All depends on the player, doesn't it? In Humph we* trust. He's barely put a foot wrong in terms of player recruitment so far, and his use of IQ players over the past couple of years has imo been excellent. If Humph says "Give him a go", then I'm happy for that to happen.
That said, in terms of the wider sense of the decision, I'd say
a) Deccie Fitz is incredibly injury prone (and possibly not that professional), Macklin's picked up plenty of injuries, Taylor is only 20 and his future might be at loosehead. We're not that well off.
b) Increasingly, it looks like you need 4 Pro12 level props for each side at least in the squad. The year after Afoa, as stands, we will optimistically have 3. This is a situation where alarm bells should be ringing.
c) Irish-qualified Pro 12 standard tightheads are still about as rare as dogs that poop diamonds
The lad comes in and has a year to prove he can add something to the party. If he can't, we only lose what gametime he has, and if he can't I doubt he'll get that much tbh. If he can, even if he only reaches Lutton's current level, that's a pretty valuable add for us imo. Because I really doubt that all of Deccie Fitz/Lutton/Macklin/Taylor will be ready to rock and roll at the end of next season.
So, all in all... I'm ok with it. I'd rather we'd picked up someone better, but there we go. I wonder how long Hagan's contract with LI is...
*or at least, I do...
That said, in terms of the wider sense of the decision, I'd say
a) Deccie Fitz is incredibly injury prone (and possibly not that professional), Macklin's picked up plenty of injuries, Taylor is only 20 and his future might be at loosehead. We're not that well off.
b) Increasingly, it looks like you need 4 Pro12 level props for each side at least in the squad. The year after Afoa, as stands, we will optimistically have 3. This is a situation where alarm bells should be ringing.
c) Irish-qualified Pro 12 standard tightheads are still about as rare as dogs that poop diamonds
The lad comes in and has a year to prove he can add something to the party. If he can't, we only lose what gametime he has, and if he can't I doubt he'll get that much tbh. If he can, even if he only reaches Lutton's current level, that's a pretty valuable add for us imo. Because I really doubt that all of Deccie Fitz/Lutton/Macklin/Taylor will be ready to rock and roll at the end of next season.
So, all in all... I'm ok with it. I'd rather we'd picked up someone better, but there we go. I wonder how long Hagan's contract with LI is...
*or at least, I do...
) who had outs as ROG, Howlett and one other, he's escaped me, and there in was Andrew Conway!
