Bring back Sir Kev! Does anybody other than Brian Mac think Sinfield shouldn't be in the 17? Crazy.

unless he is injured, I can't see why we wouldn't want him the squad and on the field, if only for his organisational, game management and kicking skills

For me Kevin should start at loose forward, he might not be as quick off the mark but he still has great leadership qualities that other players simply don't have. I'm not saying we would have won any of the last games if he'd have started but we would have managed the games and short periods with those games much better. Especially at Huddersfield where some senior players couldn't put the game to bed earlier in the 2nd half, and today we would have gone in at half time leading. For me, BM is making a big mistake in not playing Kevin, fans will slowly turn against him and eventually would only end badly for him. He's mad not playing him whilst he's fit and raring to go. I don't think any other super league club would not play there club captain when fit, I know we are going to have to play next year without him, as we are without JP and possibly others, so why aren't the others been treated the same way, it's embarrassing, disrespectful and just doesn't make sense, but until the time comes when we have to play without him we have to have the best fit starting line up possible and I think that includes Kevin.
I would also like BM to come out publicly and say why he's not selected, him just saying he can't get him into the team doesn't make any sense when you're forced to add JJB and Kylie to the 19 man squad who are passengers in the squad and frequently injured.
Liverpool are going through a similar situation with Steven Gerrard and for the past few months been managing the games he plays and are quite rightly trying to get every last bit of energy, experience and influence out of him before he moves on, Leeds Rhinos should be doing the same with Kevin, because it will be all over far too quickly and the season will be over before we know it. We still might win the grand final but I think we have a better chance of doing with Kevin rather that without him.

sinny will be back in the 17
i don't believe that there is anything sinister in sinny's non selection thus far irrespective of what ever decisions have been made and by whom either prior or since his retirement announcement

i reckon that he is being held back at the minute,i believe that he will be selected to play when the big games come around

McGuire's dummy spit today will ensure that Sinny returns to the starting 13 next week in the halves. Sinfield and Sutcliffe starting will illustrate that McGuire's performance as skipper today was a disgrace.

That was horrendous at times today, yet so easy to fix. All it needs is a calming Influence who can use their head, a proper captain.

I think MCDermott has just gone back to his pig ignorant attitude of previous, and wanting to prove a point. A point he was wrong on.

It started with his inexplicable (non) use of subs - Warrington?

McDermott has shown he is pretty stubborn at times....persisting where others would have long given up: Vickery; Burrow as starting hooker; Achurch as prop etc. It [uis[/u begining to look like another example of McDermott's pig headedness.
Nobody can convince me Sinfield is not still worth a place in the forwards ....certainly not where Burrow is preferred there. (can anybody suggest a more unlikely 'front rower' in the whole of RL history??)

Disappointed he didn't play today, it would have been nice to show him our respects, been a fantastic servant to the game and I'm highly surprised to see him not in the team.

I've yet to see anybody put up well constructed argument for his exclusion. It's just wrong on many levels and needs to rectified sooner rather than later, if not this could turn very sour, very quickly. I bet Saturday can't come quick enough for the Giants.

Maybe the reason is again the issue of whether Sinfield/McDermott feel like he's big enough size-wise to play back in the middle at loose. He did a couple of games back there but maybe didn't feel like he was capable of doing it weekly, which might mean it's a halfback spot or nothing.

He is smaller now than when he last played at loose and most teams do go for an extra big guy there now. during pre-season he'll been conditioned body-wise expecting to play the season as a halfback. Hopefully his non-selection is a plan to give him a few weeks off to help bulk up a bit to play in the middle of the pitch again.

With a better front-row rotation, Sinfield could quite easily play in the middle in the same way that O'Loughlin does for Wigan.

Problem is, Leeds have two props on their last legs (Peacock and Leuluai), one who is either fantastic or terrible (Cuthbertson) and one who is very, very ordinary (Singleton). Behind that, it's players out of position or kids.

Hence having a lighter loose-forward simply isn't an option, because the third man in that middle unit needs to be a bigger player like Delaney or JJB to cover the deficiencies in the front row.

If Leeds had front row options like Saints for example, then Sinfield could play a role at 13. As it is, he plays six or nothing in the current structure and McDermott has wedded himself to Sutcliffe and McGuire. These two are now basically undroppable, because there's no chance of McDermott ever admitting he got it wrong.

