I thought it was good work from Zak, who bought the chasing defenders some time, and Hall who made a good tackle, as well as a poor decision by Inu to carry the ball in one hand and delay the pass, which made the defenders job slightly easier.

.... He was MOM for me...and for those who say 'why doesn't he provide that level of attack play more often' continue to overlook the amount of defensive work he often has to contribute owing to our continued persistent lack of a 'proper' hooker. As you say I hope he doesn't think 'I have had enough of this lark' and does beat a retreat down under (or to RU)

Cuthbo I agree was also excellent: his cute offloads, passes and even a decent little kick (how the hell Walters didn't score lord only knows?) are indicative of his half-back abilities in the body of a prop. He also puts in the graft.

Hardaker looked much better in the second half and it was pleasing to see him linking and putting in passes to his left.

As most have said the defence is the bigger concern and I guess that doesn't help with the continued lack of a middle defending hooker. Galloway looks no better than Bailey at the moment. Mullally blew his big chance with stupidity and Achurch proved again he is a 'Medley' like forward, which is not winning him any favours in team selection under the present regime..., although like yesteryear it gives us those memorable runs down the wing.

Lilley is unfortunately slow in body; Burrow needs to be back on the bench.

Faloon (any decent proper hooker) and McGuire are both badly missed....and with a continued tough run of fixtures ahead it aint going to be the best of Easters.

We can't write the season off just yet....a lot could happen with injuries both for and against, both with our own team and with the opposition teams.

I think Mulally could have a future in the game. Possibly with East leeds or Hull Dockers.

Word on Catalans. Whilst they did pick up the 2 points, yesterday again (and the Hull game) showed why IMO they won't make the top 4 under their present coach. Pretty close to full strength but are masters at shooting themselves in the foot and turning what should've been a 2nd half stroll after the opening 10 mins of the 2nd half into a close 4 point contest. With their away form they need to be pretty much perfect at home but can easily see them losing around 3/4 games which will leave them short of the playoffs.

Whilst it's a tough time being a Leeds fan at the present moment, it must be frustrating as hell to be a Catalans fan year round.

Other than Aiton were they missing anyone else? If not they must be fairly concerned. Although Taylor is a nightmare near the line, he looked like he could be exposed in defence carrying that about of timber.

Other than Aiton were they missing anyone else? If not they must be fairly concerned. Although Taylor is a nightmare near the line, he looked like he could be exposed in defence carrying that about of timber.

You think his performance stanks that much?

Is there any chance when we get within 10 metres of the opposition's line we can actually pass the ball right ? I'm fed up of the same old Burrow from acting half, pass on to Moon. or keep it himself, little chip kick into in goal (or most likely blocked by a defender), or a bullet pass to Hall that leads to very little........please go right every now and again for a change ??

Indeed. It's as though chapter 13 is missing from BMD's big Red Book of Rugby league tactics. The rather important one which highlights some of plays you can try once you get to the opposition 20 meter line. The headless chicken routine must really annoy the groundstaff who have to replace the same divots over and over again.

Perhaps Ebay have an old copy.

Much easier for most right handed players to pass left quickly and accurately when under pressure (like when the defensive line is five metres away rather than ten). There's also more chance of the left winger being able to beat his opposite in limited space close to the line than the current right winger.

Thought the use of interchanges was poor again on Saturday. Singleton did all bar 8 minutes out of the first 61. As the front rower with the best footwork, don't you want him on the field at the end of the game when players are getting tired and lazy in defence?

Keinhorst and Ferres did the full 40 in the first half, although the back row rotation isn't helped by Delaney's inability to string more than 25 minutes together without needing a breather.

It's not like players couldn't be spelled either due to a lack of interchanges, with Leeds only using 9 of their possible 10.

Walters now appears to be ahead of Achurch and Mullally in the "people McDermott trusts to use off the bench" charts anyway, getting 30 minutes in two spells on Saturday as opposed to 24 and 19 for the other two. Now all he needs to do is learn to judge a rolling ball and be able to bend his back.

