I wish they did stats for collisions won - because whilst there may be some impressive tackle stats, the amount of times the opposition find their fronts and get a quick PTB is ridiculous - we're getting crucified on the back of it, with often 2 or 3 men still running back to get inside, facing their own line when the opposition hooker already has the ball in his hands and scooting out....

Keinhorst put in a real shift, Burrow looked dangerous and Lilley again showed he's a real creative little halfback - great effort! Sutcliffe had a few good touches, but mixed it up with some poor play too...

Falloon looks unfit and Galloway is a big, slow, plodding liability - he might do decent minutes, but his yards are cumbersome at best, his play the ball speed is worse than JPs was at the end of his career, and in defence he gets left on the floor nearly every time, or gives away a stupid stupid penalty.... Not impressed!

Saints were watching Watkins closely last night as others do because they know he is the threat. Agree his attacking form though is still way down. He put in another great effort in defence as another second row as achurch and jjb ran out of gas.

He made 23 tackles which is about par for the course for his position. With our severe injury list I would expect seasoned professionals to stand up and be counted. But Watkins never goes looking for the ball and compared with Keinhorst last night he looked lazy and has been less effective than Moon for the last two years which is disappointing for a player with such natural gifts.

If Keinhorst had Watkin's pace or Watkins had Keinhorst's work ethic what a pair of centres we'd have.

I may be wide of the mark but Watkins seems to lack enthusiasm this year. Yes, the spark seems to be gone and he looks to be just going through the motions a lot of the time.Some of the basic errors he makes you can only put down to lack of concentration. Only in the second half at Catalan when he ripped through for 20 minutes has he looked dangerous, that apart he has been ordinary for a player of his considerable talents.

Whilst not claiming to have any inside knowledge, Watkins' performances this year have reminded me of other great players when they were on the verge of leaving the club. I would not be surprised if it was announced that he is going to the NRL or RU in the near future.

There's a few in that boat - Watkins, Hardaker, Hall - who since last year have won everything in domestic rugby at young age. They need to get motivated soon though or their own stock will drop. Hall's a good example - if he hadn't have been injured I'd have benched him for Handley.

It is hard to tell whether it is confidence or lethargy but you're right, they need to shake themselves out of whatever mindset it is that is holding them back. The ability of all three has been proven and players don't suddenly become useless over night.

Yes, Hall was woeful prior to being injured and should have been dropped.

Watched 20 minutes of the game from the start of the 2nd half. Utter tripe from both teams who displayed no heart whatsoever for defensive duties and coached without structures in place of even the most basic kind. If that's regarded as great entertainment and value for money, I'd rather spend cash at a legitimate local Comedy Club thanks.

Awful standard throughout. No intensity. Little skill. Slow motion bollox. Leeds performances have been so desperately poor this season that the tripe on show last night is now considered acceptable. Bunch of amateur level players masquerading as professionals in a sport also masquerading as professionally run.

Stop beating around the bush and tell me how you really feel



i agree BTW, although others who claim it was exciting you can't disagree with but it was only because both teams were as woeful as each other in defence that made it that way imo. Warrington, Wigan and others would have destroyed both sides last night.

[url=http://youtu.be/p3byRPuTbDs[uHere are the highlights from the game last night...[/u[/url

Whilst it was unfortunate for Hard acer, may inital reaction was that he did himself no favours. That close to line and with Saints defence set, he just needed to run it in and find the deck.

Overall, whilst not the highest quality game, it was entertaining. For me it's good to see the youngsters starting to show up some more. Whilst we need the experienced guys to return, I hope they're made to work for their places

He was already injured wasn't he? I'm sure he had a leg injury in the first half that lead to Saints try from a kick.

So that, combined with the knock he'd already taken to the head was probably why he was a bit reticent taking the ball in.

Fantastic hit from Amor though, totally legal. Hits like those are what people have to bear in mind when you're talking about rest and recovery for players, hits like those just didn't happen in the past.

Neither side had any attacking structure. Apparently when Leeds get a set within 10 of the opponents line they bring a big lad back into the ruck 5 times then throw it wide, losing 15 metres before the last man on the end of the line puts in a crap kick to nobody.
It's not surprising that SL players can pass in space. Leeds found it out wide, Saints strolled through the middle. It was Saints of old, making huge metres from dummy half again and again.

The game had slightly more quality than the previous meeting this year, but it's hard to look at some of that defence and say it was a quality game. Better defence needs better attacking play to break it down, strolling through forwards who are not communicating and leaving too much space between them is frustrating to watch rather than exciting.
However, it would be unfair to say the players from both teams were not giving it all they had.

