Shaun Lunt for me , but that bus has already departed .

mental macca is enjoying life in wigan

I said at the time that McIlorum should have been the starting hooker for England v New Zealand in the WC with Roby on the bench. Saints and other fans ripped into me big time (nothing new there ). He is one tough kid who will die/kill for the shirt he is wearing and in big games that means a lot.
You need that type of player in your team.
btw what a great interview with Jamie Peacock yesterday, a true warrior who like Mickey Mac gives everything for the cause.

Mcllorum is a great player and I said so last season when it wasn't fashionable for Leeds fans to says so but he's not in the same class as Roby who is far superior in every facet bar aggression.

If we're playing fantasy rugby league I can't believe anybody would choose Mcllorum over Roby.

In fairness, I don't think he was saying replace, just that we should have started with Mcllorum as the interchange hooker. In view of the way the game went, I think he may have a point.

I can see RGs point but if I was the England coach I'd be bricking it trusting MM in such a big game as a WC Semi-Final. Too much of a risk for me in case he did a "Moz"

To echo G1's earlier post, he is simply nowhere near the level of James Roby. Yes he is more aggressive but so what? If that's something your pack is missing you need to take a look at your props and second row.

Some of McIlorum's previous behaviour leaves a bad taste. There's many players out there who hit hard, but don't completely lose control like he does.

In view of how the game went? We lost the game after a penalty for a head high shot, the last thing we needed was a player renowned for doing that

It is great remembering how tough RL was, especially the front row. But McIlorum's brief stints in the WC showed it has only limited effect on a world stage. Roby, Lunt & Clarke are simply miles apart with the ball.

Like has been said already, he's one of those players that every other team's fans love to hate.

Would I have him at Leeds? Don't know. I really don't know if he'd fit in with the mentality that the Leeds players have. I can see he gives everything when he plays (a little too much sometimes) but I'm not sure if he has the musketeer attitude that Leeds has been built on.

A good individual player without a doubt but I'd much sooner have Lunt or Clark as I think they'd fit the Leeds ethos much better.

I would more than happy to have him in a rhinos jersey,lets face it he was the main reason Wigan turned us other last Saturday . Obviously there is a dark side of his game which would need curbing. Morley was superb for us and the wire,but as we all know he had his red mist moments.
Strangely enough or not I think wane encourages his darker side,presumably on the basis he intimidates a fair amount of the opposition .
As for Bateman ,he is a cheap shot merchant without any obvious talents.

I think even Stevie Wonder could see that McIlorum's antics & Crosby flattening McGuire from behind were all part of Wane's plan to upset Leeds. All credit to them, it worked.

Is he good enough though to take the rough with the smooth. Whilst he played great on Saturday he also made his teammates play for 10 minutes a man down, this period not only cost them a try but you could see the Wigan side were seriously gassed towards the end and almost lost if not for a unclean take by Moon.

And whilst he was key in winning them the 2013 GF. In 2012 he got himself a 3 match ban for the playoffs for a needless high shot on Laffranchi. Do Leeds win at the DW 13-12 if McIlorum plays hooker and O'Loughlin reverts to his preferred Loose position? Him committing a brain fart might well be the reason they aren't Back-to-Back champions ATM.

Great player, can take the physical side a bit to far sometimes (not unlike lots of other players)

Personally I think Roby, Lunt and Clarke are slightly better than MM

You are right about that Printer. MMc has been sent off 3 times against Saints now. I argued at the time that it cost us the game against Leeds as we were without him and Sam Tomkins and lost by 1 point. I was told in no unceretain terms on here that it had no relevance to the outcome and that Leeds won because they were a champion team - fair enough.

I suppose that with these players you take the rough with the smooth. He did seem to improve his discipline last season. However the high shot at Cas in March got him a deserved ban. I do think that there was nothing in the shot on Peacock on Saturday and that it was made to look worse by the reaction of the Leeds players.