The problem is Andy that whilst it might be easier, we do it every time so the opposition defence know what's coming and just load up that side, snuffing out any danger of Hall squeezing in at the corner because they have so many men there, likewise a Burrow grubber kick can't get through as there are too many arms and legs in the way.

I'm not suggesting we should not go that way, just not each time we are so close, and when Burrow plays 9 that seems the only idea he has when we get that close. Maybe Falloon getting fit with give us the variety our play close to the line needs ?

We need to wake up and realise that without peacock the rotations have to be used more effectively, how many times will we have to get run over in the second half for us to realise that.

Also, as much as I love the free flowing offloading, it wont work in an opposition 10 when they wont be leaving gaps around the markers, we have to have some block plays or wrap arounds or something to force an overlap or at least a one on one ... you know... like how how every other team in the world attacks

The other issue with the big right hand shift is that most other teams bring the full-back into the line as an extra runner.

Problem with Leeds doing that is if you put the ball in Hardaker's hands, it invariably wouldn't get to Watkins and Briscoe/Handley. Suppose you could set it up so either Hardaker loops in outside Watkins or pops up on his left shoulder for a little inside ball, but he can't play as an extra pivot in the way say Brent Webb did.

Not saying you're wrong...but I seem to remember Hardaker linking quite well to his right last season (at least in comparison to his linking to the left).....it was good to see him combining down the left at Les Catalans and making the extra man simple link and pass. I know it's nowhere good enough in comparison to the likes of Webb etc, but aren't the plays that are required something that can be better set up and practiced on the training field?

Hardaker is not a naturally creative player and has shown little sign of developing into one. When he first came into the side at left centre he showed his first thought was to go on his own and ignore Hall. At full back he has made his name as a defensive player with a good kick return game based on physicality and not linking skills. Whilst this has won him the MOS it has not helped our two centres who rarely are provided with the ball from a FB joining the line at speed, drawing a defender and creating space for their running skills. Both Moon and Watkins more often receive slow ball in static situations from second rowers.

I have always regarded FB as a prime position from which to create attacks and IMO our quality back line is somewhat wasted without a FB that both understands this and has the creative ability to put it into practice. Golding looks to have this ability but needs time to develop and gain experience. So there is a good argument to swop Hardaker and Watkins for a spell and see if we can get some sharpness back in the attack.

Quote ="Juan Cornetto"Hardaker is not a naturally creative player and has shown little sign of developing into one. When he first came into the side at left centre he showed his first thought was to go on his own and ignore Hall. At full back he has made his name as a defensive player with a good kick return game based on physicality and not linking skills. Whilst this has won him the MOS it has not helped our two centres who rarely are provided with the ball from a FB joining the line at speed, drawing a defender and creating space for their running skills. Both Moon and Watkins more often receive slow ball in static situations from second rowers. I have always regarded FB as a prime position from which to create attacposting.p ... 8300380#ks and IMO our quality back line is somewhat wasted without a FB that both understands this and has the creative ability to put it into practice. Golding looks to have this ability but needs time to develop and gain experience. So there is a good argument to swop Hardaker and Watkins for a spell and see if we can get some sharpness back in the attack.'" From memory Watkins hasn't impressed as much at FB as what many thought he might...especially defensively. Maybe have Watkins and Hardaker rotate for some periods in possession, but defencively Hardaker must be back there as a priority.

