If George were to leave South Sydney too then you would have to imagine they'd be several NRL clubs chasing after him and chasing hard. Unless he wants to return to England then can't see him back in SL anytime soon.

The Most Feared Man in Superleague, Jamie Peacock, Kylie and Kirke all gone within 12 months. That's a bigger beef crisis than BSE was.

3 Burgess Brothers should do the trick. The 3BB

I've noticed the same thing, and if you look at our props from 2004 would anybody on here take them over what we have now on paper? Ward, McDonald, (past peak) Barrie Mc, Feather, Bailey vs Kylie, Peacock, Cuthbertson, Singleton, Yates? Although Ward and McDonald had terrific seasons in 2004 woud any of those players get into the team now over what we have? Certainly the first 3 are better on paper now than they were then IMO. However, if you compare the back row we had then with what we have now that's where we've regressed more alarmingly. 2004: Furner, McKenna, Sinfield, Ali, Poching and JJB vs Ablett, Delaney, JJB, Ward, Achurch.

Any chance of jjb following the same path a jp and moving to the middle

When GH sent his email about most exciting squad blah blah I wrote it off as BS at best, propoganda at worst and didnt buy it.

But looking at it objectively and having seen the Boxing Day game I think we have reason for cautious positivity.

I know we said this last year but i think we have the best three quarters if we can get good ball to them. With the two young kids as back up and Briscoes and Hardakers flexibility we look good.

Need a good year from Sutcliffe as looks like Mags is on his way (though he was good on BD) but we have good options with those two and Sinny/Burrow at half back.

I thought props looked bad for this year but Cuthbetson looks good (though he is a 13) Yates looks tidy and Mulhearn should get some games to complement Peacock and Kylie.

Hooker is my biggest worry. Im not impressed by Aiton but he gets the most gametime. Ward has potential but is young and needs to learn. Burrow is ok but can be patchy.

Second row. For me Achurch could really change teh complextion of our 2nd row if he can stay fit. Without him its a bit one dimensional at times. All crash and bash.

Ive long thought Sinny was better at 13 but on BD cuthbertson looked a natural in this position. He really could be a game changer for us and move us forward if players like sutcliffe, zak, burrow etc follow him.

So overall I think we are in good shape. Our biggest issue will be consistency - we know we can be brilliant but can we be brilliant for 90% of the season?

The players are talking a good game - all saying best pre-season, toughest yet etc.

I am not sure why you think McGuire is on his way? Achurch has been an expensive waste of money, I am not convinced he really has the heart for it, a bit of a Chris Feather.

The problem I see is two fold: Our inability to strengthen significantly compared to the other bigger clubs. Secondly our inability to vary the way we attack. You cannot change the way the likes of Sinfield/McGuire/Burrow/JJB/Peacock etc play it is so ingrained add to that a coach who seems to struggle to adapt if his original game plan is not effective.

Remeber when that happened for most of 2006? It was the main gripe of most of the people on here that season (along with Donald), and that was a move instigated by uber coach TS so I can only imagine the stick McDermott will get if he does the same thing.

The way we have played in preseason is massively different to the way we have played previously under this coach. Admittedly it didn't included Sinfield and Burrow, but it has certainly changed all the same.

You might not change certain players way of playing, but adding class like Cuthbertson to a side can make a difference, then add in willing skilful backrowers like Ward, and we suddenly seem different.

Where it would fail is if you moved away from what we are currently doing.

I'm not convinced it's necessarily been a massive shift in the way things are done, but in the speed and intensity they are being done at.

Both Sutcliffe and McGuire have looked - for the most part - much sharper with the ball than was the case with the Sinfield/McGuire/Burrow axis last year. At least one play per set isn't being wasted by Burrow running up his own backside from dummy half either, which helps.

Add in Cuthbertson offering an offload game up the middle - which is something we haven't had arguably since Lauitiiti - and there are more attacking options and better space being created for the outside backs and back rowers to hit holes.

The acid test is going to be whether that speed and intensity continues once the familiar names return to pivotal positions, or whether we return to type.

