He is certainly not as good as he was and nobody would expect him to be at his age. Imagine what Senior in his prime would have done to Atkins. The problem that Atkins has is that he courts the media he comes across as flashy and up himself which is all well and good if you are producing the goods which Ryan isn't. If he just got his head down and concentrated on his game then he would not only improve but would also get more respect from the fans.

yes way past his best

, do you remember him at sheffield going to leeds?

most people acknowledge the fact hes past his very best as folk do with drew he was up against the player who supposedly deserves his england shirt senior will still be centre at 40 if so

No he would not have to work harder at Saints. I have seen many good club players go to top sides and improve due to the players around them. The backs in either code always get it easier not harder if they are on the front foot, as do half backs. I think if Atkins was in the Saints team he would be a far more potent player than he is with us, and thats due to the players around him would be of a far higher quality.

I agree you cant blame one man for a defeat but when you analyse a match report it usually comes down to the key incidents in which Atkins was heavily involved... I agree that the media need to stop bigging him up such as the Stevo, Eddie and especially Phil Clarke !! He got totally outclassed for me and needs to seriously work on his game both in attack and defence and youd have to put Yeaman and Shenton abouve him now in the England pecking order... I suppose its a learning curve - not quite as good as he thought he was and needs to take it on the chin and stand up from now...

Also he would be liable to receive more ball in more potent positions on the pitch. Fall all his misgivings I do thing the nature of the Atkins bashing on this thread is a little OTT. Fair enough he has his deficiencies, don’t we all, and he should’ve done better with Senior’s try in the first half and the break which pretty much destroyed Trinity late in the second but for the rest he put in the effort the same as the rest of the team.

I think the real issue is that Trinity do not know how to use him. He is a powerful player who is difficult to stop close to the line yet how often do we see him in a position to achieve that? Less then once a match over the course of the season? Were he playing for Leeds or Saints you could guarantee that he would be in that position 2 – 3 times per game.

I'm not blaming Atkins for the defeat, but this is an Atkins thread, hence him being discussed.

All you can do is compare him to other centres, and perhaps it is fairest to compare him to JD when he last played regularly in the centres, and JD was making hay. If you came to rugby league for the first time a couple of years ago, ignored all media talk, and just watched the game, I'm not sure you would think he was anything special. When I see the team sheet, he is not one of the players I am bothered about seeing on there. I am looking at the pack, or who is at 6 and 7, or even full back, but I would not regard Atkins as a big deal if he wasn't playing.

To be fair to him, he doesn't get the ball enough, but he is no gamebreaker. Senior is. Gidley is. Shenton is. He does an adequate job for us, but he is supposed to be a potential international, and with an international on his inside, Peterson should be running riot, and he isn't. No try assists. That is not a good stat.

No it isn’t, but then he isn’t a creative centre ala Gidley or Shenton. He is a power centre. We’ve seen enough of him to know that he doesn’t get what little ball he receives out to his wing man. Why is this? Has he been coached to do so yet still doesn’t take it in? Has he been told to keep hold of the ball and try and break the line? My memory is not one of my strong points but was JD a centre who could put his wing away? I don’t think he was. What he did do though is score the tries which made the stat of try assist a moot point.

I don’t think Atkins is the bees knees at all and realise he appears lazy in defence, but maybe he is one of those players that when he goes, sceptics will lament his departure as he gets the chance to score a lot of tries for somebody else.

bye bye from me asap please!

I dont believe he on his own lost us the game but i do think he was owned by Senior on Friday and without the help he got (Sam Obst & Petersen) on the right hand side on Friday it could have been alot worse!

I have always thought that if he wants to play at a higher level (England not Leeds) and depending on what he is like under the high ball, he would make a very good winger.

I do like him and think he is one of our main strike players, but unfortunatley we dont use him enough in attack and im not convinced he goes looking for it enough (apart from the last 2 minutes against Harlequins where he wanted it every tackle on there line)
When he first came did he have Solomona inside him???


