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Personally, I think the Sharks are short of a quality fetcher, Jacques Botes is okay, but then I don’t think Luke Watson is really a fetcher either anymore, since he principally plays eighthman for the Kings.
He’s gotten fatter and heavier which means he struggles to get to the breakdown first.
Not being particularly large he’s not a Willem Alberts type player who can bash off tackles and take it over the gainline with the ball in hand, although he used to be able to break the line effectively. He might struggle now that he doesn’t have the same turn of pace so he’s probably not going to be a great eight either, at least I doubt he’d be better than Keegan Daniel or Ryan Kankowski.
Don’t get me wrong, an in-shape, in-form and hungry Luke Watson at Western Province was a great player.
But maybe getting a call from Jake White was the kick in the pants Watson needed to get properly conditioned.
I wasn’t all that impressed with him at the Kings last year and personally I thought Jacques Engelbrecht, Cornell du Preez and Wimpie van der Walt were a cut above and for the most part kept him out of the starting lineup as a result.
But a leaner, meaner Luke Watson would be an interesting prospect, since last year he looked more like what Jake White once tried to convert him into last time he was at the Sharks…a hooker.
He’s gotten fatter and heavier which means he struggles to get to the breakdown first.
Not being particularly large he’s not a Willem Alberts type player who can bash off tackles and take it over the gainline with the ball in hand, although he used to be able to break the line effectively. He might struggle now that he doesn’t have the same turn of pace so he’s probably not going to be a great eight either, at least I doubt he’d be better than Keegan Daniel or Ryan Kankowski.
Don’t get me wrong, an in-shape, in-form and hungry Luke Watson at Western Province was a great player.
But maybe getting a call from Jake White was the kick in the pants Watson needed to get properly conditioned.
I wasn’t all that impressed with him at the Kings last year and personally I thought Jacques Engelbrecht, Cornell du Preez and Wimpie van der Walt were a cut above and for the most part kept him out of the starting lineup as a result.
But a leaner, meaner Luke Watson would be an interesting prospect, since last year he looked more like what Jake White once tried to convert him into last time he was at the Sharks…a hooker.
