This is how I see things:
I wasn't a fan of Hoppa as a fullback when he was first there for us as the only times I'd notice him was when he was out of position defending kicks and when he lacked pace in a line break scenario. This was also at a time when our entire pack lacked overall pace.
It was only last year when mbyebye left that I saw Hoppa the "deft-handed ball-playing fullback" who was creating opportunities left and right with his passing game in situations where many other players wouldn't be able to and he displayed that skill again in our trial. We also now have outside backs who can capitalise on opportunities with some genuine pace.
As for Meaney, we barely got to see him attack during the trial, though I really did like what I saw of his acceleration off the mark from a few kick returns he made. At the same time saw him make some not-so-clutch tackles on Cotric at the try line... if I play devil's advocate though, this was a trial game, with frustrating refereeing and a similarly frustrating right edge that was leaking points. So he might have that "body on the line" mentality on a real game day.
Thinking about it all together, deep down I want to believe our team would be strongest with Meaney at 1, who could follow through on line breaks with his pace, and Hoppa at centre who could set up either winger with his sleek passing game. In reality though it could be that we sacrifice our defence with this plan, if Hoppa defends poorly again at centre and Meaney defends poorly at FB, or fails to provide more impact than Hoppa would on our attack. If it came down to other options though I wouldn't like to shuffle around the outside backs too much and I'd prefer Hoppa > Montoya for centre....
So what does this mean in the end? After all this thinking I've realised that I'd be happy with either option
and I am genuinely excited to see which way Pay leans come round 1 (glad I'm not having to make the call!).
