McShane is a good un but fell out with McD as the latter tried to alter his way of playing. Typical McD, tries to coach the talent out of the lad

Maybe you'd want to consider that we are in the CC semi-final and still as good a chance as anyone of winning Super League before you do that.

Shows what he can do when given enough game time and encouragement to go out and play good scoot from d/h intelligent kicking solid tackling betts will want to keep him

He played well last night, but could he have actually found his natural level at Widnes?

I'd like to see a lot more from the guy before thinking he's the solution to our no.9 spot. Let's remember it was the 2nd bottom team playing the 3rd, before we get carried away too much by one performance..

Not his first MOM award for Widnes in a small window of time.

But Cas are gash you are right there. Macca will have had tougher matches in our under 20's this year.

I heard the same

if i were pessamistic I would say its easy to be the best player in a gash team. If I were being optimistic I would say its good to see him taking his opportunity and I'm sure McDermott will be monitoring the situation closely

Whereas he's started to flourish under the superior coaching of Denis Betts? Sorry, don't buy it. Modern coaching of British sides seems to me to be all about instilling a game plan first and foremost. If players choose to play outside that, however talented they may be, they'll fall out with their coaches. And that also applies to players with a hell of a lot more talent than McShane. It's a pity in some ways but McD is hardly alone in trying to impose a structure which overrides individual talent.
On the plus side, I suspect both are sufficiently professional to put past grievances aside. In his post match interview, McShane made no reference to staying at Widnes beyond this year. And signs are that the experience is doing him no harm in terms of development.

It's going to be a short career for any academy player that refuses to accept coaching from his club's head coach.

Or an academy hooker who refuses to accept coaching from one of the best hookers of the super league era .

eh. where has this refusing advise/being coached come from ? thought the lad did well im sure dennis betts did not say aw f**k it do what you want . i agree one swallow does not make a spring only that given time he could be a good player for us

The game is littered with great players who don't make good coaches.

Is it ( [iAlanis Morissettey[/i ) ironic that in the close season so many of us were looking forward to seeing the anticipated progress of the 'two highly promising kids' in the first team 2012 hooking role. Instead we have a dynamic but ill equipped, makeshift incumbent and another on loan.

bang on nantwich exile nail on head there

Are you suggesting we have a game plan?

Well in Leeds eye this year on McShane we handed him Diskins 9 shirt, didn't start him, played him in patchy spells regardless of his form so he didn't get a run together and also left him sub not used in a well lost match.

Right game plan.

If he is going to be used like the above he's better off at Widnes.

I thought it was a typical McShane performance. He did well, seems quick out of dummy half and is enthusiastic. But is prone to getting carried away and trying to do too much. Too many times he tried to put a little grubber in on the fifth, direct from dummy half in an almost impossible position to get it through. Widnes were lucky with the bounce of the ball on some of those occasions. A better plan might have been a pass from dummy half to a half back who has the time and space to put a better kick in.
You can get away with it against Cas, you can't in the business end of the playoffs. I think it's that kind of thing McDermott & Lowes will have been trying to teach McShane.

Possibly plausible....but would he not be better cutting his teeth against the same opposition with his presumably (four year contracted) future team-mates ?

The same could also be said for the likes of Keinhorst and Singleton.

Alternatively, why not let him make his poor decisions through inexperience somewhere else, then take the benefit of what he has hopefully learned.

Fair enough if you have a first rate, specialised, defensively commanding incumbent (Buderus perhaps; or Diskin maybe) .......but ???

As you may gather we are delighted with him and would love to hang on to him, although contractually that would seem unlikely. Speaking of which is he contracted for another 3 years after this one with you?

We are naturally a bit baffled by the 3 way move, which saw Moore effectively sacked by us and then immediately picked up by Huddersfield (albeit only until the end of the season), this sent Lunt on his way to you (who to me seemed a better all round player than Moore), which eventually allowed McShane to come to us, although I know his original destination was to be London.

Given our overall quality is somewhat below yourselves and Huddersfield at the moment, the arrival of McShane makes us feel we have got the best of the deal (at least as far as Moore is concerned!).

So naturally we are keen that you want to hang on to Lunt, who as far as I know has a longish contract with Huddersfield, which might, just might open the door for McShane to come to us. The first person who needs to be convinced of course is McShane himself, he is already a massive favourite, but we are not going to be winning trophies any time soon, so he may just be grateful for the game time and the chance to show off his class and go back to you next year a more confident player. Did I hear that he was not exactly the apple of McDermott's eye? Good news for us if true!

Unless McDermott is no longer the Leeds coach of course



It is all very bizarre as you state

I think many on here are striving to find faults in McShane's game as a way of pacifying themselves that McDermott can't be that warped in his thinking that he doesn't see the talent in McShane.

IMHO his display on Monday night was superior to any other hooking display by a player contracted to Leeds this season.
Alot of people make reference to his percieved poor defence. Is it so bad that he has to defend outwide?

Interesting point about changing the way he plays. Anyone see Lee Smith's tweet about McShane "just tackling and passing"? Certainly seems to back up the things said on here. Of course, I could be adding 2+2 and coming up with 69893.

You could argue the case you make your own luck in Rugby League, If you don't buy a ticket you can't win the raffle, No player in RL makes the correct decision all the time.

I agree

he really has been brilliant each game and done about 70mins in each too. His basics are very, very good and consistent. Which as a hooker really is half the job.