Stripes, I think you are missing a very important point, and that is sometimes Gus' role is to drop back in the the D50 and help his team mates. No one is suggesting he should be dropping back in the defensive 50 for entire games but there times he needs to go down there and bloody well defend
If for example Gus' direct opponent is floating forward to give his team another forward option surely Gus has a responsibility to follow his man to at least create a contest ???
Fair point. If Gus is not following his direct opponent back into their forward fifty then that is a problem. I myself have not noticed this but I'll have to keep an eye out for it in future. Perhaps this has nothing to do with what Gus knows he should be doing but rather him just being too exhausted to do it. Perhaps he is waiting at the F50 arch to given himself a breather if/when the ball is kicked out. Doesn't make his actions anymore excusable but understandable none the less given the new endurance standards demanded from ruckmen this year.
I'm not certain Browne would be any better, actually I doubt very highly whether he would, but if the coaches are seeing Gus becoming a liability to our structures then I would be happy to see the big Redhead given a chance. Maybe not against the Woods though,