Did we? Could've sworn he got injured before the challenge cup final so didn't play in the match to win the cup, also he was out for the Super 8's and then didn't play in the grand final. Hmm

Didn't you have a folk hero player at your place Brandon Pearson AKA Brandon Costin who had a bit of an issue with drugs and had to do a runner from the NRL?

Glass houses and all that.

Also Aiton was hardly pivotal in Leeds winning anything, great at Wakefield never seemed to do it for Leeds.

He was very good up until his injury in 2015.

But you are right, he wasn't really pivotal as he was missing for the CC final, the league run in and the SL final.

He formed a very effective partnership with Cuthbertson.
But he was made to look more important because we had lost Sutcliffe and then lost Burrow briefly and were therefore low on spine players in general

Sinfield at hookerand Sutcliffe and McGuire in the halves is arguably stronger than a team with Aiton in it (depending on how much defence Sinfield could get through compared to 5 years a go)

I would have had Aiton as my player of the year last season if he'd not got injured.

We were a far better team with him at 9, than without him.

I think some can't recognise it because "he was only signed from Wakey" or wasn't an Academy product

Aiton was a glue that held the team together, did the un- glamorous dirty work and was a big factor in how we played at the beginning of the year.

No frills, just plain and simple graft. A real shame he was injured when he was as I think we would have made lighter work of the 8's with him in the team, but, hey ho.