I missed the Catalan game as I was at Alicante airport at the time but what you describe is the exception rather than the rule so far this season IMO

Another clearly troll post
One aussie commentator even said when he won the golden boot that if he was born in Aus he would have been Aus captain (believe it was Vossy)
He got stepped by Shawn Johnson and only rushed up because there was an overlap outside that he was trying to shut down, it would have been a try anyway
Did GI, Greg Bird, Cooper Cronk, and Gallen all bottle it when they got stepped by him at the 4 nations? (with no overlap outside btw)
The circumstances were not his fault but instead a George Burgess penalty, I dont even know what your hinting at
You fail to mention in the same game that he had a try assist and 3 line break assists
Putting all his international career down to that moment is ridiculous, has Slater had a poor international career because he cost his team a world cup?
Why dont you go back to comenting FAKE on youtube videos ey?

The year Thurston played origin was his first at 7, before then he played off the bench (usually at hooker) so 23 was definatley his breakout year

Im not suggest he was as good as Lockyer or Johns as that would be stupid, they were 2/4 most skilled players of the last 20 years (along with Thurston and Fittler)
However I have always maintained he is comparable to Simth, as both are players who are mainly lauded for their leadership and ability to run games, you will not be able to convince me otherwise on that front

Your opinion of him because he only played SL is comparable to the Aussie media not acknowledging that Shawn Johnson is clearly the second best 7 (instead talking about Cronk and Evens and Hunt) just because he is from NZ, its just close minded and trying to stick religiously to a false narrative

I would put it to you that BOD was a world great in union but he never played in the (obviously superior) Super Rugby, nor did he ever do particularly well against the Southern Hemisphere teams

Your last paragraph doesn't make sense - you are actually following a false narrative i.e. Sinfield has been a great player at SL level therefore he must be a great player. How can you say that when he hasn't been tested week in week out by the very best players in the world - surely playing against the likes of Smith, Cronk, GI, Thurston, Johnson etc would be a fairer basis on which to judge his status in the world game?

O'Driscoll was a great RU centre - he played in an era when the Northern Hemisphere countries were close in quality to their counterparts in the southern hemisphere - England did win the WC during his career. SL has always been well behind the NRL and your judgement of a players status need to consider that.

According to OPTA Sutcliffe has made seven 'attacking kicks' during the opening rounds of SL which is more than double any other Leeds player.

Not much to boast about really is it? 20 other SL players have made more attacking kicks with the top ones making four times the number of our main playmaker...one of the reasons our attack has been so poor so far this year is because of poor last tackle options.

Not critical! without his tries they would have won the tournament
It was the wrong play in hindsight, but with the overlap outside it would have been a try 95% of the time anyway

Its hard to say what position, it probably would of been hooker, so neither of us know how he would have faired in that position, although I believe he put in a MotM performance at 9 against NZ early in his career? so I dont think you can say with any certainty he wouldnt have got in the team
He also probably could of played 13, he was about as big as Bird before he slimmed down a bit, and even you have to admit he is a much better player
So take your pick...

He did beat, Cronk, Sater, Lyon, Stewart, SBW, Anasta, Falou, Foran, and DCE in WCC games tbf

Your point falls down regarding BOD, yes internationally the NH nations were almost as good but I would say that England RL are not that far behind either- usually only loosing by the small margins,in the way that Irish RL lost to SH teams
But anyway we are talking about leagues, Super Rugby is clearly the best league, BOD never played in it, how is that any different to sinfield?

Is Sutcliffe at the touch screen available to watch online anywhere?

I've looked on the Sky Sports app where they usually put them on but it's not on for some reason?

Quote: Bang "Is Sutcliffe at the touch screen available to watch online anywhere? I've looked on the Sky Sports app where they usually put them on but it's not on for some reason?'" www.skysports.com/watch/video/sp ... s-paid-off I agree that he's not exactly the best one Sky have had on but they often go for an older more experienced guy (Wilkin the other week for example). He is still young and might well not be as comfortable in front of the camera. I'd imagine if McGuire did the same at that age he'd come across differently to how he would present day.

Quote: Bang "Is Sutcliffe at the touch screen available to watch online anywhere? I've looked on the Sky Sports app where they usually put them on but it's not on for some reason?'" www.skysports.com/watch/video/sp ... s-paid-off I agree that he's not exactly the best one Sky have had on but they often go for an older more experienced guy (Wilkin the other week for example). He is still young and might well not be as comfortable in front of the camera. I'd imagine if McGuire did the same at that age he'd come across differently to how he would present day.

Of course. I remember seeing the short brief interviews from superstars of the football world like Beckham, Rooney, Gerrard etc... when they were just starting out and they were cringeworthy at best, mumbling a few words and looking down but you look at them 5, 10 years down the line and they come across so differently. I don't see the point in SKY putting the inexperienced lads in front of the lens straight after the game, should be an elder statesmen every time.

Kicking near the line is the rugby equivalent of giving a monkey a computer. Eventually it will pay off if you try it enough.

Thanks Printer.

Agreed, seven in four games is nothing to boast about but in Sutcliffe's defence McGuire will have had the primary duty V Warrington prior to his injury when he was also limping around and it's true that Leeds' last tackle plays have had an off the cuff air around them for some time.

It's important to transfer what is presumably practised at training out on to the pitch come matchday