Hartley is good with ball in hand but slow as and carthorse and never looks capable of breaking the line, but not a bad player..
Ridyard is a clever player who can do the unexpected i would give him gametime to see if he can carry on where he left off last season against Halifax n Whitehaven where he was outstanding

To me there's been a major change in the way our halves are playing, they seem to be playing together, rather than what seemed to be one down one side and one down the other.

How many times does Hartley pass to Paul and vice-versa, they made 30m down the middle on Thursday just passing to each other, for this to become truly effective they have to build that relationship.

Hartley and Paul for the foreseeable.

you obviously study the game GLOW unlike others who want every 6 we have to be John Woods.

I'll keep faith in the pairing Basil feels works best it thats ok

What he said. I like Ridyard, but if we're going to have any sort of half-back partnership then we need to give it time to blossom.

Ridyard is a much improved player this season but on balance I agree with Glow.

your not Alf Ridyard are you by any chance

If you could get Ridyard's rugby brain and eye for a gap into Hartley's size and passing game you'd have one hell of a player.

However theres no need to drop Hartley cause what exactly has he done wrong? Nothing from what ive been watching. He may not score many tries but how many has Paul scored this season. None i beleive if memory serves.

If Leigh were to switch around the halves then the only way to improve would to be move Paul to 6 Duffy at 7 and Jock at 9.

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Are you sayin im thick copper

Don't alter a winning combination is what I say. I'm sure Martin will get his chance if Tim's injury past catches up with him. Doesn't matter if he doesn't beat a man every time as long as he does a job thats gets us 3 points every game.

glad someone got that!

hartley is a class player ok he dosnt have the speed of j woods but to say that ridyard is better than hartley ave to disagree hartley and robbie ave ripped the last 2 teams apart u really are not seein how clever hartley is with the ball and ridyard is nowwere near the class of tim

you cant appreciate what he does unless you have played yourselves, he doesn't have to be quick if he can open up a defence with a well timed and intelligent pass.

i cant remember the last time we had half backs who could pass both ways nor can i remember us having a stand off, scrum half and hooker that can work our team around the park aswell as Duffy/Hartley and Paul.

these 3 have finally brought a steady balance to the team and in my opinion we looked as dangerous in attack as any championship team of last year.

on top of that count how many tackles Hartley made for a stand off!!

Riddy and Tim are different types of players they cant be compared like for like.

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Ripped the last two teams apart

They played well against Fev but the forwards laid the platform with solid defence..
Against Barrow they defo did,nt rip them apart apart from a couple of breaks i watched the match live and several times since on tv with the amount of ball we had first half and the later part of the second half we should have won that game easy ....

Hartley is getting better with every game... I'm sure his partnership with Paul will be very important. I myself preferred Ridyard at the beginning of the season but Ian has made his choice so Martin will have to wait his chance now.

We've also got Duffy and Durbin who can play in the halves so it's really competitive compared to last season.

Id like to see Riddy rotating with Duffs at hooker, I dont think Jock has the pace or the intelligence to play the attacking game that Basil loves from acting half!

no mr hartley just dont rate your tim as much as our martin

one thing is for certain with Hartley on the pitch doing goal kicking there's 2 points every time

Riddy will get his chance, and its up to him then to keep Tim out.

What a great problem to have arguing as to who to drop and play,for too long due to a relatively small squad and injuries, the team has picked itself.I for one hope arguments occur all season on what is our best team that week and why X should play instead of Y.

I too consider Ridyard the better option however, against Fev Hartley 'won' me over with an all round excellent display although against Barrow he didn't figure quite as much. Hartley's Goal kicking against Fev was top drawer and I was amazed to see Nanyn resume the kicking duties against Barrow! I would leave Hartley at stand off,for now, and try to find a bench spot for Ridyard because I'm sure he could have had some creative impact against Barrow, when it was needed.

2004

Hartley has another step or more to climb and injury free could be a key signing for us this season. I think our coach realises this and will persevere to bring the best out of him.

Could argue the start of 2006 as well...........'til it all went to rats!!!

jules and aaron