We just ended up keeping BT when our contract came up because its offer was as good as any other, and it included TNT: this has meant rather more rugby on offer to us than we'd been expecting, so we've been keeping a bit of an eye on ex-Waspies like Alfie over the last few weeks. (Some really good good matches, by the way - just a shame we've no skin in the game any more!)
I've got to say, I'm tending towards Wonky's view here: there's something for me that's not quite right about Alfie's approach. OK, he was clearly unwell the week before last - came on late, had an impact for 5 mins then vanished until throwing up on camera at the end - so nothing to see there, really. But on Saturday, he just wasn't always very bright. For a man who exploded onto the scene by dint of the fact that no-one knew what on earth he was going to do next - bash it up, throw a dummy, kick for touch, step 3 tacklers - he seems to have become quite one-dimensional. All he does do now is head for contact. Billy V 2.0, as it were. OK, he makes yards usually - but, as has been predicted since his Bloxham days, his opponents are wise to this now, and at least as big (and, by the looks of him) a lot fitter as well, so nothing much results usually. His try came when he added a step into what he was doing.
Since the Eddie days, he seems to have been channelled into this pattern of play, which is rather a lot less than he initially promised. I'm not sure he's the right player for only being an enforcer: he's actually a bit clumsy because he has to try too hard. Hence the two transgressions at the weekend, both of which quite possibly merited a red card on their own. Now one thing he's not is an intentionally dirty player - but things surely aren't right if he is not correcting this week by week. Having seen a fair bit of him recently, I am beginning to wonder if it's a bit of a theme - and maybe, hence Wonky's observation.
Always a Wasp