He has time on his side.

He must've been very nervous. I imagine that even some of the more senior players would have been a bit jittery given the current run of form, pressure etc. so George must've been terrified.

He'll know it wasn't his best. He'll probably be sitting at home thinking, "Jesus what was I doing! I catch those balls week in week out normally!". Just nerves. Give him time.

Accepted again. I am trying to get some positives here, as that is what I like to look at when the inexperienced players make mistakes. To be honest I think there is a lot of clutching at straws at the moment, but I want to be wrong on this.

Let's look at it another way, as it is already brought up above. Did anybody think it went better for the kid than Tom Bush's first couple of performances?

Yes.

He didn't have an open field to run down only to be caught on 45m and then knock on.

Good point, well remembered.

So were basically saying solid but not spectacular? I can live with that.

christ almightly so his rugby career is now in ruins 'cos he didn't score a couple of tries and his defensive awareness wasn't perfect?

In his first game at SL level?

his first bloody game?

Actually thought he looked ok once he started looking for work

Come on, read the thread again.

positives were that he started looking for work, kept going even after a couple of apparent errors were made, didn't shy away from contact when running the ball in.

the only glaring error was the kick he misjudged, although he managed to recover and knock the ball out.

the dropped ball from Clarkson wasn't the best pass, and as has been said the drop in the second half was forward anyway and a difficult ball to take

The onl ball he got was scooting out from our own line usually. Impossible to tell until we see him in a bit of space.

Everytime Bush got in space he not only showed an alarming lack of pace for a winger (run down by James Graham ffs) but also a suprising affinity for the sideline.

Many good backs have been chased down by Graham so there's no shame there. Graham has the speed of an outside back anyway, hence why he scores so many tries from backing up breaks.

I thought he had the deer in a headlights look about him but that's totally understandable, he was bound to be bricking himself in his Super League debut.

As said previously, he got in there and made some decent runs when he went looking for work and looked like he was settling into it towards the end.

Until middle march at least.

Graham is no Ian Kirke in the pace department despite being very quick for a front rower. No winger worth his salt (especially one that can't have weighed more than 12 stone) should be getting run down by Graham.

FFS, it was the kid's SL debut, for a team that has been under performing for the last couple of seasons, and already the s are on his back.

Some of you need to take yourselves outside for a word. Seriously!

Let us also remember, the previous Gingher who occasionally performed on that wing took 12 months before showing the slightest interest in earning his salary.

What about full-backs being played out of position on the wing?

On Elliott, I was surprised to see him get the nod given McDermott's comments about Aston Wilson a few weeks ago being "next man up".

An inauspicious start to the game, what with the pass in the face from Clarkson (although quite why a second row tackling machine thinks he's a ball-player and suddenly starts putting on moves is another question entirely) and getting caught under a high kick which he then failed to take Aussie Rules style above his head.

After that it looked like the harder he tried, the less comfortable he got. Whether the pass was forward or not, the "chance" he put down in the north-west corner was meat and drink to any winger.

If Watkins still isn't back for Friday, Orr and Chase will kick the poor kid back into the Under 20s on that showing. Worth considering a switch back to the threequarter line that finished the game at Odsal, with Ablett in the centres and Senior on the wing? It's a narrow pitch at Cas, so less chance of the old man getting caught for pace out wide.