FORUMS > Leeds Rhinos > Round 26 | Wigan Away |
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| Minchella had the basic physical tools to be a decent player. That's what I'm not sure about with Smith.
I'm not writing him off completely, but I'd say you would be in a small group saying Cam should have played for England, and I'm just not sure what role he's supposed to play for Leeds going forward. I'm not sure Arthur would look to play him as a ball handler (its not an NRL thing really), he's simply not dynamic enough to be a prop at his size, and so I'm a bit lost as to what to do, as Smith seems to be as well. Maybe an off-season changing focus will make the world of difference. I hope so.
Anyway, my basic point was that we can all make excuses, as every single player would look better in a better team. Its the same rather pointless debate we've had about any number of players in recent years (Liam Sutcliffe, Brad Dwyer etc etc). What we desperately need are more players who make a real difference without needing the other 16 to be great.
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Fringe Player | 1209 | No Team Selected |
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Dec 2021 | 3 years | |
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| We unfortunately had two successive coaches in Agar and Smith who didn't seem to value big props so we haven't prioritised recruitment there for years. We started this season with just four actual props, with question marks over 3 of them - Holroyd (fitness/ability to play a full season), Lisone (short minutes, fitness) and Sangare (just WTF). Even if they were all seen as good enough, we'd need at least another one or two to be comfortable.
The plan then was to use other forwards as 'middles' - Donaldson, Goudemand, Bentley - to fill in as required. As we lost Holroyd (just 6 games) we've had to use these guys a lot, but even if he'd played more games, the plan was to use fill-ins.
Add to the prop issue a backrow with workers but no size/punch and its clear to see why we're getting crushed up front far too often. Its possible for a smaller pack to compete every now and then, but not every week, and not against good teams with big forwards. We've seen that for years vs Sts with Walmsley and co terrorising us and now Wigan, Wire and others when they really want the win.
I cannot see this improving significantly without at least 2 and ideally 3 big forwards. One just won't be enough (and if they get injured we're back to square one). Maybe Gannon, Ruan, TNW and Littlewood can offset one of those, but they are very green and I wouldn't want to bet the season on it.
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Moderator | 31810 | |
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438_1551258406.jpg "If you start listening to the fans it won't be long before you're sitting with them," - Wayne Bennett.:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_438.jpg |
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| It's a fundamental of the game that you need power and size up front. I'm sure Smith was trying to be too clever by half with his recruitment and thought he could ignore that fundamental. Think the Wigan approach is spot on. They've been successful because they're rock solid up front which means they get good field position and they have decent halfbacks and two really quick players who can capitalise. It's not rocket science.
Think Leeds need at least three props and a decent sized hard running second rower. See what the rest of the side can do with a half decent platform. Think there's also still a place for Cam Smith. He can perform a Radley/Yeo type role at loose forward so a bit of ball handling, intelligent running and good defence.
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International Star | 1905 | No Team Selected |
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Aug 2011 | 13 years | |
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| Quote: Bullseye "It's a fundamental of the game that you need power and size up front. I'm sure Smith was trying to be too clever by half with his recruitment and thought he could ignore that fundamental. Think the Wigan approach is spot on. They've been successful because they're rock solid up front which means they get good field position and they have decent halfbacks and two really quick players who can capitalise. It's not rocket science.
Think Leeds need at least three props and a decent sized hard running second rower. See what the rest of the side can do with a half decent platform. Think there's also still a place for Cam Smith. He can perform a Radley/Yeo type role at loose forward so a bit of ball handling, intelligent running and good defence.'"
Agree with all that, I think smith’s idea was a lightweight pack,extremely mobile and attempt to run big opposition packs off the park. The first half of the home league game against saints we achieved that and dominated saints. Second half we were well beaten and ultimately lost the game. Not certain if we ran out of steam or saints wised up to the situation.
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Academy Player | 2137 | |
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Jun 2022 | 2 years | |
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| Quote: ArthurClues "As I recall (according to SKY) Wigan spent about 600k more than us.
Actually, it's 400k. They also estimated Wire and Catalans spend 300k more. We were tied in 4th, with Huddersfield and Saints.'"
I wouldn’t believe everything that set of clowns say.
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Fringe Player | 1209 | No Team Selected |
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Dec 2021 | 3 years | |
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| Its actually scarier if its not true that we're spending quite a bit less than others. It means that a team that is lower-end mid table costs the same as the very top. Which means we've royally messed up our cap spend with some players earning way more than they would elsewhere. That makes it harder to shift contracted players as they'd likely face a pay cut, and gives us less room to manoeuvre.
I don't expect us to sign a Brodie Croft level player for next year in terms of interest, but forwards are generally less exciting signings anyway.
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