Had he scored 2 tries (as he should have been allowed to) and changed the result then this is the stuff of MOM awards. Some were suggesting Hardaker should have been the MOM - now remind me how many opportunities he created.

Hardaker was the best player on the pitch. Burrow could have darted 20 yards for 5 tries, and still he wouldn't have done as much as Hardaker did in that match. Stop being pathetic with your Burrow crush.

And as for Salford away, I was at that game, and Burrow was absolute gash.

Did he get MOM away at Hull? If so, I would say that counts

Getting MoM in a Sky game isn't necessarily a great indicator of performance

Did you omit to add the word 'Leeds'? I'm not sure how he was better than Burgess, Williams or Bowen.

Watching the game on Saturday, one thought struck me about Leeds. Most rational followers of Rugby League reckon Ryan Hall to be the best winger in the game, and yet he gets so little chance to prove it.

A case in point - just how many times has Zak provided Ryan with a pass like that of Bowen's to Burgess? When Tomkins was at Wigan he regularly created dozens of tries for the wingers.

I think Zak will need to add 'passing the ball' to his game in order to justify the hype.

Many on here agree about his passing. He's still the best #1 in SL by a distance.

Hopefully Sam Tomkins can add catching and tackling to his game before his much hyped return to SL.

Not this old crap again. He has a passing game, but he doesn't need to add anything to still be a top fullback. Neither Tomkins, Bowen or anyone else will come close to him in positioning, composure, defence, and what he brings to our team.

And yes, he was a far better player on Saturday than Burgess, Williams or Bowen. Had Leeds won that game he would have been given MOM. Without him, we would have been in much deeper trouble Saturday.

So, were going to ignore actual man of the match awards now in deciding who was man of the match?

juan Conetto makes a good point, by following mine.

He could easily have been the game breaker, the most influencial player on the pitch.

It's entirely disengenuous to say all he has to do is run 20 metres. If support play was as simple as that why weren't more players queuing up and why doesn't mCguire have the legs to do it anymore?

You talk about a man crush- huh! How can Hardaker be the best player on the pitch when the most effective fullback was Bowen? who scored two tries and created another. When your hero Hardaker aimlessly hoofed the ball straight to Bowen who then gave Zak a quick lesson in how to creatively return the ball from fullback with the vision and pass that put Burgess into space who then compounded Hardaker's error by wrong footing him leaving him on his backside.

Williams who was awarded the MOM was too quick for Hardaker to recover from being out of position and outpaced him to the corner. There was another occasion when Hardaker had made a long run with plenty of tackle busts but as usual went to ground with the ball when a pass could have meant a Leeds score close to the line.

You seem to regard effort above skill and for you it seems a strong physical robust display with plenty of metres gained and tackle busts equates with him somehow being the best player. Hardaker did all these things against Wigan for which I give him credit, but IMO he continually shows a lack of enough creative skill to be considered a class player and he shows all the hallmarks of playing for himself above the team. It would be interesting to see the stats for the the leading players who die with the ball.




..and we all know how accurate your opinion is!

Sorry to derail this thread, but you are wrong. Sam has not been found wanting in the NRL with regards to either catching or tackling.

Hardaker makes as many errors (just check the figures if you don't believe me) as Sam and yet can offer very little in the way of tries or assists.

Hardaker is an excellent player by the way, I'd be happy to have him in my team - if Tomkins was injured.

Hardaker's pass to Briscoe for his try last year v. Warrington was nearly identical to Bowen's for Burgess' try. There's probably other instances as well.

It was better than that. Bowen had to make his pass as Burgess had a yawning great gap to go into. That try was down to the Leeds poor defence rather than the pass.

He'd have had to catch the ball first, and not fall over after doing so. A couple of things that have not been givens in big games lately.

I'll take it back then if i'm "wrong".

Except i'm not, you're talking rubbish. So I won't.