He's not in the team v Wakefield i think that says it all really

If hes playing in the 20s this week anyone else think its a bit of a risk to chuck him straight in against Wire? Suppose it depends what other front rowers are available because we definitely need to take 4 props in to the QF, but it's a hell of a game to make your debut in!

I'll bet he won't miss as many tackles as Brett Hodgson, but that won't make Hodgson a poor player.

Any player who misses a vital tackle in a final will be castigated. Cross is at Wigan as cover for injured props. Maguire will not give him the shirt if Cross doesn't deserve it, even you should be able to see that.

However if Cross performs better than the say the fourth prop he will get in, that's how it works at Wigan.

Him playing in the 20's says he wont be in the qf

Ben Cross has a serious point to prove. If he were going to make a big signal of intent for SL, this is the game in which to do it in. Have a blinder v Wire and suddenly everyone forgets about Leeds.




TBF we'd get a team off here beat bloody Wakefield. He'll be playing in U20's to just simply get game time prior to coming back into SL, I suspect he'll be in the team come the CC game v Wire.

That's like comparing tomkins to carvell. It doesn't work that way. Carvell has missed 23 tackles for instance in 20 games, where as in cross' 10 he has missed 17. pretty poor for a prop who generally don't miss that many tackles.

No, im suggesting that the mood on here would change as to whether it was worth the risk to sign him, if in a few months time he costs you the sl title.

Joel has been good for us all season, and should he make a mistake it would not make him a bad signing, because of all the good he's done us all year, rather than doing alright for a few weeks then losing the team the final.

I think if a player makes a crucial mistake in a final it won't matter who makes it, how long they've been at the club or anything else. At the end of the day you'd expect all the players in the squad who make a final to have earned it over the past few weeks. Those that haven't are likely to be included due to injury and in that case it's perhaps just bad luck. Cross making a crucial mistake would be no different to Monaghan. In fact if it was Monaghan I think it would feel a little worse given how good he's been all season only to mess up right at the most important moment.

You are right, but my point was in response to the comment that a prop will never have a negative effect on a team, and i was showing that he could.

Quote ="THEOriginalWire"That's like comparing tomkins to carvell. It doesn't work that way. Carvell has missed 23 tackles for instance in 20 games, where as in cross' 10 he has missed 17. pretty poor for a prop who generally don't miss that many tackles.'" Then compare Cross to Ben Harrison if you want to play those games. Take note of missed tackles, penalties and errors. www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2011

Quote ="THEOriginalWire"That's like comparing tomkins to carvell. It doesn't work that way. Carvell has missed 23 tackles for instance in 20 games, where as in cross' 10 he has missed 17. pretty poor for a prop who generally don't miss that many tackles.'" Then compare Cross to Ben Harrison if you want to play those games. Take note of missed tackles, penalties and errors. www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2011

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Then compare Cross to Ben Harrison if you want to play those games. Take note of missed tackles, penalties and errors. www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2011'" then you have to try and outweigh the negative sides of Ben's game with the positives, look at metres made, offloads, tackle busts, clean breaks, tackles etc. Stats can be manipulated any which way.

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Then compare Cross to Ben Harrison if you want to play those games. Take note of missed tackles, penalties and errors. www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2011'" then you have to try and outweigh the negative sides of Ben's game with the positives, look at metres made, offloads, tackle busts, clean breaks, tackles etc. Stats can be manipulated any which way.

It's a fair point, but we both know if any one player, from any team makes a mistake that costs his team a trophy then there'll be a queue of idiots with short-term memory impairment lining up to blame him for everything post WW2.

I suppose we'll only know the full value of the signing once the season's over and we can judge it based on how we did.

Agreed.

This isn't a 'troll' attempt but a genuine question.

How does he fit in on the non-federation trained list? I can see how he fits in on the quota with other passports granting immunity but I'm struggling to fit him on the limit of 5 non-federation trained? I know Hansen was trained by Wigan but unsure on the following:

Richards, Carmont, Leuluai, Lima, Finch, Hoffman, Roberts & Cross.

As I said earlier, I know its not an issue on the quota limit, it's the non-fed trained I'm referring too. Would appreciate it if somebody could enlighten me, thanks.

Fed trained:
Leuluai (was at Quins for 3 years before he was 21)
Richards + Carmont (Here before the exception rule - pre 200icon_cool.gif

Non Fed trained:
Lima
Finch
Hoffman
Roberts
Cross

Thanks!

Edit: When did you sign Rangi Chase?!

You missed the memo? Pah, keep up!

Spill the beans you

I havent really seen a great deal of him but the fact that he couldnt get in the Leeds team and didnt play for 3 months makes me very wary. However we desperately need another prop and any experienced prop is a bonus for us and it is only for a few months if it doesnt work out.

This is the main thing. This won't turn out to be a crap signing, because it isn't really a signing. Cross is at Wigan as back-up, no more and no less.

There was something vaguely frenzied about the Warrington fan trying to tell us all that this was a poor piece of business. Clearly the lad was hurting.

Has nobody banned this tool yet?

With Cross, what you see is what you get. He's not a super star, but a typical hard grafting Aussie forward who will make the hard yards and provide a bit of go forward, but at the same time will giveaway daft penalties. His tackling is not as bad as some would have you believe, yes he misses some, but he usually puts in plenty of effort in that department when he's on the field, and if it gets a bit tasty, he's not slow in getting stuck in.

For me, this was a guy who's face didn't fit in with the current coaches at Headingley, and to let him go during the season is simply just another of the baffling decisions we've had at Headingley all year.

He's an excellent back up forward for you, and I think this decision could come back and bite us on the ass!

Assuming of course, that Wire don't hump you out of the cup!

i read somewhere that mcdermott told him early on he wasnt part of his plans.....prob why he played cr@p.

if he plays well for us its another indication that mcdermotts out of his depth at top level

very true! But let's not forget madge is awesome at this! He's taken some players who looked quite average for you lot and got them playing out of their skin! Fielden, coley, Roberts(pre injury), goulding, riddel. He's even given deacon a new lease of life.

I think madge will get cross ripping up trees!

Agreed, this is a positive move that will sustain Wigans momentum back to the top. The pack has worked extremely hard all season and they deserve the support of a signing like Cross.
And just remember the other teams don't have this luxury