I'm not trying to brush anything under the carpet. Eastmond has deficiencies in his game but nobody is accused of "sweeping it under the carpet".

In the games i have seen Smith, his kicking game from short isn't atrocious.

Smith has gone for good.

A promising HB that turned into a John Duffy clone.

More game time from the bench for Eastmond at hb/hooker
will be the making of him. Just needs to get/stay fit.

Kicking can be coached pace and zip can't.

Eastmond needs to learn how to tackle without just closing his eyes, holding his arms out and hoping for the best. Seen him do this far too many times as though hes scared of the colision.

Smith is Shiza. His level is national league.

disagree...kicking is a natural ability and can be practiced but not taught you have to have the ability in the first place otherwise you could teach to every player on the pitch....the forwards for instance the wingers .......its like saying a scrum half can take the ball up like a prop......you can't teach a talent in a certain area.....you can only make an exsisting talent stronger with practice

I think you're being a tad harsh there.

According to the welsh fans it was Smiths influence that won them the game against Bradford today.

Smith is certainly SL class and has the potential to be a good quality half back, he just needs to gain experience and learn to control play, and attack the line better. I think he could certainly achieve the same level as say Danny Brough.

Eastmond wont get a run of games cos there is a massive concern over whether his shoulders are up to it.

Not up to it at the moment or that they'll never be up to it?

The lad looked completely down trodden in France, just gutted that he wasn't playing. I'd be surprised if he stays at saints if he doesn't get played regulary soon.

mmm location Standish and spreading negative gossip, i wonder why.

If his shoulders werent upto it he wouldnt be playing in either first team or reserve team.

People cant expect Kyle to be playing 20 games this season. He is still only 19 years old and isnt the biggest of kids.
10 games should be his aim this year which is easily achievable.

Its all about building up the experience bank.

Im also sure Kyle would have played in more games this year but for the fact he hadnt recovered from op at the start of the season then picked up a further injury.
So far he has played in 3 games and been 18th man on a number of other occassions.

He'll play more than 10 games this year unless he picks up a serious injury. Our squad is very small and Eastmond is one of the more experienced youngsters coming through. He'll play more as the season goes on when he's got more reserve games under his belt and when we'll need to rotate the squad a bit.

Gateshead is a great opportunity for Eastmond to be given a chance in the place of Long or Pryce. It could help build his confidence and gives him more exposure to the first team.

People forget that he's only played 6 or 7 games at both first team and reserve level this year due to a couple of injuries earlier in the year.

Frustrating to not see him get more game time, but I guess Potter ( as Longy likes to call him ) doesnt think he is ready or needed just yet, or he has this injury thats still not 100% sorted... young talent no doubt, give the kid time, let him enjoy being around the team , being a water boy, lobbig the kickign tee on N off, its all better than ending up at Celtic and never be seen again.

I've been saying the same thing about Sam Tomkins and Ainscough but it would appear that I'm in the minority.

To be fair, your mob are always looking for the next saviour.

You know my feelings about Ainscough and Sam. I've said for ages that Tomkins is the best kid I've seen since Edwards, but like Wheeler and Eastmond we have to take care with them.

Leeds didn't overplay Burrow and McGuire.

Patience will pay dividends in the long run, but I fear I'm fighting a losing battle with many Wigan "fans"

I understand your point, but the likes of Folau and Idris haven't been given time to 'bed in'. They've come in and been excellent and one is now an International and the other will be. The old philosophy of "if they're good enough, they're old enough" has gone out the window.

I don't see why? Some young players might need time to settle in, but Wheeler certainly doesn't strike me as one such player, nor does Sam Tomkins for that matter. They both seem to have taken to the game and the level like ducks to water. Why not just let them get on with it? So long as their confidence isn't given too great a bashing, which I can imagine being detrimental, if their position doesn't require them to be super huge (when possibly at 19 they won't be), then why hold them back?

Folau and Idris are both physically much bigger players, than Tomkins and Wheeler.

It's a difficult one as I love watching Tomkins flair , and to be fair too him he is a very good defender for one so slight, but I'd rather be careful with him now and reap the benefits later.

They're monsters - no comparison between them and Tomkins/Eastmond/Wheeler.

To be fair to Tomkins, he may look slight, but seems to be reasonably robust. His build reminds me a bit of Roby's when he first appeared.

Well OK, what about Winterstein who plays for the Broncos? He's not exactly a monster. What about Karmichael Hunt? There's loads of examples we could use here.

They don't need to be monsters. If players had to be monsters before they were regularly allowed on the field we'd never have played Longy and Rob Burrow would still be in the reserves! A lean, mean tackling machine is what we want (plus skill and speed, obviously!). Both Eastmond and Wheeler appear to have a rugby brain, though I think Wheeler is the more consistent, and neither is slow. Maybe Wheeler is also the better tackler at present; I'm not 100% convinced Eastmond has got his tackling style sorted yet. Both are good with the boot, though probably not as reliable as Smith. How good either Eastmond or Wheeler is when it comes to kicking in field I don't know because I'm not sure I've ever seen either of them kick except to convert tries (and in Eastmond's case a fabulous drop goal).

I certainly think Wheeler should now have a weekly spot and with our injury list growing ever longer I think he probably has one. We may now also see more of Eastmond. If we do, I wonder if Eastmond will take the same approach as Wheeler and just be happy to play first grade for Saints or will he be impatient to get into his chosen spot?

He looked guenuinely desperate to play at the weekend, gutted to be not playing, so i'd imagine he'd be happy to play prop if you asked him

He could be good at knee attacks or ankle taps!