I was not being critical of his written word or his diction. When the likes of teenagers like Lilley and Golding have been interviewed on TV they have come over as alert, quick and bright. I did not see this from Sutty at the touchscreen as Jon Wells had to work hard to get anything from him.

FFS! Really? You're critical of how a young rugby league player comes across on TV?

On a different topic, I was particularly upset at how Handley's shorts didn't seem to fit him snugly enough.

Also, why oh why don't our players wear those super pink boots?

Sinfield had one good game against the Aussies at hooker in 2001. I think the Aussies had just got off the plane after cancelling the tour a few weeks prior? Mike Forshaw was scrum half IIRC... says it all really.


Sinfield has never been international class. You know that deep down even if it is difficult to acknowledge because in doing so, it is seen as disrespectful to a Rhinos legend playing at the level of Super League.

We've had poor international sides for as long as I can recall but at least some of our players have made an international impact... Schofield, Hanley, Graham, Burgess, Sculthorpe, Fielden (until he was chinned by Mason), etc.

Presenting the bloke with a Golden Boot for skippering England to a series win against Wales and France was embarrassing at worst and a joke at best. Some proprietor of League and Union magazines wished to flog a few thousand more of his stock.

When that critical moment arrived with just a few minutes to go in a World Cup semi final at Wembley, Sinfield as skipper, organiser and tactical kicker bottled it. He couldn't handle the pressure. And I'm not talking about gifting Shaun Johnson an opportunity for a skip and a jink to the try line either. It's was Sinfield's brainfart prior to that which created the conditions and circumstances for the defeat.

The two that offered a real insight were Trent Robinson and Grant Millington. The detail from both was eye-opening.

It would be great to see the Leeds coach in that situation.

I feel i can talk without my Blue and amber glasses on, and most of what you have written i actually agree with believe it or not. I did say at the start on the whole his international career was a let down.However, He was MOM in a game vs a NZ side who were World Champions at the time in a tri nations a few years back and held his own in several other games if not excelling . How many times too has he been the scape goat when the England side has been battered off the park up front by the Aussie pack and ripped to threads on the fringes, in teams constantly on the back foot? if England would have have had a Lockyer or Thurston in those sides instead of Sinfield would the scoreline have been so much different? i dont think so personally. The sides Schofield and Hanley played in between 88-95 were the best squads GB have had since the early 70s when we could actually beat the Aussies in series and WC's so i don't agree they played in poor teams and they are the only real play makers you would say have made a real mark in the past 40 years , i would maybe at a push stick Andy Gregory in there but that is it.

The Golden Boot, well all i will say is i think he deserved it as much as Farell did in 2004, make of that what you will.

What an odd comment to make re Sutcliffe's play. It was only last week in Perpignan where two short attacking kicks in to the in-goal led to two Leeds tries. The second a virtual carbon copy of the one Lilley put in V Huddersfield.

It was Sutcliffe who said he would have passed!

Yes it showed just how much thought and detail goes into a top coaches game plan. Pity the players cannot always stick to it. Even the Cowboys the other week had a coach cum water boy on the field for a lot of time passing on instructions.

Can't recall what Sutcliffe said precisely at the screen but your comment above was that Sutcliffe is just moving the ball along with little variation - and that seems an odd observation to make when in the previous game he showed some variety when he created the opportunity for two Leeds tries through little kicks into the in-goal just as Lilley did for one on Friday.

Lilley has some talent - he lacks pace as did Sinfield - does he have the core skill set to combat that - in SL possibly.

Thurston played origin when he was 23 he had already played 50 NRL games by that point.

Stacey Jones made his name in the NRL - how can you say someone is an all time great when they are playing a lesser quality competition. Winning lots of caps in a sub standard side doesn't make you a great player neither does being the captain of a poor side. Peter Lorimer won loads of caps for Scotland did that make him a great player?

Sinfield has been a great SL player but to suggest his is in the class of Lockyer, Johns, Smith etc is unrealistic.

I missed the Catalan game as I was at Alicante airport at the time but what you describe is the exception rather than the rule so far this season IMO

Another clearly troll post


One aussie commentator even said when he won the golden boot that if he was born in Aus he would have been Aus captain (believe it was Vossy)
He got stepped by Shawn Johnson and only rushed up because there was an overlap outside that he was trying to shut down, it would have been a try anyway
Did GI, Greg Bird, Cooper Cronk, and Gallen all bottle it when they got stepped by him at the 4 nations? (with no overlap outside btw)
The circumstances were not his fault but instead a George Burgess penalty, I dont even know what your hinting at
You fail to mention in the same game that he had a try assist and 3 line break assists
Putting all his international career down to that moment is ridiculous, has Slater had a poor international career because he cost his team a world cup?
Why dont you go back to comenting FAKE on youtube videos ey?

The year Thurston played origin was his first at 7, before then he played off the bench (usually at hooker) so 23 was definatley his breakout year

Im not suggest he was as good as Lockyer or Johns as that would be stupid, they were 2/4 most skilled players of the last 20 years (along with Thurston and Fittler)
However I have always maintained he is comparable to Simth, as both are players who are mainly lauded for their leadership and ability to run games, you will not be able to convince me otherwise on that front

Your opinion of him because he only played SL is comparable to the Aussie media not acknowledging that Shawn Johnson is clearly the second best 7 (instead talking about Cronk and Evens and Hunt) just because he is from NZ, its just close minded and trying to stick religiously to a false narrative

I would put it to you that BOD was a world great in union but he never played in the (obviously superior) Super Rugby, nor did he ever do particularly well against the Southern Hemisphere teams

How would Sinfield have been Aussie captain - he would not have got selected for the team at either half back or hooker so where would he have played?

In the semi if he had kicked the ball into touch with two minutes to go rather than kicking it straight to the Kiwi player - which he could/should have done it would have killed the game given the time remaining. His coming out of the line was in hindsight the wrong play - hindsight is a great thing. The difference between Sinfield and the others Johnson went round was the timing - none of the others allowed that to happened when it was really critical.

Your last paragraph doesn't make sense - you are actually following a false narrative i.e. Sinfield has been a great player at SL level therefore he must be a great player. How can you say that when he hasn't been tested week in week out by the very best players in the world - surely playing against the likes of Smith, Cronk, GI, Thurston, Johnson etc would be a fairer basis on which to judge his status in the world game?

O'Driscoll was a great RU centre - he played in an era when the Northern Hemisphere countries were close in quality to their counterparts in the southern hemisphere - England did win the WC during his career. SL has always been well behind the NRL and your judgement of a players status need to consider that.

According to OPTA Sutcliffe has made seven 'attacking kicks' during the opening rounds of SL which is more than double any other Leeds player.

Not much to boast about really is it? 20 other SL players have made more attacking kicks with the top ones making four times the number of our main playmaker...one of the reasons our attack has been so poor so far this year is because of poor last tackle options.

Not critical! without his tries they would have won the tournament
It was the wrong play in hindsight, but with the overlap outside it would have been a try 95% of the time anyway

Its hard to say what position, it probably would of been hooker, so neither of us know how he would have faired in that position, although I believe he put in a MotM performance at 9 against NZ early in his career? so I dont think you can say with any certainty he wouldnt have got in the team
He also probably could of played 13, he was about as big as Bird before he slimmed down a bit, and even you have to admit he is a much better player
So take your pick...

He did beat, Cronk, Sater, Lyon, Stewart, SBW, Anasta, Falou, Foran, and DCE in WCC games tbf

Your point falls down regarding BOD, yes internationally the NH nations were almost as good but I would say that England RL are not that far behind either- usually only loosing by the small margins,in the way that Irish RL lost to SH teams
But anyway we are talking about leagues, Super Rugby is clearly the best league, BOD never played in it, how is that any different to sinfield?

Is Sutcliffe at the touch screen available to watch online anywhere?

I've looked on the Sky Sports app where they usually put them on but it's not on for some reason?

Quote ="Bang"Is Sutcliffe at the touch screen available to watch online anywhere? I've looked on the Sky Sports app where they usually put them on but it's not on for some reason?'" www.skysports.com/watch/video/sp ... s-paid-off I agree that he's not exactly the best one Sky have had on but they often go for an older more experienced guy (Wilkin the other week for example). He is still young and might well not be as comfortable in front of the camera. I'd imagine if McGuire did the same at that age he'd come across differently to how he would present day.

Quote ="Bang"Is Sutcliffe at the touch screen available to watch online anywhere? I've looked on the Sky Sports app where they usually put them on but it's not on for some reason?'" www.skysports.com/watch/video/sp ... s-paid-off I agree that he's not exactly the best one Sky have had on but they often go for an older more experienced guy (Wilkin the other week for example). He is still young and might well not be as comfortable in front of the camera. I'd imagine if McGuire did the same at that age he'd come across differently to how he would present day.

Of course. I remember seeing the short brief interviews from superstars of the football world like Beckham, Rooney, Gerrard etc... when they were just starting out and they were cringeworthy at best, mumbling a few words and looking down but you look at them 5, 10 years down the line and they come across so differently. I don't see the point in SKY putting the inexperienced lads in front of the lens straight after the game, should be an elder statesmen every time.

Kicking near the line is the rugby equivalent of giving a monkey a computer. Eventually it will pay off if you try it enough.

Thanks Printer.

Agreed, seven in four games is nothing to boast about but in Sutcliffe's defence McGuire will have had the primary duty V Warrington prior to his injury when he was also limping around and it's true that Leeds' last tackle plays have had an off the cuff air around them for some time.

It's important to transfer what is presumably practised at training out on to the pitch come matchday