Agree. A fullback of Hardaker's experience with ball in hand on his own line should have kept clear eye contact with the opposition and should have been looking to get to ground ready for a quick PTB leg injury or not. It was a game changing moment.

For some to suggest that there was not some excellent attacking play is well wide of the mark.

There was some excellent attacking play, just as there is in sevens.

Agree. Bluddy awful. I can't believe some of have been saying how 'entertaining' it was. You score, we score, your turn, no defence, no intensity, touch n pass crap.

SL this season seems to be on a steep decline. Not enjoyed any of this year.

I'm probably being harsh with the 'lack of heart' accusation but it was clear throughout that defence wasn't a priority for either side. I'd agree that there was a lack of structure in attack. That is an issue which will have bypassed all those cooing over the entertainment level and individual off-the-cuff moments in wide open space.

Many have highlighted the relatively weak player pool in SL, a Salary Cap which remains stuck at 1999 levels. I'm starting to think that perhaps its the coaching at all SL clubs which ought to be top of the list of priorities that requires sorting ASAP.

English coaches moaned and groaned over a decade ago about not getting the opportunity to coach a SL club as most positions back then were taken by Aussies. Well they've since been provided with that opportunity over the past decade and the performances ain't too cracking as SL playing standards continue to regress.

The question that keeps coming to mind with McD's Leeds, is how are they trying to play? That kept coming up last night. Right up to the last 2 minutes when effectively started their last guaranteed possession. We drove the ball - relatively innefectively 5 times, then tried to move it on the last, fluked a scrum and then totally wasted it again. It's like nobody knew what they were supposed to do - not as individuals - but as a team strategy.
I don't think Leeds have played the same way twice all season. In recent seasons past we are practically schizophrenic, as if there is a real desire to not reveal our A game until near the end of the season (as if nobody has ever seen us play playoff rugby before). Last year Cuthbertson brought something completely unexpected, a strong running offloading game up the middle. The team adapted to maximise that and with Aiton playing well we were head and shoulders above everyone else. But you just got the feeling that none of it was planned. This, for me, is why Leeds have been so awful this year, they don't know how they are supposed to be playing, and the coach doesn't know how to give the team a pattern.
There is some justification to say that squad sizes and lack of real reserve grade rugby means teams have to play a style that depends on whoever they can get on the pitch. Wigan seem to have the greatest ease dealing with injuries (big list missing this week) without losing their shape, because that actually have a shape to begin with.
I think there are a lot of good players in the league at the moment, but a lot of crap teams. Will be interesting to see what Wayne Bennett is able to do with some of them.

First thing Wayne Bennett will do is to select the vast majority of English players who are playing in the NRL. He'll do that knowing that they are currently playing under structured regimes and coached by coaches who appear to have a genuine clue.

That'll be Burgess S, G and T, Graham, Hodgson, Whitehead, Cooper, Widdop and Reed. It wouldn't surprise me if Bennett also selected Joe Burgess who remains on the periphery of first grade at the current 16th placed NRL club. There may even be a couple of other NRL selections of players we don't know about yet who have English grandparents. Does Darius Boyd fancy a change of guernsey?



After that, selections will take the form of SL players - a damage limitation exercise if ever there was one right there. I hope Bennett can do something with them

Ah the old 'Darius Boyd follows Bennett everywhere' joke, back when he used to be not as good some Aussie fans used to joke Boyd had some incriminating photos.

No problem with the Amor hit, nice to see and good to see a response of sorts from the Leeds forwards for about two minutes after.

When in the past did big hits like that not happen? Always were a part of full time pro league although greatly reduced these days which is a pity. Fereti Tuilagi was always my favourite not in a Leeds shirt and obviously Morley in it.

This absolutely spot on - when the interviewed Todd Carney he said Glen Stewart was coaching the defence at Catalan, rumour has it that Sinfield coached the attack at Leeds. Leeds have no set attacking plays especially in their opponents 20 you really do wonder what McDermott does with them every day in training.

I am not saying we should have Michael Maguire type who just wants robots to play like an American football team - they are terrible to watch, he will gone by the end of the year but we need a change up in the coaching department a different philosophy, ethos and most of all ability

If a lack of attacking structure can produce scores of 38-34 and entertainment to match then I think most fans will say bring it on. The sooner we ditch the boring and predictable play along with the robotic negative interchanges the better.

That works ok against a defence as poor as Saints won't work against the likes of Wigan and Warrington