Just to defend Achurch a little here, I'm not convinced his problem is a lack of heart he's just been terribly unlucky with little, niggling injuries. The scratch to the eyeball he got at Hunslet kind of sums up his time at Leeds in that regard.

Taking a pre-season friendly as a blueprint as to how we are going to play seems a stretch in imagination to me. Also the quality of the opposition that day was very poor so I am not sure you can take much from that.

I agree re Cuthbertson - potentially a very good signing, whether he will get the same freedom against the better sides to offload with such effectiveness time will tell.

The fact still remains this is a ageing side which doesn't have a great deal of strength in depth in certain key positions - can the established players change adapt to a new style of play?

I think with a good pre-season under his belt Aiton will be much better. If I remember correctly he started to get in to some good form and stamp his authority before his illness. I don't think he showed the same when he came back, but he was out for quite some time. Hopefully the Asada thing isn't playing on his mind and he can go all guns blazing. Happy to see him start and then Burrow to come off the bench.
Another interesting thing is the article in YEP about Minchella going to [url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/leeds-rhinos/leeds-rhinos-versatile-minchella-ready-for-next-step-1-7061816hooker[/url. R.Ward has potential there, but I also thought L.Briscoe showed some good potential when asked to play hooker.

That might be were his long term future lies, maybe another terry Newton who started as a back rower but became a class hooker. Minchella will not make it as a back rower in super league.

Minchella's 18. We don't even know what size he's going to turn out to be let alone what position. But we do pretty much know that Burrow is going to be starting hooker.

The worrying thing about Minchella is his own admission that he doesn't know what his best position is, and neither seemingly do the Academy coaches at Leeds. By 18, you really should have an idea of where you're going to play and start developing the skills and physique required for that role.

To be fair I think there are lots of lads like that and they often end up in the second row almost by default. In truth it's at least in part a failing of the amateur game that he hadn't found his way by the time he reached the Leeds academy.

Cuthbertson offering an offload game will be refreshing to see. It's only JP over last couple of years that regularly frees the ball open. But I recall somewhere reading that Wayne Bennett wasn't always impressed with his 'fire the ball out at will' mentality. So if Cutherberston can offer a positive impact in a controlled manner, Leeds have the fringe players to take advantage.

Back row in league is like wing in Union, it's where you stick kids that don't have the skill, size or pace to play in a real position. The idea that any forward can play hooker worries me, it's the most important position on the field as far as I'm concerned. The person that touches the ball the most, and who all the attacking plan has to work around. Not to mention a key defender in the middle of the pitch (unless your Burrow of course).

I think it's about skill and pace. A skillful player can fit almost anywhere, Danny McGuire when he was younger could play in any back position, he had skill and pace. Terry Newton was mentioned as a back rower who moved to hooker, but actually he was back then a loose forward - when you still had some differentiation between 2nd row and 13. He was a ball handling player, a lot like Sutcliffe. His move to hooker was a natural progression which allowed him to get his hands on the ball at most attacking plays and he was always abrasive around the ruck so it was a good fit defensively as well. You can't take any back row forward and do that.
If anything the last few seasons have definitley highlighted to me how good Matt Diskin was.

James Duckworth, Luke Briscoe, Robbie Ward and Rob Mulhern on dual reg with Hunslet.

Newton was an exceptional talent and along with Morley the best youngster to come through the system at that time.

We have hugely missed Ali since he left, when he got one of those offloads out we were very dangerous, even when he didn't he drew men in to stop it creating gaps outwide. I think we have missed putting that doubt in the mind of the defenders and I hope Cuthbertson can take up some of that because it will make us a lot more dangerous.

Luke Briscoe and James Duckworth signed for Hunalet on one year deals.

Briscoe, Duckworth, Tonks, Baldwinson, Foster, Minns, Clarkson all out on deals where they cannot be called back.

Despite what GH says, can't see either Duckworth or Briscoe coming back next year.

Likewise Foster and Minns. None of the four are of the required standard.

It's looking more and more like Briscoe was only signed as bait for his brother.

A young rhino has signed a new contract at the club, in tomorrow's YEP.