a different outcome. Talk about rinse and repeat. In our good season, we always had quality at FB,  Lewsey, Gissy, WLR, Piautau, Beale.. Given the latest craze if spiral bombs, we are in for a long old next season.
Lots of 'wood for the trees' going on here.

You make some good points.
I'm happy with Crossdale being a future star, starting next season.
But I would be equally as happy knowing someone like Brown was steering him through training and creating a partnership with Minozzi aswell.
One season being around the experience of Mike Brown would probably be a superb investment into the overall outcome of Ali Crossdale.
Brown gets the basics right. Ali needs to cement those basics, so that his pace becomes a real weapon (and the fans aren't skipping a heartbeat every time a spiral kick goes up).

[wasps]

This conversation reminds me of Ben Jacobs.
He was not an A-list player.
Most would suggest that in his time with us, he was a centre that did the basics, but you weren't going to get him side stepping 3 defenders and then running it in from 60 metres.


Instead, he made sure that he did all the basics properly, and it allowed everyone around to do play to their strengths.
At that time, we were a better team with him in than without.




Mike Brown could be that player too.
As I said before, if it's a Mike brown who claims every ball, runs it back 20 metres into contact and sets up a ruck for our dominant forwards, then that could be a win

[jamestaylor002]

We are assuming that, as an ex-Quin, he would want to come to us 

Mike Brown has always been that sort of player that I loved when he was in your side (for England) and hated him when you played against him.

For England, he always made me feel safe (as a fan) at the back and if that's what we need then I would support that. Even if it's short term and it brings the standard up of our more exciting prospects. It must have been a rare feeling watching a ball come down to Brown and feel nervous like he was going to drop it.

[baldpaul101]

Whilst I get that having a solid full back who can catch a high ball & make his tackles is a good thing, I don't see how just dropping such a player into a dis functional back line is going to cure all of Wasps issues.
Its fundamentally a coaching problem & without changing the entire back line Wasps ARE going to be "doing the same things with the <essentially> same players and expecting a different outcome" Its the coaching that has to change. I'm not suggesting the coaches are "Clowns" as some one else suggested but they need to change the plan to one that suits the players, remember they had such a plan not that long ago, or they will need to look for new jobs, IMO.

[baldpaul101]

But I would be equally as happy knowing someone like Brown was steering him through training and creating a partnership with Minozzi aswell.
One season being around the experience of Mike Brown would probably be a superb investment into the overall outcome of Ali Crossdale.

Don't necessarily disagree but I just don't think such arrangements can be afforded with the new salary cap. Otherwise Wasps could have kept Miller for another couple of years. Look at how many players are retiring or finding themselves out of contract when they probably still have a season or two left & plenty of experience to pass on? Clubs just can't afford to keep them.

[Shugs]

Correct. But Blackett has a stated aim of signing a full back which must mean he has the budget to do it.

[baldpaul101]

But Blackett has a stated aim of signing a full back which must mean he has the budget to do it.

Good point, I had forgotten that!

[JonnyD]

The problem with a solid fb is that when the game breaks up we then often see them lack the cutting edge attacking skills when it’s needed heading in the other direction. 
Sometimes you might only get one chance to score and sometimes we saw with England, Brown would often not make the pass and butcher and overlap or a 2 on 1. We’ve also seen that with Freddy Steward creeping in with England. They may catch everything and save you a few tries but maybe cost you heading in the other direction. All depends on what the coaches want I suppose.

For me I’d be ok with our FB dropping a catch and missing a tackle and conceding two tries every now and then if he created three at the other end.
WLR every day for me (apart from the last 6 months) above a prime Mike Brown.

[Peej]

But Blackett has a stated aim of signing a full back which must mean he has the budget to do it.

Good point, I had forgotten that!

I expect part of the budget is Rob's former salary.

[hopwood]

Whilst I get that having a solid full back who can catch a high ball & make his tackles is a good thing, I don't see how just dropping such a player into a dis functional back line is going to cure all of Wasps issues.
Its fundamentally a coaching problem & without changing the entire back line Wasps ARE going to be "doing the same things with the <essentially> same players and expecting a different outcome" Its the coaching that has to change. I'm not suggesting the coaches are "Clowns" as some one else suggested but they need to change the plan to one that suits the players, remember they had such a plan not that long ago, or they will need to look for new jobs, IMO.

Personally, and as a psychology coach myself, I think we have to get over our conditioned thinking to believe that all insights and change of behaviour has to come purely from within the hierarchy of coaches.

I'm of the belief that both Mike Brown and Christian Wade could provide invaluable insight and vastly broaden awareness of what's possible in the game.
They may come at things from different angles (pace/flair and solid/safety) but the amount of valuable knowledge they could impart (through their journeys and experiences) is utterly unique.
Neither would they be backward about sharing information and insights.

Personally, if the opportunities arose...I would harness their experience.
Not all coaches are going to have all the answers.
In fact the best coaches (Ted Lasso ) simply create the platform and facilitate the problem solving process to the players (eg Clive Woodward).

Mike Brown around Ali Crossdale for a year would be better than purely having Everard and Blackett, who are not specialists. Everard was a backrow player, Blackett a wing/centre.

And someone like Mike Brown would keep our rather young back division in good defensive shape...as well as communicating well with his wingers outside him.
But, ultimately I would expect Crossdale to elevate his game...and play the majority of the matches.

[Rossm]

Who's Ted Lasso? Never encountered him before. I've heard of Clive Woodward tho'.

[Mellie]

Perhaps we need Mike Brown as a coach/player and Christian Wade as a player/coach.

[hopwood]

Perhaps we need Mike Brown as a coach/player and Christian Wade as a player/coach.

I think there's a saying...
'True wisdom is knowledge gained through experience'.

I think, as a squad, we need a greater breath of wisdom...even though we have the likes of John Mitchell.
Wisdom comes from many perspectives, not just one or two people.

[hookender]

Personally, if the opportunities arose...I would harness their experience.
Not all coaches are going to have all the answers.
In fact the best coaches (Ted Lasso ) simply create the platform and facilitate the problem solving process to the players (eg Clive Woodward).

😀😅

[Wiltshire Wasp]

Who's Ted Lasso? Never encountered him before. I've heard of Clive Woodward tho'.

I had not heard of Ted Lasso either so searched it - look up Terry Smith (coach), I don’t know how to do the link and it is too long to paraphrase.
Interesting but something like that would be a brave shout - bit like SCW at Southampton (I think).