I don't believe Sinfield is incapable of playing 13 in the current structure, but even if we say he is then he's not so small he couldn't fit into today's structure at 9...defending next to the winger and making 3 tackles a game...and still be around to make smarter acting-half decisions, manage the game, the team and the referee, and reliably convert tries. All of that offers a lot more at the moment than the guy who got the shirt.

if he's going to play 9 and defend next to the winger making 3 tackles a game - who's going to make the 30 tackles you'd expect aiton to make???

You can't compare Sinfield to O'Loughlin size-wise in terms of playing at loose. O'Loughlin is significantly bigger and will have be conditioned with the plan of him playing there, whereas Sinfield hasn't for several years now. And it's one thing for him to play there in a few games, can he honestly do it for the next 20 weeks or so?

A bit extreme as well to say Sutcliffe and McGuire are un-droppable in McDermott's eyes in terms of bringing Sinfield back in. It's been all of 2 games he's not been picked for (the way some are going on you'd think it had been 10 games). He didn't pick Burrow at the start of the year for the grand total of TWO games....he's been back in the side ever since. It was also only a few weeks back everyone was full of praise for Sutcliffe and McGuire so why would they have been dropped before today's game? A poor game against Wire and disappointing 2nd half vs Hudds for the whole team and the halves should be dropped even though they were playing behind forwards who were losing the battle?

True and I think Burrow is the one who should make way for Sinfield to return to the 17. However whilst my plan would see Sinfield do a stint at hooker, Aiton has played well enough that it's been right for him to be out there for about 60 mins a game sometimes. Would be a waste just to have Sinfield on the bench just for a 20 minute cameo at hooker (I know their's an argument that it's a waste to pick Burrow for that same reason which I agree with, but it doesn't mean we should repeat the trick with Sinfield) so for me if he's in the 17, whether starting or not then he has to do a decent sized stint at loose forward defending in the middle.

This one.

Sinfield not big enough for 13, don't make me laugh. Suppose Burrow's not big enough for SL either? If he doesn't play next week it's clear there is a personal clash.

Sinfield is a stone lighter than when he last played there, also most teams playing an extra big guy at loose running in the middle of the pitch. Factor in his age and also it's usually harder and longer for guys to recover from games in the days afterward.

Could he have played at loose today....yes

Could he have played at loose today, then next week vs Hudds, and then vs Wigan in a few weeks, and the week after that, then the next week and so on.....that's a different matter.

The guy himself has admitted in the past that he couldn't keep playing loose forward anymore for size reasons, and I reckon he knows what his body is capable of most.

I don't think their's been any sort of clash as why pick him in the original 19 man squad if you have no intention of picking him at all.

Well something has to change. The bigger blokes we play at 13 aren't doing the job required of them, so Sinny wouldn't do any worse imo. We looked like a rudder-less ship yesterday, a clear indication that we need our captain back. Whether it's at 13 or 6 (with Sutcliffe 13) doesn't really matter. Gives us a decent goal kicker too. The days of our pack blasting it's way through the middle are long gone, so we'll never compete in that way - the Widnes pack took ours apart ffs!!! We need guile and Sinny has that in bucket loads.

If he is fit he has to play, particularly after the shananigins of the past couple of weeks.He is the only option of a half decent kicking game in the current squad,and something has to be done to relieve the pressure on busted pensioner pack,in my view.

For mine, it doesn't matter where we play him. For me, the important thing is we should play him somewhere. Whatever his deficiencies may or may not be in any given position, our need for his game management and leadership skills eclipses those considerations. We know we have to find a replacement for those skills for next season and I hope that the sleeve has that requirement at the top of his to do list alongside replacement props. But what we have seen over the last 3 games and in others before that, is that those skills can not be fully replicated from with in the current squad [uYET[/u.

I am sure the potential is there to replace Sinfield, but for now, we don't need to force the issue. Let's utilise his ability as an organiser and leader on the field, whilst we still can. The reality of not having those skills available next season needs to be addressed and a replacement, from within or without, identified. But there is time to do that.

Sinfield at 13, he doesn't have to play the full 80 but should be a starter

sinny will start on saturday

A bit like the Castleford home game last season and the final play against Catalans in the play offs. It wasn't all great when Sinfield was captain and leader last season. IIRC he was also the captain and leader against Warrington away who threw the interception pass? So on here need to take their rose tinted glasses off - Sinfield 2015 isn't Sinfield 2010 and the idea that the only thing stopping us winning games is his participation is bonkers.