Yeah it was great, I thought it was a dead cert try!

He really impressed me last night. Thought he worked really hard.

Looks to have added a bit more size and he looked to be playing with confidence.

IMHO I still don't think he's a 6 or 13, FB for my money and I'd pick him over Blaymire everytime as he adds a different dimension coming into the line whereas Blaymire IMHO does not.

I thought he had a poor 1st half but a excellent 2nd half. 1st half he droped a lot of ball. Dont get me wrong he has improved no end!

cant agree with that, this season blaymire seems to have improved in this area no end. i accept its early days but its too early to write him off in such a dismissive fashion imo

I thought that he had a good first half up until he lost the ball for buchanans try from the kick off , then his confidence suffered for the rest of the half . But normal service was resumed after half time.

Totally agree. I thought blaymire had a very good game. Hopefully back to his best.

Something i noticed at Leeds and the friendly i saw him in at Leeds, is that it seems he is running full tilt when returning the oppositions kick, which is something he didn't do last year as i he tended to jog it in.

Blaymire had a great first season and admittedly a poor second one. The good thing is he's realised this and has obviously worked very hard in pre-season which is testament to his character and mental toughness. A lesser man would have crumbled and seen his career slide down the pan. Think it was Broadbent who said in preseason that matty would always find it difficult to back up his great first season in super league and that he was working very hard on his game to get himself up to scratch for this year.

Well done Matty is what I say.

Come off it Grix is not a F/B he can't catch a ball. Blaymire is a very good F/B and was back to his best last friday. I really think you should watch the game facing the pitch and then you will see what the rest of us do.

Makes you wonder if you watched a different game played in a parallel universe sometimes

I think the difficulty for him was that everything came too quick for him in that first season, after what was his first season as a full time player he then got called into the England train on squad, this left him with a short pre season for last year and apparently he has admitted himself that he wasn't fully ready for last season as the step up to SL and the training that went with it left him drained for the start of last season, subsequently he was playing catch up for most of it but never really caught up enough to do himself justice. It's a great credit to him that he battled through in spite of all the criticism he was getting from the fans, it will have made him a stronger person for the experience and his form this season looks to be getting back to that of 2007, good on him he deserves to have some success this season for battling through the last one.

Last season Blaymire's problems seemed more psychological than physical. I am sure in the second-half of the season he was a fit as anyone else in the team but he was clearly suffering a crisis of confidence after struggling early season.

Hopefully, after a much better start to this season, fans will forget about his performances last season and give him the support and encouragement he deserves.

OK vasty, as per usual you know it all don't you.

Q - Where did Grix play most of the games he played for Widnes?

I think you should read the post again, I wasn't knocking MB, purely pointing out that I fell he doesn't offer a lot going forward.

I feel MB is not a bad FB, just pretty one dimensional for me and the modern day FB needs to provide more of an attacking edge.

do you not think that in the first 2 games he has improved in this area quite noticeably on last year though? he has been returning the ball with much more purpose and coming into the line more imo.

admittedly its still early days

Made two clean breaks from what I can remember on Friday, thought he had a good game, Id be very tempted to play grix at 13, think he would be the ideal link man and he's very strong going forward.

I do think MB as shown an improvement yes, that I agree with. He has all the right attributes apart from the lack of attacking edge to his game which IMHO all good modern day FB's have.

But that said I'm sure he'll improve this season and he strikes me as a confidence player so with a good run in the side and a few good performances under his belt, who knows. Good look to the lad.

Re Grix, the question in my mind is, where will JK play him when new signing/players return from injury? Is he really big enough for 13? Where will JD then play, 2nd row?

Interesting selection questions for JK ahead.

I would play grix 13 as kevin sinfield type where he can play 6 9 13 but also fb

mb has a good start and lets hope he carries it on

Whatever happens when brough and obst return i'd still keep grix in the starting line up maybe at 6.
He had a great world cup and his confidence is sky high and with the likes of brough and drew to link with him then you've got serious threats there then maybe obst on the bench.
Unfortunately looking at your squad when fully fit i don't see rooney being first choice this year unless blaymire gets injured or loses form and grix goes back to 1.

I don't know everything, what I do know is you can't spot the difference between a natural F/B and a natural No6. I suggest Blaymire made plenty of meters, easily as many as his opposite number.

I don't really care where Grix playred for Widnes in NL1, what I know and what last night confirmed is he can't take the high ball. Matty may not be the best attacking F/B but he is decent enough, what he is is safe under the bomb and in the modern game that is the number one priority.

Would you prefer that clown at Bradford? He makes plenty of fancy yards and scores a few more per season but he makes more howlers in one game than Blaymire will in a season. Grix would be the same at F/B IMHO as he is too excitable. F/B is a lonely and exposed position and Grix isn't the man, he needs the support he receives at No6 to thrive.

If you were going to replace Blaymire should his form dip then Peterson is the obvious choice.

lets be careful with grix, im not sure hes big enough for the pack so lets not kill him, hes getting better but hes still learning. his defence in the friendly at cas was poor week after at wigan great, so he might be 18 months 2 years till hes at his best and performs to a cosistent level also towards the end or at some point in the season his form could nosedive due to the world cup and lack of rest. jk might try and keep him fresh when we get some back and maybe use him off the bench. overall though hes improving week after week.

Superleague stats for Player Head to Head show Blaymire with 20 carries and 129 Meters compared with Lee Smith having 17 carries and 107 meters. This is obviously over 2 games but would tend to suggest you are right in your suggestion.

According to the OpTA stats Blaymire has carried for 288 metres with 36 carries in the past 2 games - more than any other Wakey player and currently 4th in SL - Smith has only carried for 189.

Still won't be good enough for some, he's rubbish that Blaymire

Started the season really well has Matty, in fact he has gone about his job and not been recognised by many supporters.

Early days yet but let’s hope he can keep that kind of form up.

Blaymire must have been one of the top metre makers in the game on Friday, made two 40 or so yard breaks if I remember rightly.