Yeah, he had always been a backrower. Hook put him on the wing off the bench one game due to an injury and he scored a try and did some good shit so he was given an extended run there.
Were several plays last night he just did not react to. 2 that stuck out; A kick Hunt did that was pulling up in-goal, yet Oates was walking, so less pressure on the retrievers and they could just wait for it to roll over for a 7 tackle set. 2nd was Milford's cutout ball to the touch-judge. Oates was 10m behind the play in a flat movement. Happened in Origin too. Inglis would be looking for him and he'd be walking 20m behind.
You're being pretty harsh on him. You can watch that highlight of the Milf pass online, he's actually right up in the line at the start because he's expecting a kick and then he's maybe a metre off the pace if that when Milford throws that shit ball. The Inglis thing happened once that I can recall and that's because he'd taken a hit-up a play or two earlier.
Nah the Inglis thing has happened heaps. He walks back to position instead of jogging, after he takes a hit up. In one half alone I watched him out of position three times. All three after he'd taken a hit up earlier in the count. Fucking jog cunt. There's no excuse for a rep winger to not be there on a shift two tackles later. In Origin he walked, then jogged, then walked, then stopped. Then he sprints. Too late....He's 5m behind play. This is easy to fix but it hasn't been.
Wingers positioning is atrocious at all levels, I wonder if coaches just don't bother bringing it up or working on it because they think its beneath them or something
Oates has got issues, but he's been one of our best performers on the wing for the last 2 years. His finishing skills and working the ball out are invaluable. He's down on form a bit, and playing injured, but he'll come good.
