I heared a rumour Ryan has been told to cut down in the gym due to his bulk and they feel its slowing him down a little. Does anyone agree that Ryan Hall has all the attributes to make an inpact as a centre ? I certainly would consider giving him some game time there and see how he goes.

he was told at easter to stop the weights as i posted in some earlier thread.
leeds thought he was bulking up too much and losing pace

If he was told to stop weight training because it was costing him pace, we need new conditioning staff.

greg inglis & mal meninga is/were both bigger than hall and could both still shift
so i reckon not,hall obviously needs a good off season with the sprinting coach

Do people really think players just do their own thing in the gym and go as many times as they want? They have a professional schedule to stick with constant assessment from the top conditioners. Plays don't just get 'too big' unless one of the conditioners has done their job wrong.

Spot on Richie. It will be his diet that is bulking him up, the more strength and therefore power in the legs especially the better.

With his willingness to constantly cut-in in defence, maybe he's making his own claim to play centre.

Seriously worried about our condition staff if his bulk has happened "by mistake". Should we switch him to the centre? No.

This guy...


is a winger.

So is...



this guy.

The modern game is rapidly making the props as fast as the wingers, and the wingers as big as the props.

Ryan didn't have a bad season last season, and did pretty well finishing 5th on the try scorers to say that in general Leeds didn't have the best season. There's nothing wrong with him being bulky, and he's still fast enough to compete with most.

Hopefully Marine McDermott's fitness training will bring out the best in him, and hopefully he'll survive PNG so he can have a full preseason.

Also, reading this...

rlhttp://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/rugby-league/Chance-to-finish-tour-on.6614035.jprl

it very much seems like Ryan was fit for Oz and not played?!? I doubt it would've made much of a difference but that is a shocking decision by McBanana if that's the case. I just assumed he was still injured.

I can never understand why fans are always wanting to play players out of position.
Here we have a good winger who his not afraid to come inside and also make a good tackle or two and scores trys regulary but has not shown any mobility or crushing tackles to prove that he could be even thought of in the centre. Is it to prove to others that they no more than us or the coaching staff. Leave him where he does the best work returning kicks useually safe under high balls and devastating down the touchline

Because they don't understand the subtleties of the game, including how wingers are asked to defend these days?

nail - head!

Agree with both Digger & AG.

Ryan Hall is one of the only wingers in SL (Certainly the only English Winger in SL) that comes close to fitting the mould of an Australian Winger.

Why is it a bad thing if our winger is the size of a centre?? Why must people insist on moving him in one to face someone of a similar size and stature? Why not leave him out wide and give him a huge size advantage over the skinny speed merchant trying to stop him scoring?!

Being a winger in the modern game isn't about having pace to burn, letting the centre do all the work then screaming down the outside for an 80 metre effort. Yes, that still happens, but it certainly isn't all that's required of a winger these days. So what, Ryan has lost a bit of pace, but everything else about him screams winger. His finishing is quality, his strength is vastly improved, his positioning is getting better and better, he's safe under a high ball, his kick returns are towards the try line in a forward direction and not running 30 metres sideways (sorry Brent!!).

Just leave him where he is and let him develop as a modern winger.

I swear if people got their way he'd be a centre next year so he'd bulk up a bit more, then they'd be a thread calling for him to be in the second row in 2012 cos he's got pretty big, and before you know it by 2013 there's a thread with people talking about Ryan Hall being a replacement for Peacock!!

31 Tries in 33 games, in a season where we finished 4th. He's a winger. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Its a british RL 'thing', All wingers are frustrated fullbacks or centres, all fullbacks are stand-offs and centres are 2nd rowers.

Probably why we struggle so much in the back 5 positions, no-ones playing where they should be.

Agreed, leave him on the wing, he ain't had a bad season at all, it's not a bad thing to have a bigger winger than usual hope he doesn't switch to centre