following his brothers down to us. Any truth to this?

Post the link & we'll maybe respond.

mirror.co.uk/sport/sport-front-page/2011/01/28/leeds-rhinos-star-luke-burgess-is-out-to-impress-in-the-last-year-of-his-contract-as-he-eyes-a-move-to-australia-115875-22880570/

Unless the Mirror is like Tellucrap in Sydney

Reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post - 24th December 2010 www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/l ... 6671004.jp [iBurgess is entering the final year of his Rhinos contract. One of his younger brothers – England international Sam – has already made a big name of himself with Aussie club South Sydney and another younger sibling, George, recently made a similar move. Rhinos' Burgess said: "I have got another year left on my contract at Leeds and obviously that's my priority right now – to be as good as I can and to do the best I can for Leeds. That's something I have always wanted to do, play at my best. There's no hiding the fact I am interested in eventually one day going to Australia and playing some rugby out there. That's definitely something that's going through my mind, but probably more towards the back of my mind. This year ahead now is an important year for me. I missed quite a lot of last season, so I need to have a good year and play some more games and hopefully stay injury-free."[/i To sum up - Burgess is out of contract at the end of 2011, he's keeping his options open, he's concentrating on having a good season first. Pretty standard stuff - nothing to see here (at the moment.)

Reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post - 24th December 2010 www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/l ... 6671004.jp [iBurgess is entering the final year of his Rhinos contract. One of his younger brothers – England international Sam – has already made a big name of himself with Aussie club South Sydney and another younger sibling, George, recently made a similar move. Rhinos' Burgess said: "I have got another year left on my contract at Leeds and obviously that's my priority right now – to be as good as I can and to do the best I can for Leeds. That's something I have always wanted to do, play at my best. There's no hiding the fact I am interested in eventually one day going to Australia and playing some rugby out there. That's definitely something that's going through my mind, but probably more towards the back of my mind. This year ahead now is an important year for me. I missed quite a lot of last season, so I need to have a good year and play some more games and hopefully stay injury-free."[/i To sum up - Burgess is out of contract at the end of 2011, he's keeping his options open, he's concentrating on having a good season first. Pretty standard stuff - nothing to see here (at the moment.)

I think once Luke can be impressive and develop, week-in - week-out in Super League for Leeds, a move to the NRL would sound more logical.

He needs a big year and hope he can produce.

I know props mature later, but I would question the lack of improvement over the last 3 or 4 seasons, he has just been at a moderate level.

2011 could be a defining year in Luke's career.

I like Burgess (Luke) but he does seen to have plateaued regarding his skill set/ work rate. Sam is in a different class to Luke at the moment and he’d really need to up his game this year if he’s seriously looking at an NRL first team spot.

Don't think he's good enough for the NRL personally.

ryan tandy was a regular in the super duper NRL.


i rest my case

dont think he is in the same class as sam, but I am sure Luke wants to give it a shot

36 NRL appearances in 8 years (2003-2010) suggest he's not a regular.



More like a shopping bag from Aldi or Netto, I'd say.

Oh dear Keith, you get worse.



He was an NRL regular certainly last season, no matter what you want to dredge up.

Strange timescale - he'd have struggled to play in the NRL whilst at Hull KR, Doncaster, Widnes, Whitehaven and Barrow.

Which emphasises the point - he's not very good, but has managed to get a gig at two of the big NRL clubs in the last couple of years, which suggests Luke Burgess could too.

I think in a salary capped sport such as ours any player has a chance of a move to the NRL. But then it will all come down to how much you want to play in the NRL. If Burgess was happy to go to the NRL on a very cheap contract then I would suspect he'd get snapped up purely because he would fit well into a roster. Maybe not always in the first team but more a back-up but given his chance he could then stake a claim

I F**king hat threads that have a title like this, its so F**king cheesy!!

Neither is Worrincy Matt, but he's somehow got himself a club!

In the absence of JP for the first half of the season we really will need Burgess to do what he does best. ie: take us over the gain line and put us on the front foot.

Neither Bailey or Kirke (as a possible prop) are noted for a good go forward game so we will need young Luke to have more game time this year.

Time for Kirke to stand up and drive his legs rather than falling in the tackle.

Time for Burgess to learn how to catch and sort his lateral movement out if he wants to play NRL.

Burgess struggled to find the advantage line last year. He was dealt with quite easily. In reality Luke ISN'T this huge metre maker that some people buy into.

I doubt his metre average were significantly better than TMFMISL/Kirke.

A Luke Burgess, on form, is a worthy member of the squad and with the injury situation (and for Luke's own personal career targets) - Luke needs a huge year. I hope he can produce.

Fortunately that's something measured during the Regular Rounds by Opta.

Looking at Leeds' props/used in that role (at some point) 2010:

Greg Eastwood - 7.58
Jamie Peacock - 7.48
Kylie Leuluai - 7.41
Kyle Amor - 7.32

Luke Burgess - 6.61
Ryan Bailey - 6.24
Ian Kirke - 6.09
Luke Ambler - 6.06

Make of those what you will.

