Come again?

Don't know what you're talking about

Players don't stay fit for up to a potential 35 games a season, that is why you need a squad rather than just the 17 players that take to the field on any given week.

With all of those four in the 17 each week what happens if and when they need resting or as happened last season they pick up medium term injuries?

Drop Peacock or Bailey into the second row because we have enough props to cope?

ablett is playing at centre.leaves us with three.
eastwood can also prop

Three is the number you should take into a game.
With Smith, Gibson and Watkins available to play centre, we shouldn't be down to just three really.

We'd really only expect to use three second rows in a game, and we have four players for those three spots. That's enough, particularly with the cover we have from pulling players from other positions.

sorry ritchie, totally disagree.eastwood could have covered back row and prop and allowed us to rotate and rest. 99% of the time we have 2 props and 2 second rows on the bench.

Eastwood's gone. We don't have him for this season.

Whos' this other player you have us signing, and are you still thinking he won't take gametime away from JJB and Ali?

I always preferred a bench of two props, a second row and a halfback and/or hooker by the way. We're well equipped to do that with our squad.

so the 4 second rows can play most games? how often is ali out injured forcing the others to work more?
the coach thought we needed eastwood so i'm happy to go along with that

Look how often Ali is injured and does not play - thats why you need cover.

Yep, one injured, the fourth of the fourth plays. That's why we have four rather than just three.



Where did you hear "he coach thought we needed eastwood" ?
What I saw and heard is that GH felt Eastwood was the right combination of cost compared to quality and so tried to sign him. The fact that he couldn't complete the signing doen't mean that suddenly another back row player fulfills that criteria who didn't before.

That's why we have for experienced players for three spots.

this is getting nowhere. i see your point but i think i'll keep faith with bluey thanks

Whilst Peter Smith writes for a Leeds newspaper his reports generally tell it as it is.

Yesterday we were poor and Salford well deserved their vistory. Leeds were lethargic, seemed to have no energy, they were without any ideas and resorted to 4/5 tackles up the middle before aimless kicks up front or ridicluous off loads out wide (two of which resulted in trys under the posts)

Whilst its easy to blame the official who I thought was clueless at times yesterday (that said he was ably assisted by dumb and dumber on the touch line) we should be able to raise our game to at least compete on level terms with newly promoted Salford. Myler for me ran the game and we didn't have anyone in the team achieving his standard of play. I' can't remember when I've seen as many interceptions, drop balls etc in one game and I would have thought that the Salford game was an ideal opportunity to blood some of the youngsters particularly in the pack.

What's happened to the kid we got from Salford??? Is he injured or not up to the grade??

Overall a bad day at the office.

IMO we need a good quality centre to replace the space left by Toope and another forward who can provide some umpf up front. Plus let's get out of this predictable 4/5 tackles up the middle and kick on the last....variation is required

Interestingly, I haven't seen him come out and say he needs the club to sign more players.

he praises the players but what is said in private may be totally different

So replacing Ellis with Ablett makes the squad/team the same standard - you are being typically obtuse/stubborn as your views have been found out

How can he - if he did that he basically saying his boss hasn't done his job - come on Richie!!

Donald has played most of his career at Leeds on the left though. Either way your point is laughable.. they can both play either side. Your question was are saints better man for man and who would I take out of their back line... I've given you 2 or 3 examples: Gidley better than Gibson or Smith at centre(i am correct), Gardner better than Hall or BJB on the wing(I am correct). And this is what you come back with

The 1 thing i will point out re-signing's is to think back to 2006,many screamed for a new signing and GH went out and signed an international centre(toopi) he arrived just in time to witness a dire effort in the cc semi v huddersfield.
He then went on to make his debut and play the rest of season,did he "lift" the team???
Was his introduction a kick up the backside the squad needed??
Also it ended with him being slated at every oppertunity,and GH's sanity being questioned so it prove's that new signing's don't always work mid-season especially when added to a team low on confidence and form.
I know we signed Ali mid 2004 and he turned into a fantastic aqusition but that squad wasn't on a run of poor form or low confidence was it?

Correct and well said.

Whether you accept it or not IMO this season is going to be a development season.

Eastwood may be coming next year so the club are not going to recruit in his position until they know the situation. This is not ideal but unless the club could have cancelled the agreement and there was another player of the necessary quality available I can't see what choice the club had and there is no way that Leeds will get a player of the necessary quality for a season so they may as well look at their planning for 2010.

They, apparently, tried to get Soliola, it didn't come off. There is not a great choice in quality centres at the moment, hence Abletts ability to play there in A GF winnng team, so the club have looked at developing Smith Watkins and Gibson again if this doesn't work out they can plan a signing for 2010.

There are several players out of contract in 2009 whose decision to sign or not may influence future recruitment policy and will therefore restrict potential recruitment for this year. This is not an ideal situation but it is the real world.

More importantly players who were capable of winning games last year have suddenly become impotent at creating this year. There's been complaints about the tactics of running it down the middle and not spreading the ball wide whilst also berating the centres who are not receiving the ball. We've had calls to recruit at centre, wing, second row and prop but the creative maestros are the hooker, scrum half, stand off and loose forward. They are the ones not leading the team around the park and taking the game by the scruff of the neck. Who is organising the forwards and getting them running onto the ball.

There is one of two things, either McClellan is not allowing them to be creative or they are not doing their job properly. This is what needs to be sorted first, not recruiting further players to who will end up in the same situation.

* Note my opinion is taken from the games that have been shown live and my reading of reports on these boards.

Good point well made about Toopi. The thing is with Toopi though he'd been demoted into the reserves for a while before we came in so the warning signs were there, but i get your point. I think they have to chose very carefully but nothing is 100% certain with how signings work out.
Signings or no signings we also are playing poorly as a team and this needs to be addressed.

well last season we signed the part time french player eric anselme on a tempory contract.

The only thing that's going to develop that I can see is the advancing ages and mileage of Peacock, Senior, McGuire, Burrow, Sinfield, Diskin, Buderus, Ali, JJB, Kylie, Kirke and Webb. Then we have Donald and now looking likely Smith, to replace. We don't have a lot to develop in place of these guys (although I do think Ablett will turn into a very good back row forward).
Not a good time to have a gap year.