Very impressed with his summarising on Radio Manchester today.

worthy of his own thread though.
very impressed by him this season.
very likely to push for international honours if he keeps going on as he is doing.

I'll be honest, I thought he was rubbish last year when I watched him but he's looked very good this year.

Been great so far this year and I thought he went quite well last year too!

I'd hate to be guy holding the tackle bag in training against him.

Laithwaite played 24 games for us last season - that was essentially his first full year. I don't think there are too many players that can simply slot into a first team role as they need to gain the necessary experience and learn from their mistakes. So hopefully we will see even more of him this year as he continues to develop and learn from the likes of Westwood and Grix. For someone who has only played 34 games for us though, he seems to have been around for ages and is a first choice pick for the BR. Several people have mentioned his tackling but if I am greedy I would have to say I would also like to see him making those angled runs that break the defensive line. I am pretty sure he learned that during his period with Leigh. Great temperament as well, never seems to lose his rag.

From a Salford point of view and only watching him occasionally I've got to say he's never impressed me. if anything I've often wondered how on earth he gets in your team. Just my opinion though.

There are two sides to a game of rugby and although in attack, let's be honest, people notice attack more, he isn't anything spectacular I'll admit.

but

his defence is fantastic, his engine is huge and if you run at him you're going to ground.

A modern day Gary Sanderson
He's never going to get too many MoMs, but he wont let us down.
Got a little silly, towards the end of Friday's game, but a good performance noontheless.

It's performances like Laithwaite's that lay the foundations for our halves to capitalise on.

Don't think you can blame him for being handed the ball on the last play twice in the last ten minutes. At 18/12 points (can't remember which) up at that point that ball should have been dead in the corner and any half worth his salt would have done exactly that.

He wasn't rubbish, and you are wrong.

He'll never set the league on fire as far as scoring goes. But work rate wise, he'll be up there with the likes of Roby. I can see why visiting fans would be unimpressed. I done this, gone to a game, watched your own players, and missed a lot of what the home team are doing, work rate wise. But, this lad James Laithwaite, when you watch him week in week out, has class written all over him. Absolute quality the lad is. End off, no argument, future captain.

Like your avatar. Are you really in Italy?

I guess we learned not to give him the ball on the last

Boy oh boy can he tackle, I agree he is a Sanderson like machine.

The signs have always been there that he is a good player. He is one of those players that will just keep on getting better and better as well hopefully.

he has firmly established himself in the starting 13 now i think.

His defence is very impressive and he will only get better, the amount of youngsters we have now is a testament to the work done at academy level.

Was great to see him have a solid season last year and is now kicking on this year. If it wasn't for his injuries he would have broke through a lot sooner.

Is it a compliment to be described as a modern day Gary Sanderson?

Yeah but you're a Wigan fan who, for some reason unknown to anyone, have created this account to troll Salford fans so not sure how your view is a Salford one.

on laithwaite, we've got some mixed and varied views, but in terms of compare and contrast, on friday night, you had stevie ward in the opposite team, who for 3 years now sky have been banging on about him being heir to sinfield's throne at headingly, he didn't stand out at all on friday, and i can't say i've ever been overly struck by any of his performances against us, or on Sky.

I'm sure he's a good kid though, but him, and to a lesser extent chris clarkson have had these big raps on them for being leeds juniors, but again i couldn't tell you a near outstanding game for either of them. Whilst laithwaite who gets much much less attention has been amazing in defence for us, you've felt sorry for some attackers that he's cut down this year.

If I was walking down the road and a grizzly bear came out of, lets say, a shop or something, I'd quite like to have James Laithwaite with me. Looks like the sort of bloke who could wrestle a grizzly to the ground. Mind you, I'd probably also like to have Kev Penny there for a speedy piggyback too.

I think that Laithwaite is doing just fine.

As Morley's Deckchair alluded to on the Paul Gallen thread and without wishing to damn him with feint praise, we've not exactly missed Trent Waterhouse. Admittedly I was one of his biggest knockers, ooooeeer missus, and I know I just didn't get it, but, there is a satisfaction of producing your own and you would also presume that Laithwaite's transition to a starter has freed up some cap space?

That's a fair summary. The most impressive Leeds youngster for me is Sutclffe

Peter?
He was a real demon back in the day

The good thing about Laithwaites is he started with the Wire as a town team 11 year old and played for the town at every age group possible through to 1st grade. Added to that he's a Warrington lad who played all his junior rugby at Crosfields he's not an out of Towner, he stuck with Wire and it's already paying off, already a GB u19 mom winner against the Aussie. He's still learning but I'm sure will represent England at full international level in the near future.

hmm, did you not see Wards 40 yard break and one handed offload to Briscoe for a try against Huddersfield a couple of weeks ago?
the kid is 21 years old and averaging 85 metres and 41 tackles per game this season - there's not many other young forwards doing that.

looking at his stats laithwaite seems to be lacking in his attacking contribution - so far he has: 0 clean breaks, 0 offloads, only 1 tackle bust this season and averages less than 50 metres per match.
is that a fair reflection of his game at the minute?

having said that, i wouldnt be suprised or disappointed to see both challenging for an England squad place at the end of the year

How's that song about him go?...

Laithwaite, Laithwaite.
Jimmy Jimmy Laithwaite.
He's got red hair,
But we don't care.
Jimmy Jimmy Laithwaite.