I have to say that I have been very surprised at the criticism that appears to have come this players way this season. And before you lot start throwing accusations that I haven't been to games this year then save your breath/fingers.

I don't know how long it's been since some of our "posters" have seen "quality" when it appears in a Salford shirt, but this guy is Quality with a capital Q. Along with Luke patten they are the most influential overseas players we've had for a long while.

I watched a clip on youtube about Sonny Bill when he was at the Bulldogs and guess who figures (if you can tear yourself away from the tries) yes it's DH.

We maybe need to ask the questions ? If we had to replace Daniel and Luke now: WHO, (and keep the suggestions sensible), would you replace them with??

Come on you lot for goodness sake. Bombers gone (but not from Sky I note), PV is doing a great job, we've recruited an established and positive coach and we are playing well and getting results.

Let's get a grip ffs.

P.S. Is it just my imagination or has all of the talk if "Salford's off field crisis" dried up?.........surprising what a bit of positive news in the coaching stakes and a couple of good results can do eh?
All the best. BD

Excellent post BD, seen the footage and I, too, noticed the same thing. If you care to have a look at the super league website, you'll never guess who's top of the try assists table!! With Luke Patten also making the top 10!! As for Holdsworth, he's certainly up there with Blakeley and Dunneman as one of our best Stand off's in the SL era. Like BD says who would you swap him for?

Would Finch/Briers/Brown make that much of difference? Rangi Chase or a fit McGuire would be the only real candidates and the two young half backs at Saints are pretty good, but Holdsworth still has the experience edge.

Chase is certainly on the money so far this season LDF: but personally I wouldn't change the guys we have, if only for the reason that as high profile players they stood up and were counted right through what has been a complete farce in the coaching stakes and as such they certainly get my respect.

I think that these two lads have some real substance about them, not only as players but as people.

B.D. please stop talking so much sense at this time of night im not going to be able to sleep now











But well said




By the way, i have sent you a PM

Top post BD



'Form is temporary, class is permanent'. Shame some of our fans don't have enough class themselves (or experience of actually playing RL) to realize this.

The wizard and the general have certainly started to shine, im hoping they continue to provide the class they have shown recently and with the rest of the team being willing runners its only going to bring success imo

Touche Dec.

DJ while'st by his standards might not have the most stellar of seasons he is still a class act, I do though wish on a more regular basis he would take on the line and for me he would one of the most complete half backs in SL.

BD - Agree completely. My thought though is whether having the captaincy thrust on him in such abysmal circumstances was the wrong thing to do - not DH's fault but I think it affected his play.
New coach, new stadium - let's have some new attitudes as well..

I feel DJ went through a bad patch a few games back, with the captaincy and teams poor form I thought he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Personally I think he was trying too hard to create things and he was forcing passes that weren't really on. To me it seemed like the backs were trying to score off almost every play rather than the forwards doing the hard work first and laying a platform. I think DJ and some of our other backs were trying to over compensate for our forwards who were not really competing against opposing packs. I don't think it's any surprise that now the forwards are playing better with more enthusiasm and effort, we are winning games again.

I agree with all the accolades above about his talent but like any half back he's only as good as the pack he's playing behind.

Onwards and upwards!

After breaking through last season, this season was always likely too be tougher for DJ with other sides well aware of his ability.
One thing he has been successful at this season is running his blood to water, perhaps even contributing too much as times, for the Salford cause. But, after looking really tired for a while, the last couple of weeks he's started to look fresh and full of energy again.

As said previously, "form is temporary but class is permanent."

GO DAN HOLDSWORTH!

Got to admit that has to be one of the reddest tinted messages I have ever seen! Are you serious? Okay he's a SCR player and we should support him but if you’re seriously suggesting that he's been on top form this season, then I'm afraid you’re deluded. Fair enough whilst the games on the game is being played support the players but when you look back and reflect on a game take those red glasses off and look how he's affected it, balls going to ground, not taking the line on and not to mention he looks very fatigued once it gets round the 60 minutes mark. I'm not saying DJ is not a top player but whether it's the captaincy or second season syndrome he's not been the player he was last year, maybe after the Wakefield game he might start playing himself into some form. The original post stink of a typical fan that can see no wrong from a player of their side and just because we won a couple of games everyone thinks the tide has turned! Lose against Cas n Cru and it'll be back to the doom and gloom! Rant over

Well well well: 29 posts and the font of all knowledge. If you actually read the original post I don't "suggest" anywhere that DJs been on top form, but then again a lot of our players have under performed and that's reflected in the week in week out results.

