he' s 21 and a can't remember one break , at that age danny and rob were on everyone's shoulder , danny had the 2003 semi final try as a long range match winner . harris was scoring hat tricks for fun even graham holroyd had some spark when he started , much as i'd like to be proved wrong there's been nothing exciting about his play

You cant compare Callum to Rob and Danny hes a totally different type of half back. Rob and Danny were out and out runners, Callum is an organising type half back and they take longer to develop and mature.

Will Callum make it at Leeds? Possibly not but ive watched him in the academy and he isnt a bad player at all. He can run but thats not his game. Hes a good defender so thats a positive in a young half.

To play half back for Leeds you should be top drawer tho and im not sure he is quite going to be at that level but he needs more time to learn his craft before we write him off.

His problem is next year we should be trying to bring in a top half back to partner Gale so opportunities could be limited if he doesnt take his chances this season. Its a big year for him now Lui is out for awhile.

The problem for McLelland is that he's an organising half and should he playing 7 alongside a running half at 6. We should be comparing him to Gale who only started to develop at the same age 21 when he moved to Harlequins. McLelland would also have stalled a little in his career in Union. His route to the team is blocked by Gale quite rightly but potentially we should use the next couple of years to gradually give him some game time in a full strength team by occasionally resting Gale to try and extend his longevity. Gale and McClelland as a pair of 7s just don't work in the way Myler and Moon didn't as a pair.
Undoubtedly if Gale is injured McClellan needs to start at 7. Otherwise he will go but may still turn into a decent player like Gale and McShane did when they departed Leeds.

Trouble is, an organising 7 without much pace tends to be pretty predictable.

FWIW, IF eastmond has retained his talent for league, a 1,. 6, 7 of myler, eastmond and gale could actually be a fair bit better than walker, lui & gale. Optimistic?

Interesting you think he was trying to hard. Lilley definitely tried too hard when at Leeds. For me Mclelland hasn't tried hard enough, and seems happy to go through the motions.

The main times he's been in the first team is when he has partnered Broadbent, and Broadbent was easily the more impressive of the two and was playing out of position.

I hope I'm wrong, I'd like him to do well and make it, but part of me wonders whether he looked good at Fev because at the minute that's his level.

Agree with all that.

If you've not got amazing pace then you need to be able to step off each foot and have a great passing game. IIRC Andy Gregory wasn't the quickest but he was great on his feet and that with his passing game made him devastating.

You can also be successful with the right partnership. Take Paul Deacon who certainly wasn't the fastest but paired with Paul or Pryce it worked well.

I guess this will be a crucial season for McLelland. If he doesn't break through I can see him go back to union or end up in the Championship.

Yeah. Néed done peace at half these days. Jordan Lilley had all the skills, but was just too slow for his size....

Not sure Lilley has all the skills really. He's ok at championship level.

Agar is certainly not managing our expectations in terms of Eastmond. Very complimentary about him Leeds Live piece this morning.

Extremely complimentary! Looking forward to seeing him

get a stand ticket you can sit next to him

Did they not consult you on the medical, Doc? Maybe next time.

hope i'm as wrong as gale injury wise but just can't think of anyone returning from union and being any good

Yep, I think that has historically been the case, but as much as it pains me to say it, union has taken great strides in terms of fitness and skill where as super league (relatively speaking) has stood still. Not sure there is such a massive gap nowadays. Guess we'll know soon enough.