They could play other positions but with regards to the posters original point that we were targetting to win the opening 4 so we could send some players on holiday.....I seriously doubt before the Middle 8's started we thought and spread the word so that some random guy on an Internet could spread it further that we'd just win the first 4 games (which won't guarantee safety) and send guys on holiday and play Sutcliffe back at HB, Briscoe at centre and Hall at 2nd row.

If we guarantee safety with a game/s to spare then yes I'm sure any guys who need off season operations will be sent to get them earlier, but only if/when it's possible and not for them to have a holiday.

The problem is some people only think about the attacking side of the game. In attack he might make a decent 2nd rower with time, but defensively the guy has even admitted that he hates tackling so he isn't ever going to make a backrower with that attitude, probably not even a centre too.

It's quiet strange, but for a guy who is so damaging and physical when carrying the ball he really doesn't like the physical aspect. Heard that when he was a kid his dad tried to send him to kickboxing lessons and he absolutely hated it because it was too rough and gave it up sharpish, and he ends up learning the piano and guitar instead.....yet can run over opposition wingers with ease like a brick wall. Strange mix but he's made a success of himself.

It's a good job London had no defensive work rate or we may have been in trouble.

agree about Ryan hall. Great finishing winger, but there is no 2nd row forward in there for mine.

Tom briscoe to centre could be a possibility if the moon in the halves experiment keeps going.

I think McD may keep going with Moon at SO and JJB at prop with a view to assessing whether these are viable options for next season.

JJB is another of our greats who although now fit and working like a Trojan, does not really look mobile enough to defend out wide and to me can't really make the yardage at prop.

his influence and leadership may still outweigh the shortcomings overall.

Thought Moon was anonymous in the halves on Saturday. On a day with swirling high winds the ball should have gone high in the air far more often on 5th tackle but we kicked poorly, Moon in particular looked like a rabbit in the headlights every time he got the ball on the last.
Keinhorst played very well at centre though so might be worth seen my if Moon can settle at 6. I think with a good 7 he might work.

The same issues exist though. Our defence up the middle is great head on but very slow to turn or cover sideways. Big holes. Segeyaro was very quiet and I was not impressed with him Saturday. I do agree with some comments from other clubs posters, a very large percentage of his passes from dummy half were forward - luckily they were all very short pops and not penalised.
We played very, very close to the ruck so not sure what his longer pass is like or how clever he is near the opponents line. His option as a kicker is welcome.
Near the opponents line we look hopeless.

Segeyaro plays that way because it allows him to decide late as to whether to run or not. At his best that makes him incredibly dangerous because he's so strong that he often beats the first defender, particularly if they have half an eye on the player he might pass to. At his worst it creates problems for ball carriers who can get clattered and lose possession as they're tackled so soon after getting the ball (or take their eye off the ball as they are so close to the defence when they get it).

Not so cleaver in defence is he..

Its clever. Unlike you, clearly.

Tell that to your next opponents HKR, who have a prop out for the rest of the year and he delivered a great crunching tackle on him.

Speaking of next opponents, shouldn't you be hanging around the HKR or even Hudds boards seen as though you play them before you play us. In fact by the time you play us, if you can beat one of those aforementioned teams then our game probably won't mean much as we could both be qualified by the final week.

Yep, why take a World class winger and make him a run of the mill back rower?

If anything the modern game suits finding tall second rowers with a bit of pace and looking to make them wingers, not the other way round.

Not so sure we can call him "world class" anymore. Hard to remember the last "world class" thing he has done.

He might not be world class anymore, but I wouldn't take any other SL winger over him. There's a lot play every week who are worse than Hall in the NRL too.

Imo of course.

The way he brought the ball back (along with Briscoe) last season was world class.

That was a year ago - a year is a long time in sport - ask Leeds Rhinos

Moon at 6 is a non runner for me - it didn't work in the NRL and it won't work in SL he runs far too diagonally all the time

Considering he's been out injured for half this season is say it's still relevant in debating his quality. I'd also partly attribute our improved results to the return of Briscoe and Hall. As well as Handley and Luke Briscoe did for us in a terrible period, they have far less success and impact when returning the ball and starting our sets off.

Spot on. I think he's played very well since his return and been one of our best performers. In the last 4 league games before the split he made in metres

Vs Widnes - 126m
Vs Hull - 152m
Vs Wigan - 123m
Vs HKR - 141m

They are big numbers and not ones that we could get regularly out of Handley and definitely not Luke Briscoe even though both did OK for us when called upon. He also had 19 tackle busts in those 4 games, the opening 6 games of the season before injury he made only 4.

He can't be faulted for not scoring much as he doesn't get a sniff. Had he been on the right wing vs London he'd have the hat trick that Briscoe got.

I'm not particularly bothered by how many tries a player scores. That often depends on their role in the team and how the team itself works. If Joel Moon is scoring tries instead of Hall or if the ball is going to the right more because we have a threat in Watkins, or if we're scoring tries down the middle from inside balls or offloads then it really doesn't matter. If he wasn't doing anything else then it would be an issue, but his workrate (& quality of it) more than makes up for it.
I give huge credit to the back 3 of Hardaker, Hall & Briscoe, and the second row of Ablett, Delaney & Ward for last seasons success. Their outstanding work provided the platform for the likes of Aiton, Watkins, Cuthbertson and McGuire to run riot

True and why going back earlier in the season when people were arguing about which team had 'X' amount of injuries it can't always be judged by the number alone. The way we like to play its so important to have our first choice back 3 available for the work they do (and thus the extra work the forwards don't have to do). It's also why I'm good with Sutcliffe taking over the number 1 shirt because as a once touted loose forward he certainly is ok in the size/strength department to keep that up compared to the lightweight Ash Golding. You can also see it in Briscoe when he's fit and firing exactly what he gives us over BJB who didn't do much wrong but just a different type of winger.

I get the point about it doesn't matter who scores but considering we've played two Championship teams lately and scored nearly 20 tries, it's a bit strange that we haven't been able to give our left winger one single scoring opportunity in either of those games. We should at least be seeing some sort of effort in those particular games to be scoring/creating on both sides, it surely could only help going into the tougher games vs Salford, Hudds and Leigh.

There's also the simple question of having a very good finisher on the wing and not getting him the ball with half a yard close to the line reeking of inability to set up play at all well.

He is also very good in the air, but for some reason we barely ever go to Hall with cross field kicks, despite the fact he bullies the majority of his opponents.
Its almost as if we are embarrassed to resort to a 5th tackle cross field kick.

Said it before, Hall might as well go roam around the field in attack because the ball never gets to his wing with any space

Very true. Bobbie Goulding would have gone looking for Hall everytime with the attributes he has at his disposal.

This.

Im more confident in us scoring from 90 yards out from the opponents try line than 90cm.

Our last tackle options involve either dying with the ball on the last, a kick through that 99% is too far ahead/too strong or laughably short into a defender or knocking on/ giving away a penalty.

We are absolutely shocking close in, laughably so.

We have slightly improved with Chicko now being a danger close in.

In all my years of watching Leeds that has always been the case.