There may have been extenuating circumstances or there may have not (depending on your personal viewpoint).

What I stated in my original "stink" (quote). post that Daniel Holdsworth is a quality player: and it would appear from the replies to this post that most of our very sensible (you excepted) contributors agree.

As for me not seeing any wrong from a player(s) that play for Salford, well I suggest that you read some of my previous posts.

P.S. If you're trying to "wind me up" mate, forget it, the mainspring went years ago.

Having just scanned through all the posts, I can't see any evidence of anyone suggesting that DJ has been on top form this season. Could you provide some evidence of this or I fear I may need to go to the opticians for an eyesight test.

I think DJ has been generally a bit disappointing this year to be honest, but that's mainly because he's playing behind a pack that's been dominated (something that even the best halves in the World struggle to do successfully).

However when our pack has been competitive DJ has stood out as a quality player and I thought he had a pretty good game at the weekend against Wire.

No problem with people criticising him on here if they're unhappy with his performance but there's never an excuse for slagging your own players at a match and, even if the slagging takes place on here, I think it should be constructive and rational rather than some of the bile that's been vented by some.

As many have said Daniel hasn't been the same player as last season. Whether that be for a multitude of reasons from the lightweight pack, to being found out or the weight of responsibility that the captains armband brings amongst a season of backroom turmoil.

He has however shown glimpses of class throughout the season and if towards the end with a new coach he can steer us towards a playoff place. The criticism will become unwavering praise

If you check out the OPTA stats on the SL website you will find that DJ is top of the try assists and top of the 40-20 lists. In other categories such as errors made and tries scored he also compares quite favourably to other players in his position. I did a little comparison between him and Lee Briers and found that apart from tries scored DJ has comparable or better stats!

Given that Briers is playing in a team with class all over the park and scoring tries for fun I'd suggest that DJ is not doing such a bad job!
Yes I agree that he has not made the eye catching breaks that he did last year and that he perhaps could take the line on a bit more often but I think that you need to look deeper into game plans and what he has been asked to do by the coaching staff.

Also one stat that does look bad for him is his % goal kicking success. 2 points about that tho, on sunday he kicked 2 from the touch line that won us the game and who else would you throw the ball to in our team? Unfortunately we don't have a Pat Richards or Brett Hodgson in our squad!

I think he has come out of his shell more and playing the type of rugby he wants to play since our ex coach departed. Maybe that had been his problem?

But we're not actually playing to a different system so far as I can tell. Sure, we're looking sharper when we play to the said sytem but I can't say it's changed as such.

He is running more with the ball (i think) and looking to enjoy his game more rather than throwing hospital balls like he has been doing the first part of the season. Also out forwards seem more upfor it since our ex coach departed. Maybe it could be to impress our new coach as i am sure he will be getting copies of the games that we play in.

I agree that overall Holdsworth has still been one of our most important players this season. There's no doubt that he has had a couple of absolute stinkers and I've been frustrated at times with him (for example even in the win against Wakefield we could have done our points difference some more good if he'd kept his head a little more). At times he has looked like he's had the world on his shoulders - the burden of being most senior pivot, captain and goal kicker would take its toll on anyone I'm sure, especially during a time of high expectations from the club and fans and during a time of such coaching instability.

But when you look at his contribution such as those highlighted in the stas above and how many of our tries he has created, there's no doubt we would have been worse off without him. Interestingly Smith has been more consistent this year while DJ's game has fluctuated whereas last year it was pretty much the exact opposite so I wonder if the distractions associated with his extra responsibilties have had an impact. When we've played well, holdsworth has been at the heart of it pretty much every time