Quote: Big Jim Slade "Whereas Matty Lees, LMS and Kyle Amor have done what exactly? Saints have one superstar prop in Walmsley, one who looks like he might become a superstar in Lees and the rest are just 'average SL forwards' playing in a pack that wins its battles more often than not thanks to a cracking back row and some excellent coaching. Oledzki is definitively not average, he has shown that. Everyone agrees he's a special player. He would be in every SuperLeague 17. Every one.'"
That's exactly how the golden generation operated. Peacock and to a degree Kylie backed up by average plodders (Bailey, Kirke, Griffin etc.).
Mik is a great talent and prospect, and should go on to be that Peacock type player, but he's not quite there yet. He needs to be given time to develop without the pressure of carrying the pack.
I think we slightly overlook how much our backrow did during the golden generation. Ablett and JJB were an unreal backrow pairing, with unbelievable engines. They did so much works in D that allowed Peacock and Kylie to focus more on taking the ball up the middle. Ablett had a poor end to his Leeds career, but you could argue he was our most consistent/under-rated player for a number of years.
Our current backrow options include Bentley (needs to stay on the field), Martin (good all-rounder but can go missing), Gannon (amazing prospect, but too early for him) and Mellow (great athlete, but personally I think he's too soft).
Our props are all athletic and fit, but there's not one big body in there that's hard to handle the way Satae was on Thursday. With Holroyd injured, our recruitment in the off season looks a lot poorer.