Thought you may 'pop up' at this point.

On this occasion of that info you have supplied it backs up my point perfectly.

Cheers.

tvoc wrote:Fortunately that's something measured during the Regular Rounds by Opta.

Looking at Leeds' props/used in that role (at some point) 2010:

Greg Eastwood - 7.58
Jamie Peacock - 7.48
Kylie Leuluai - 7.41
Kyle Amor - 7.32

Luke Burgess - 6.61
Ryan Bailey - 6.24
Ian Kirke - 6.09
Luke Ambler - 6.06

Make of those what you will.






Well this is only taking the averages over last season alone and given that it was a poor season for Burgess and it was a good one for Bailey (I seem to remember you were flying a kite for your hero to be considered for international duty) your man was still down 6% in go forward.

However if you compare the performance for the seasons since Burgess came into the side (2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010) You get the following averages:

Luke Burgess 7.07
Ryan Bailey 6.42

Which is a whole 10% better in average metres per carry and Burgess is also 16% better than Bailey in metres made per game which means his go forward performance average is a "significantly better" than Bailey or Kirke

Which is the point I was making ie: for Burgess to do what he does best. We do need him to have a good season this year and also your man BB

Where's my calculator?



We need a collective effort, that's for sure. And as you mention, 2010 wasn't a great year for Luke. I see 2011 as a possible defining crossroads of where his career will head. In the pre-season games I've seen he seems to have the 'bit' between his teeth.

Running with the ball is one side of the game and the other is defending. Which is where Luke's weakness kicks in. By this I don't just mean the basics of tackles/mis-tackles and lists of stats. It's a little deeper than that. JP and TMFMISL understand the role, i.e. marshalling the middle of the park, knowing where and when to involve yourself in the tackle, having a effective role even when not tackling (e.g. blocking possible offloads, filling holes etc), making tackles but not automatically having a breather at marker but getting back in the line of defence etc. This skill set isn't marked up in the stats, but it's a part of the game which I fully enjoy. It's a real workers role and is vital. This is the area where Luke can improve on (he's not the only one mind). Maybe it's something that comes with time.

Yes you are right BB, the subtlies of the game are so important and the stats do not fully represent a players effort as you correctly point out on defence and the same on attack eg running off the ball.

Ryan Bailey has great experience and it shows in his all round defence. However although not his best season Luke Burgess did improve as the stats below show. He reduced his missed tackles last season to less than RB and his tackles per game were 21.27 compared with 22 for RB and as previously stated his metres per carry were also up on RB. So if he can improve, cut out the handling errors and mature this season we could have a very good young prop.

My big concern is our props lack of go forward without JP who averages around 3500 metres per season. Kylie averages around 1900 metres per season but the rest of our props are below 1500m.

With the likes of Graham (4000m) Morley, Clough, Sharp & Lynch (3000m+) and Vella, Fielden etc (2500m)+ our backs are at a disadvantage over the competition in not receiving the ball on the front foot often enough.

I know the stats do not show that Graham, JP & Morley make a few easy yards because they return kick offs but they still are better at making the hard yards.

I am not sure that converting Kirke into a prop is a good idea. A tall man takes much longer to get into his stride and at prop is therefore easier to tackle than as a 2nd rower running wider. JP and Morley are exceptions but were arguably even more effective when they were second rowers. The shorter legged prop can get up speed quickly and use his power better eg Graham. So I would prefer to give our fringe props a go rather than the dissappointing Kirke.


Ryan Bailey 2010 SEASON

Position 10
Shirt number 16
Appearances 22
Tries 0
Try assists 1
Goals 0
Drop Goals 0
Meters 1448
Carries 232
Tackles 485
Offloads 12
Attacking Kicks 0
Runs from dummy half 0
Tackle Busts 23
Marker tackles 54
Clean Breaks 3
Forty twenty 0
Kicks in general play 0
Missed goals 0
Missed tackles 28
Errors 10
Penalties 19
Red cards 0
Yellow cards 0


Luke Burgess 2010 SEASON

16 Position
19 Shirt number
15 Appearances
0 Tries
2 Try assists
0 Goals
0 Drop Goals
1250 Meters
189 Carries
319 Tackles
15 Offloads
0 Attacking Kicks
1 Runs from dummy half
21 Tackle Busts
53 Marker tackles
2 Clean Breaks
0 Forty twenty
0 Kicks in general play
0 Missed goals
18 Missed tackles
10 Errors
12 Penalties
0 Red cards
0 Yellow cards

Interesting stats, though meters per carry or total carrys are not always indicative of the quality of a carry

True. But unless the player only ever comes on as a sub against weak opposition then the stats taken over a whole season or several seasons you do get a pretty good idea as they must even out.