I think Ali had a unique skill or was it just the size of his hands ?

We have never been great in the opponents 20 since the sawn of the golden generation - none of our half back has a quality short kicking game - never have had and never will have.

The idea that Travis Burns would be any better is laughable - Burns is only good for one thing!!

yet watching grand final gold we have scored a few trys with supurb short kicks! for me we have a decent kicking game, what we have never had is structure, which is fine when the key players were in their prime but not now when the legs are going

michael dobson would have taken care of that deficiency quite easily should we have considered his obvious talents,he is a proven sl half back of the highest quality and we're not even in the hunt?



so you don't think that a stand off that constantly takes on the defensive line with pace and one who very often breaks the defensive line would be of any use to us then?

i would have thought that kallum, moon, hall, briscoe and hardaker would have reveled in that extra freedom of running in open space rather than running into a brick wall defensive line each game?

funny how saints have snapped him up, just as they did with 2 other players that we had/could have had in amor and walmsley and they haven't done to badly

only time will tell sal regarding dobson and burns but as we stand presently they are a far better pair than our half backs

I agree regarding Dobson - he is an excellent player and would definitely enhance this Leeds side.

Burns I don't agree - Saints have got him because he used to play with the current playmaker at Penrith. If you want somebody to start a fight and get stuck in Burns is your man - as a creative half back I have seen anything to suggest he is better than what we have. He is a better defender than any of ours but surely that is not really what you buy a half back for? To suggest Burns has pace!! did you fast forward your sky box, lack of pace was one of the reasons he couldn't really hack it in the NRL.

Burns is much better than what we have. This may not have been the case a couple of years ago, but far better than what we have now.

You think everyone is better than we have now - Burns is no great shakes, I am no Sinfield fan but he significantly better than Burns.

Same goes for Huby - a very average player at this level but you think he is superior to every forward we have and virtually every forward in SL so I take your judgement with more than a pinch of salt.

Burns showed nothing at HKR to justify your adulation - or perhaps the downer you have on Leeds is clouding your judgement.

Not sure what the melodramatics are for, but a bit silly.

I certainly wouldn't swap Hardaker, Briscoe, Watkins, Moon, Hall, or Ablett, for others in Super League. If someone is better though, they are better, simple as that. And it was in relation to 2015. Had it been a year ago, I wouldn't take anyone above Sinfield and Peacock also.

I'd swap Briscoe for BJB.

Oh you just think everyone is better than we have

How can you tell 2015 hasn't even started - Sinfield had a terrible season last season so does that suggest you judgement is flawed, it would to me



Agree on the backline apart from Briscoe who I am not convinced is any better than a number of other wingers - again he is with Sinfield a favourite of yours so you struggle to see his deficiencies

How can I tell? well does anyone really think Peacock and Sinfield are going to get better than 2014 a year later?

A bit rich talking about favourites Sal, considering your position on little Danny. Haven't I just said above a list I wouldn't swap, yet missed Sinfield's name off it?

It doesn't really matter though, I still wouldn't change the ones I listed, and I could name better players than the rest of the squad knocking around super league. Whether the club could get them is another matter altogether.

My position on McGuire is this and I have stated numerous times on here - he has been my favourite player at Leeds through the golden generation - we sponsored him before he emerged into the first team so I have an vested interest. Sadly he isn't the player he once was - he doesn't have the pace he had and he isn't the game breaker he was. However he is still a player I would want in my side and he is capable of raising his game - the CC semi and final showed that. On here he is a an easy scapegoat when things are not going well - posters like you will seldom ever criticise Sinfield he seems immune even though 2014 was an appalling season for him.

It would be difficult to imagine Sinfield having a worse season than 2014 - surely that isn't possible is it? Peacock, perhaps if the coach uses him better he may have more impact especially in the second half of the year.

The point about Sinfield was you would have had him in 2014 and look what happened?

Exactly. And yet you started this off by criticising me for saying another player is better than what we have, and that I say everyone is better than what we have.

Now you are confirming my point.

The point was meant tongue in cheek - you obviously took it to heart, I am pretty resigned to 2015 being distinctly average but you seem even more negative than I. Travis Burns is no great shakes IMO and I would not want him before either McGuire or Sinfield but we all have opinions, your idea that he is significantly better than our half backs is more a reflection of your view of Leeds than the true reality of the player

Not really. I think he has excelled in each of the last two seasons, and looks a great acquisition for Saints. I think he is an excellent player.

As far as I am concerned Leeds are no different to last season. The excellent acquisition of Cuthbertson is unfortunately brought down a little by the fact our two frontline props will go backwards, and our halfs are nothing compared to what they were. I will be generous and say that is a net zero effect, as I also believe Stevie Ward given the opportunity will excel this year.

Where my "more negative" may come from is that I think, other than Wakefield and Widnes, every other team will be stronger than they were last year. There is of course still time for Leeds to have further acquisitions.

Re our halves, I'm hopeful Sinfield's knee op might herald an upturn in form. In a recent interview he claimed he'd been hampered for most of last year by the injury he's now had sorted.

Burrow also. McGuire wasn't 100% either. The long Off Season will hopefully see them on top form in 2015.

I wonder what - if any - plan exists for replacing that trio. Sinfield has supposedly said he'll finish after 2016. By that stage Burrow and McGuire will also be well into their 30s. If Sutcliffe is the great hope for one halfback spot, he needs to be given decent game time this year and next, otherwise we'll still be asking why he can't control a game.

Hardaker and Lilley will be the long term. Unless DM has a great year this, can't see him here in 2016.

Seriously!! Hardaker has no instinct to pass and doesn't have a kicking game of any kind - no other top club would be thinking of him as a half back. Just shows flawed succession planning.

On the halves both of them need to up their game significantly - both were well below par last season. On Burrow difficult to assess in his current position but his impact was nowhere near what it had been in previous seasons

Hardaker won't make a stand-off as long as he has a hole in his backside. No passing game, no open play kicking game to speak of.

Unless he changes his skillset radically, it would be lunacy to even think of selecting him in the position.

In the game against Warrington at start of last season, which Briscoe produced a wow of a try, Hardaker produced a pass that exceeded anything you see from any decent half back. To say he has "no" passing game is just complete rubbish. To say he has no kicking game is equally nonsense.

What he does have above many half backs is an excellent running game, attacking the line. With a controlling scrum half around him, it would work to a tee. Lilley is exactly the sort of foil who would work with a player like Hardaker.

So on one pass you think he will make a half back? He hasn't demonstrated any kicking game in all the time he has been at Leeds. He was hopeless as a centre because he had no instinct to pass and got caught ball in hand more often than not.

On the running I agree with you but there is a difference between hitting the line as a full back than as a half back.

I've heard a few people touting Hardaker as a stand off and I must admit that I just don't see it. At the moment the weakest part of his game is his link up play into the line, and still doesn't pass very well at all. Apart from the try assist for Briscoe against Warrington last season are there any other examples of his ability to pass the ball accuratly on a consistant basis? Everything about Hardaker to me indicates he's a natural, out and out full back.