Short: I'll take my chances
Saracens winger James Short has said that he is ready to take his chances in the team when the Premiership starts.
With the new season just around the corner, Premiership clubs up and down the country have started pre-season games and will be finalising what they see as the starting team for their first Premiership clash of the new season.
Short seems determined to take any chance that he can get his hands on. He is dual-registered and has so far performed very well playing pre-season games for Bedford that will increase his chances of getting into the Saracens team.
Short has a number of qualities that should make him a regular for Saracens this season. However, the club have one of the strongest squads in the whole country so it's important he takes nothing for granted.
Playing qualities
Short is a very fast player who is very effective out wide. His pace can get him down the side of a defence very easily and he is too quick for most defenders who are trying to stop him.
He's a very intelligent player out on the pitch. He possesses the ability to come back inside if he's being crowded out of the game out wide. This means he can add extra weight in the middle of the pitch and his pace will exploit any gap.
He seems to be a very hungry and determined player and this should mean he makes a good impression this season. A lot of players are content to play a bit-part role and take their wages each week but Short is not one of them.
He said: "When you get an opportunity you've got to take it. I thought the team played well and we deserved to get that close to them. Even the Northampton fans shouting abuse is good motivation. There were a lot of Bedford fans out tonight and it was good to see them out."
The Saracens squad
The Saracens squad is very large and very deep. There is experience and talent in every position and there will be players at the club like Steve Borthwick who are trying to get back into the England team this season.
This makes it even more important for Short to take an opportunity when it arises. The only way he'll get an extended run in the side is if he does well every single time the club turn to him.
He added: "I think it is a step up but I don't think it's massive. I think the standard of rugby is pretty good the skills and physicality were pretty impressive. I haven't done that much pre-season. But obviously everything they've done pre-season has come off and hopefully we will have a similar performance against Saracens [his main/parent club]."
Betting advice
Saracens will be a good bet to win the Premiership title this season if Short is in the team or not. They were very unlucky to miss out at the back end of the last campaign when Leicester won the title match.
Saracens have a big squad and you need to remember this. There's no point laying down a huge amount of cash on Short to be top scorer at the club because the fact he's playing pre-season games for Bedford suggests that he may be loaned out to this club for the majority of the season.
However, if he does play for Saracens at some point during the year then back him to score in that game. It seems as though he'll do anything to score points for them so cash in on it when you can.
Tags: