but BJB has similer issues. johnstone is the guy to get if we can.

I enjoyed the game and thought we had a real dig. for all the handley/Briscoe comments, and i'm one. it was gales supurb kicking that undid us. he was the difference.
macdermott needs to sort out the halves. McGuire was ok in parts but moon, devastating with ball in hand, doesn't have any other half back skills. not a criticism just how it is.
had we had gale I think we might well have won that game.
as a few have said a quality half back is a must. i'd love lilley to have a run of a few games but sadly it looks like his days are numbered.
all in all I think if we got cas in a major game or final i'd be confident we could go very close to winning.
I said early in the season it would be the team who has all there major players fir come finals time that would win it and I stand by it. its still wide open

I think you've summed it up there perfectly with regards to the GF,although I still think that we've got a puncher's chance of winning one off games so the CC looks the best bet as I cant see us finishing in the top 4 TBH

IMO if Cas want to win silverware this year then they will have to beat Wigan to do so

Great performance from Cas today,That is how RL should be played

true but he must have saved us 50 odd points in defence. at his age i'm happy to let him have the time he needs

yep. and 3/4 astute signings will have us back up there next year.if that happens or not I don't know given the new stands

This is the kid we should be doing a deal for

indeed. he is quality.
can I say I thought Sutcliffe was outstanding today and I got it wrong about his goal kicking. hands up he has improved hugely

I agree to some extent regarding Johnstone, but I'd be very cautious now, given the nature of his current injury.
Someone mentioned Golding offers nothing in attack, and I can understand that POV however, Hardaker looked to have similar issues whilst at Leeds, but in a different structure looks to be a lot more rounded in attack now, so I think the issues with Golding might not necessarily be his lack of ability.

On another note, I think we may have found Sutcliffe's best position, he's one of the first choice centres now IMO. It'll be interesting to see what happens with him and Keinhorst when he returns, and in the off season. One of them will be bulked up and moved into the pack on a permanent basis I think.

Yep it's good to see Sutcliffe improving, his kicking' been great the past few weeks, and without the playmaker responsibilities he's been doing well. Would like to see him at 13 eventually.

Johnstone has suffered an ACL injury though and won't be fit until around Xmas so I don't think it's wise to sign a player who'll be coming off the back of a serious injury. He might return just fine from it but bit of a risk, can often take several months for them to start showing previous form.

Maybe see if McGillvary doesn't want to carrying on playing for a team struggling in the bottom 4. Won't help his longer term England/GB chances even if he is still just keeping his shirt atm.

Re: his goal kicking, I was pleasantly surprised to see the stat that Sky showed Saturday that Sutty is 3rd on the goal kicking charts with regards to success rate. Think his was about 85%, Gale was I think 86% and Sneyd was 91%

I have said for years that Sutty is a centre Tad
I have watched academy footy for years and he has always looked at his best as a wide runner rather than an organiser and he's never gonna be good enough to make our back row imo

I always thought wide running second row was his game mate but i'm chuffed he has finally found his position. he needed to stop being a jack of all trades.
that's if he's kept there mind

For me the difference tonight was Cas had a good half back and we didn't.
We boxed above our weight in the forwards and just about matched them.
In the backs we matched them apart from our right wing choices.
Still not sure why Baldwinson didn't get in the 17 in place of Handley.
Briscoe for me has looked gash all season.

can't argue with any of that

I think you mean attempting to carry out from his own line.

We're in there with a chance this season. It will be very tight in the games that matter at the end of the season and if we finish in the top 4 we still have ability and experience. Despite what cas fans will say about them being "a cut above ..end off" yadda yadda.

Gale is rightly getting the plaudits for Cas but imo Mcshane is just as important to them. His decision making from acting half is superb. Early in his career he went himself too often, especially near the opposition line, but now he makes the right choice almost every time. Over the years we have released many young players and in nearly all cases the management have got it correct. Mcshane should have been retained.

but at the time he wasn't cutting it and we had, iirc, buderus and diskin.
fair play to him though he's turned his game around

McShane is having a good year, but would you have him or Parcell? As well as McShane is doing I think if Cas had Parcell they'd be even more dangerous.

Buderus was towards the end of his career at the time Mcshane was coming through. Can't remember if Diskin was still there. There was always an opportunity for a long term hooking vacancy at Leeds as recent seasons have shown. He has certainly improved over his time at Cas, but he even during the early stages of his time at Leeds he showed glimpses of his potential. Enough for us to percivere with.

yes you are possibly right. maybe another season to see how things went.
didn't he have a bust up or something? can't remember now

I like Parcell and think that he has been a very good signing, but yes i would have Mcshane. He has a bit more craft from dummy half and his ability to slot in at standoff without Cas losing there fluency only highlights this. Parcell probably has more pace and a good running game but Mcshane edges it for me.

It seems some people are encouraged by that performance and I find that slightly worrying. Cas blew us away after half time and it was job done for them with about 20 minutes left. You could argue we had a few missing but are we ever at full strength these days? Seem to always have 3 or 4 missing so I'm hesitant to use that excuse.

Think I did read on here that he didn't get on with BM but no idea if there was any truth in it or if it was related to his performances on the field. No doubt that Gotcha will be along with the info shortly!

I agree.
Thought the score line flattered us and Cas had the ability to move up a gear or two if needed