I agree with the point about Danny. He has carried us for most of the season. Never thought I d say this but Burrow should be dropped until he rgains his creative flair.Defensively he's as strong as ever but he has lost the abily to surprise the oposition. They all know he's going to run sideways and then duck into a gap. Too easy to deal with. What's worrying is that as far as i know we have no real cover for mcGuire. or Burrow Who's coming through the ranks?
Delaney i think has been a disappointment all season -maybe better to let him go but if that's not possible a move into the pack along with Senior seems a good idea. Moving Hall to centre might work but I think we'd be better signing a top class pair of centres because we all know that Hall is effective on the wing if he's got someone to play off.
Smith to full back might give Webb a kick up the . I think Smith is probably a more innovative player and better at returning the kick but Webb is much better under the high ball.
What was noticeable about the Wigan game was how rarely we broke the line. We really need someone with the strength and guile to do that. At the moment Ali is the only one who looks capable.

I would have thought that a year without winning anything and frankly getting blown away in the two biggest games of the season should occasion a rethink within the team. Some individuals haven't played that well, but IMO we lost track almost from the start this year with the nonsensical obsession with the WCC.

Leeds have looked like a tired team, and too many players seem content to wait for others to do something - missing McGuire we still have Burrow, Webb, Sinfield, Buderus, Diskin, and yet we look clueless. Compare and contrast to Sts, who are still incredbly competitive without either of their starting halfbacks.

Hopefully a good off-season and an intent to hit the ground running will make a big difference next year.

Smith at BS last night. Assuming we can get webb going again Next season then I've no problem with Smith and Hall on the wing. If we're going to get another season of the same out of our elite, well payed, key player Webb I'd move Smith to FB and consider webbs role.

The balance of the team is wrong. We have too many head down run into contact merchants whereas Saints, Wigan & Warrington team have gone for ball players who can also go forward. All three seem faster than us with feet and brain. The responsibility for this must be with GH who seems to take charge of recruitment.

But the dissappointing one up way we play is down to the coach. Too flat, too predictable, no planned moves other than back into the ruck, and too much reliance on an individual brilliant moment from Maguire. We lack pace throughout the side and we also lack some technical skills in the tackle area.

I think Bluey was lucky to inherit a winning, settled group of outstanding players at the top of their game who were used to a fast offload/back up style. The side has gone backwards during his time with poor pre-season preparation for two years running. His bash up the middle tactics rather than tire out the opposition has jaded our players and our poor discipline has cost us.

Many of the players that have been outstanding for us in the past now seem slow and ordinary and our famed handling skills have all but dissappeared. I think this is because the game plan they have been asked to play is not suitable for our group of players and much of their talent has been wasted. His team selection is also too predictable as he seems to pick his favourites even when out of form or carrying injuires.

So we now face a period of regrouping and recruitment but I am not blaming the players who have kept us in the hunt right until the end showing great character. I think the players have been let down by the coaches and poor recruitment.

Cobblers.

Since when did winning back to back titles under Mclennan constitue to going backwards?? The winning run had to stop sometime, you just can't keep it going especially in a salary capped era. What we've achieved has been something veryspecial indeed. The plus side of failure to retain the title for the 4th year on the trot is that a long off season will do us a lot of good, we're mentally and physically knackered after 3 title's on the bounce, it's taken it's toll... add to that the huge amount of injuries we've had in key areas from day one of this season...

A couple of quality additions in the forwards and the return of Watkins and BJB will be excellent news.. and should take us right up there again.

To all those now asking for change. Where exactly is it going to come from now?

We should have been planning for this months ago, not on the back of a defeat and quite frankly a disastrous season, before realising it.

Unless the club goes out and throws money at a transfer now, there really is not much around that could improve this squad.

I would rather go with what we have now than make desperation cheap signings for the sake of it.

It was poor planning full stop from the club this year, and they need to learn from it, and get it right for 2012.

The first change I would make:

drag Delaney out of the centre spot ASAP.

How subjective is rugby!!!

In the second half, on numerous occasions he failed to make the right play. He can't put his winger away and doesn't even scan to see what's 'on'

When judging a player in a position I always ask: how effective is X in that position?

So how effective a centre is Delaney? Not very.

He hasn't supplied his wingers, so he's not a classic centre. In defence he can tackle what's in front of him but also gets caught out on the scramble time and time again. He also struggles to get off his feet and deal with kicks. Offers zilch protetction to his wing men.

His biggest plus points are his leg drives, he soaks up metres and he is good at front facing tackling. Both of these areas take up alot of juice, so he is willing to do the work and in this area and is very effective.

But an effective centre? No.

A flawed centre? Yes.

Would he make a better second row than centre? Yes IMO

From my perspective in the Carnegie Stand, one of our problems this year was our poor start, highlighted by the coach in the YEP. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... 6551723.jp Part of that IMV was down to the appalling state of the pitch which contributed to the spate of early season injuries that we suffered. On Saturday the pitch looked to be in excellent condition apart from the area in front of the South Stand. I wonder what it will look like when we start the season next February?

From my perspective in the Carnegie Stand, one of our problems this year was our poor start, highlighted by the coach in the YEP. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... 6551723.jp Part of that IMV was down to the appalling state of the pitch which contributed to the spate of early season injuries that we suffered. On Saturday the pitch looked to be in excellent condition apart from the area in front of the South Stand. I wonder what it will look like when we start the season next February?

I was judging Delaney on the season. A summary of where he is.

I am happy Senior doing what he does. He has created a lot this season and supplies his wingers quite effective overall. Senior isn't the player he was but he can still hold his own and can still shine. He's fit and eager, I have no issues with him.

I just think in the centre spot Delaney is fundamentally flawed. I think he's a better rugby player than he is a centre. A spell at second row, he'd be like a pig in muck. Playing to his strengths.

I think pointing the finger at Delaney is akin to the criticism that Donald took during his 1st year.
I think he has been up and down performance wise but so has the team.
The injury situation has meant players like Senior ,Kylie and JP have been unable to be rotated and the poor start and us playing "catch up" has also meant Bluey getting desperate and picking players who are'nt fit rather than depending on the youngsters.
I think we need freshening up and hopefully we'll get a couple of recruits in and the likes of Watkins ,Bjb and Ambler will get gametime and prove their worth.
I don't think it's the doom and gloom some are predicting although we do need structural changes to our game-play especially defence and discipline.
A big test now for Bluey and GH to regroup and go again with fresh players and a different approach game-play wise and also we all know that next year we will HAVE to release some of the older guys imo so the transition can be made smoother by what we do now re-signings and squad promotion.

Watkins?