He is nowhere near the class of an International centre but on a good day he is definately at the top end of the Super League centres. Only problem is there is a world of difference between the 2.

Yes he did,

Agreed

Don't agree, he is playing some of his best rugby for Leeds that I have seen him play for some time!

People say Atins was outclassed, that was not the case. Only twice did he get caught out. I have seen many centres been caught out many more times edging into double figures.

Don't know how you get that opinion. Is it just because of the story in the papaer about that bird out of big brother? Saw nothing wrong with that, he only told them he went out with her and got money for it.

Have you ever seen him with the younger fans? He spends a lot of time signing autographs where as some players often blank them.

There is certianly more to come from Ryan but we need to get the ball to him a lot more in attack. He does not seen it often enough.

Said it yourself. "he does not get the ball enough" Maybe when he gets it he trys to impress too much. When he gets the more a lot of the time defenders ar eon him like a flash, give him a bit of space and you will see him at his best. (ie) that break against Warrington where he got pass away to George. So that is 1 try assist

adam he never passes

i think thats the point , did you see the stats at the start of the show he was the worst of the 4 they did. i know you have brought up the wire game but in truth he should assist that much that you are not able to pinpoint the one or two he does.

ryan will not be at wakey next year and me thinks that he has in one sense already left us

So does Daddy Cool, but he's not playing in the three-quarters against Saints!

Yeah he does not pass to his winger, but he does not get much chance to do that.

If we got him the ball more often then I think he would get the ball to his winger more often.

Yeah he may not be at Wakey next season but he will certianly put the effort in week in week out like every player.

That is DC's job though.

Ryan Atkins = Wakefields answer to Kevin Pieterson.

Well he is abit flash where's earings etc so does ronaldo but these guys actually produce on the pitch, atkins does not compared to the above two. KP scores runs, has skills no-one else in the game has, has moments of brilliance and stupidity. I think KP would be one of the last person id compare him too.

Unfortunately not the answer to Matt Petersen, I've bagged Petersen in the past but he is starting to show some form now, if he had a top quality centre he would in my opinion be scoring regularly.

To be honest that top quality centre would equally be starved of ball in any sort of attacking position.

Which is why we desperatley need a recognised stand off, to get as far as we have done without one really does show how much potential we have got. Atkins has pace and power we all know that but he really does need to develop his passing game to get anywhere near true international class, I know he hasn't had a lot of quality ball to work with but when he has had it he has generally just tried to do it all himself, it worked v Bradford at Belle Vue but thats about the only time he has created something out of nothing. I'd like to see him stay and develop his game or as I said a couple of years back move in to the pack as I think he could make a good second rower.

Both have plenty of talent, and can undoubtadly play they game, but they both have huge question marks over their attitude and mental approach to the game in my opinion.

Both appear to me to want to be Superstars first and Sportsmen second.

Didnt he pass to someone else (Gleeson??) who then made the final pass to George?
The stat given on sky was for try scoring passes.

As i have said on previous posts i do rate him but he needs to progress his game a little. He is becoming a little one dimensional ie going straight over the top of people. He has pace but you dont see it enough as he rarely gets on the outside and his ball handling is simply not what it should be if he wants to get to the very top as a centre. The only time Peterson gets a pass off him is in the warm up.

As in most centres i imagine he wouldnt want to play on the wing but that is the position where i think you would see him at his best. Returning the ball with plenty of field in front of him and been put away by a decent centre. He could be like Tadulala but a yard quicker.
The problem is he is one of our strike players and he is good enough to play in the centre against alot of Super League opposition, so it is not in our interest to play him there at the mo. If he wants to play at a higher level then i see it as his only option.
He is still young so has time on his side but from his first season with us i dont think his development has been what we all hoped it would.

Its a sorry state of affairs when Senior is still the best centre the country has. Not even considering his age, just the fact that he gets made to look average in the test arena so what hope have the rest of them got???

Very true, but whether Atkins is nice to the kids or not, it's irrelevant as to whether he's good enough to get in the team.