Quote ="Juan Cornetto"Hardaker is not a naturally creative player and has shown little sign of developing into one. When he first came into the side at left centre he showed his first thought was to go on his own and ignore Hall. At full back he has made his name as a defensive player with a good kick return game based on physicality and not linking skills. Whilst this has won him the MOS it has not helped our two centres who rarely are provided with the ball from a FB joining the line at speed, drawing a defender and creating space for their running skills. Both Moon and Watkins more often receive slow ball in static situations from second rowers. I have always regarded FB as a prime position from which to create attacposting.p ... 8300380#ks and IMO our quality back line is somewhat wasted without a FB that both understands this and has the creative ability to put it into practice. Golding looks to have this ability but needs time to develop and gain experience. So there is a good argument to swop Hardaker and Watkins for a spell and see if we can get some sharpness back in the attack.'" From memory Watkins hasn't impressed as much at FB as what many thought he might...especially defensively. Maybe have Watkins and Hardaker rotate for some periods in possession, but defencively Hardaker must be back there as a priority.

Unless Hardaker and Golding are injured there really isn't any argument let alone a good one to make that switch.
Watkins showed again v the Dragons give him reasonable/early ball he's just fine staying where he is as for ZH he may not be BW but FB is his best position as we stand and whilst our whole attacking structure is in transition even more so missing Mags and relying on 2 rookie HB's the very last thing we need to be doing is chopping and changing our best FB/Centre around.

Might not be an argument in your book Rhinoms but ZH's lack of attacking finesse is a real handicap IMO. Precisely because we are missing Mags and have two rookie half backs underlines the need for an attacking pivot at FB to take some pressure off them. Watkins had a good game in France but you could look forward to this sort of display every week if he had the space that you get at FB. Also with Hardaker out of sorts at present it makes even more sense.

Well the majority of fullbacks are either good runners or good passers, there are only about 5/6 exceptions playing today
Those that can do both to a high standard are usually then defensive nightmares
The only exceptions are Billy Slater, GI, Hayne...
In other words, players who dont play in SL and we cant afford.
So if we got rid of Hardaker, we would only get someone who can maybe pass but wont break many tackles and probably make a load of defensive mistakes

I can't think of an NRL fullback who can't pass pretty well and who isn't an integral part of attacking moves, particularly on the opposition line. There are examples of others who've played NRL but they tend to be discarded if they can't pass. As with Josh Hoffman, who in many respects is the best NRL counterpart to Hardaker I can think of.

The three names you mention stand out not because of passing but because they are (or possibly were in the case of Slater) devastating runners in their own right.

But Watkins has great feet and at his best with ball in hand in space. He breaks plenty of tackles too, not bad defense and passes better than ZH. ie; great CV for a FB. Oppositions seem to have worked out that Hardaker rarely passes so now close him down much better.

Fullbacks this week- (that ive seen enough of)
Runners- Dugan, Ferguson, Hopoate, Gordan, Tedesco
Passers: Darius Boyd, Coote
No defence- Barba

All Rounders- GI, RTS, Slater, Stewart (so only 2 who arnt over 30)

Hardakers equivalent would be more like Dugan the current NSW fullback, the difference is that they play to his strengths and work a load of inside passes and stuff that exploits his pace and power, thing we dont do enough

I've often thought Hardakers game was similar to Dugan. Similar skills and body types, and both have put off field issues behind them.

Dugan can be very creative. Tedesco is a very good passer of the ball, he's a key player in the Tigers plays. Barba's not a first choice full back. Neither you or I have seen enough of Ferguson or Hopate at fullback to make any sort of call on them.

I'll say again, every regular starting full back in the NRL who lasts for more than a season can pass the ball better than Hardaker. If they don't they get put on the wing (or possibly their better side in the centres).

Dugan and Tedesco operate mainly in the middle, only linking in the way a loose forward would and working a lot of inside ball runs, whilst Hardaker seems to be being pushed to an edge (he certainly was for England) therefore we're not playing to his stregnths
Hopoate played fullback for most of a year and played a similar role to Dugan
Barba is a first choice fullback isnt he? who was missing for the sharks this week?
You failed query Coote, Gordan and Boyd who all have limited games

Hardaker may not be one of the best attacking fullbacks if he played down under but hed easily be top 10