Quote: Juan Cornetto "He could watch him for the rest of his playing career and he would never be able to play that way. I do not blame Sutcliffe who was not born with those rugby gifts we call class. I blame those with flawed judgement who kept picking him in a pivotal position despite his average skill set. He just cannot read a game and is unable to put others into space the way Ford did so many times today.
He seems to have built a reputation in junior grades by being bigger than the opposition rather than better. One good game against St Helens where he made a good break and a good kick has blinded so many who then overlooked his glaring lack of rugby class. He plays rugby by numbers and gets tackled in possession far too often and at best he can be cover for several positions as a reserve providing he is not a high cost'"
He’s unfortunately appearing that way. He just doesn’t seem to excel in any area really. Even his running, which I always thought would be his greatest asset, only frightens the opposition on odd occasions when he either runs from deep or at an already broken line. His acceleration isn’t good enough to get him through when chiming in from full back either.
I think Peacock had it right last week when he said too many of the Leeds team aren’t willing to put themselves into a position where they’ll get hurt. And I’d put Sutcliffe in that category. His running is rarely with much intent and his pulling out of the tackle for one of Toulouse’s try today probably reinforced that for me.
He’s not the only one with those traits at the moment so I’m not meaning to single him out on that basis.
