I think he had potential. He had size and pace.

One thing that has disappointed me about the last few years (particularly Sandercocks reign) is that we haven't improved players such as Omari Caro and Dixon. They both had/have potential.

Scoring tries at Brat-fud, would love him to get back into SL, could and hopefully will happen.



I just don't understand why people who watch the sport gain glee from players struggling, actually, I do.



It's because they themselves never even got a chance to give it a go, they were the third pick on the school playground, and on the off chance they got a go, they were the kid who threw the ball on the ground as soon as anybody looked like they might tackle them.



And then they accuse the like of Caro and Dixon of having no steel.

Well said Sandro

Leaving aside all the facial, head and body stitches and displaced patella from my Rugby playing days plus the numerous finger fractures, dislocations, impact scar tissue I got during 25 plus years of playing League Cricket, often fielding at short leg or silly mid off without helmet or shin pads, I won't take your none too subtle side swipe too personally, Goose.



I have championed Dixon in the past, but he values his looks too much imo. No improvement being shown and too often a liability, so he needs to go. Sorry.

But then I understand you less.



I apologise for calling your opinions into question through lack of experience, but I do not apologise for you calling people you have not played with or a game you have not played cowards.



The game is different now, and not for me, always in a good way. I think player welfare is of a horribly low standard.



When we got into SL, I remember thinking the collision was fierce. Much more than when I had played the game to a much lesser level several years earlier. It had moved on since then.



Dixon I estimate to be about twelve and a half stone, everytime he plays and takes an exit set ball he is met by about fifty (at a conservative estimate) stone of force.



Is that cowardly?

3

Not cowardly using your above analogy. You make a fair point overall, but I still think he tends to bottle certain types of contact as a means of self preservation and his defensive positioning and reads are poor and at best arbitrary. I don't think many would disagree with that.

It's not an analogy, it's the game.



I find it stunning that you purport to have done something and then question anothers commitment.



Poor defensive reads and plays do not equate to cowardice.



Last week at Leeds, Dixon, in a very cowardly fashion ran down two line breaks.

I think is big problem is he does not concentrate enough and when i say problem it seems to be one that will not go away, he will be like it all the time one minute he is switched on the next he is not

So 12 stone being met by 50 stone is not an analogy then, but Goose logic.



Read my last post again, especially the bit about him bottling certain types of contact as a means of self preservation and I think that fits the overall context of our discussion better than the adverse defensive reads or positioning you have lifted for the above.



FWIW, as a mortal I was guilty of missing loads of tackles playing regular and occasional rugby until the age of 24. Unlike Dixon, I was unpaid, strictly amateur, had limited coaching and was average at best, but looking back I think I was more committed and aggressive defensively.



Perspective is needed here. He is a professional sportsman for our team in arguably the toughest physical sport in the world. He came here and wanted to be fullback and we indulged him. Flashes of brilliance, coupled with embarrassing and very costly errors. Wembley proved his Waterloo in this pivotal position. For me, he needed to show more defensively aggressive intent from the get go, run his red and white blood to water and bely his small stature in defence like John Boudebza currently and Roger Millward historically.



In my view only, I now regard his time in A Rovers shirt as a litany of silly errors and persistent defensive frailties, interspersed with the odd flash of magic brilliance. He is a liability and an asset in equal measure. When you don't know which Dixon will turn up from one game to the next, he is a risk too far for me in what may possibly be an uncomfortable dogfight in the middle 8s come season end.

Would you class Sam Tomkins in the same mould? He too dodges the odd high ball, he's pretty rubbish in defence and avoids direct contact by dodging elusively with ball in hand.



I'm being a bit contrary in the above statement as I do agree Dixon looks a worse player this year than he did in his spell at FB last year. But in essence Tomkins is an attacking FB in a very similar manner (admittedly he's better at it), great going forward, gash in defence and scared of the bomb.



At this moment in time I wouldn't pick Dixon, which is a 180 turn around from my earlier viewpoints but he looks a bit shot to me, not cowardly just lacking the confidence he once had.

I always thought Dixon throws himself into tackles never bottles it and isn't scared of catching a high ball the problem is he does drop a few and gets steamrolled in the tackle because of his size but I've watched him chase down a few players for try saving tackles and on the flip side we had caro who had the size that Dixon didn't but was half the player plus the nightmare he had at Wembley he kept looking for the ball he didn't hide and IMO deserves credit for that