Where was he when Wellens scored or when Shenton outjumped Hall??
The meli try was a mismatch that close to the line and which other trys were Watkins fault?
I did'nt see yer post praising him last week for his defensive efforts or quality play with the ball so does that indicate your on a witch hunt to blame a kid for a teams failings?.

his out the back flick is becoming predictable....it won't be long before it starts getting picked off

He’s young and impetuous, trying the things he got away with in the Academy which only occasionally come off at SL level.
He has bags of potential and once he’s learnt what his limitations are he’ll be worth all the mistakes he’s currently making.

There's more chance of him joining BJB in suffering another extensive injury lay-off than learning how to defend properly.

I hate the fact that he goes for the flashy flicks when a normal pass would suffice. His carry of the ball is loose and he also seems to feel the need to unload it when it's blatantly not on. If we can channel his potential there is a future International in there, but I fear without the correct guidance he'll turn into a show pony.

I think that Lee Smith, even on post RU form which has been uninspiring to say the least, is a better centre than either of the 2 on show last night.

how tall is he?....what would he look like 15-20kg heavier?



it's a really bugbare with me that our england 3/4's,while a similar height, are nowhere near the same weight as the aussies and kiwis... it annoys me that kids roughly the same height and weight as the likes of inglis & hodges get shunted into the 2nd row...my mates 17 year old son is at huddersfield (nathan mason), he's 6'5",lean,athletic and quick...he's every bit the 'down under style' we need...but he's stuckin the 2nd row...its wrong!

We have a 6'3" second rower stuck at left centre.

In Watkins' case I'd agree that bulking up may help him - another 5-10 kg of muscle wouldn't do much harm IMO, with a possible loss of pace more than compensated for if he feels more confident in collisions.

I'd take issue with the idea that centres can play right and left with ease. Most are definitely better on one side than the other - including the best Australians/Kiwis. Les Dyl was a left centre, Garry Schofield a right centre, Paul Newlove left, Connolly right, Inglis left - the list goes on. Centres who can play both sides equally well are very rare.

Senior has always been a better left centre than right. I'd prefer him to be exposed on that side than Watkins (if Senior isn't performing its unfair to have Watkins play on his wrong side) if we have to, but if Lee Smith is fit I'd put him in there. He'll never be a great centre but he did a good enough job for a year to suggest he's a better bet than the alternatives.

Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't it Watkins who twice got back to save certain tries against Salford last week? One especially stood out when he took the ball off the guy as he was about to go under the sticks.

Now I know that was only Salford but he's not exactly awful! Young, improving with game time and a great prospect.

These weaknesses in Watkins game that posters now appear to be waking up to (ball watching defender, inability to keep in defensive formation, loose carry, poor concentration) have all been there from the beginning of his 1st grade career (and highlighted previously) except perhaps on those occasions he's been pressed into service on the wing.

When bodies allow (Smith's hamstring or even Delaney) I'd be tempted to give him a run there to gain some confidence.

The obvious flaws and the failure to address them must be casting some doubt on his immediate future in the centre and if they aren't what are the coaches watching.

While those deficiencies you highlight can all be worked on, I would argue that his game more naturally suits wing than centre at the moment anyway. If him and Smith are to play on the same side they would be somewhat interchangeable. A tough decision to be made.

I'd be reluctant to play Delaney there as I think our pack is crying out for him - if fit my back 3 would be Delaney, Clarkson, Ablett with Weller and Ali demoted to the bench

I would agree with the back 3 there. Only seen Delaney there for one game but he had good go forward, and from his comments he seems to like the back row and tougher side of the game in the forwards. and both Hauraki and ali look better impact coming from the bench

I'd have Pitts before any of them, but it appears his face does not quite fit at the moment.

I would be quite happy if pitts gets into the squad. Pre season I was very impressed with him and thought he looked alot stronger than he had previous season. But not seen too much in first team this year. Was quite looking forward to seeing him at the quinns game but he got about 5 minutes which was odd decision to me?

Watkins is an exciting young talent with a relative lack of 1st team experience in the centre position.

I can live with him learning his trade, taking his knocks and making his mistakes at this level. I think the payoff will be worth it and am not ready to write him off just yet.

Mid way through the first half when we'd been struggling for field position and possession he threw a speculative offload on his own 40, which Webb (?) knocked on.

At the scrum, Sinfield pulled him to one side and had a quiet word in his ear - I suspect about being more selective where and when he tries to throw miracle passes.

All part of the learning experience.

We'll have him!

Young Watkins missed 4 tackles and is being vilified.

Buderus missed 4 tackles. I am struggling to find any criticism of him, other than one sage like poster criticising a fall off in his usually solid tackling.

How sage does one have to be to comment on a tackle stat produced by Opta? Not very would be my guess.

You've reviewed the game, yes?

Care to highlight the four Buderus missed tackles during the game that have caused you to comment specifically on that aspect this week?

Or specifically comment on a chase (after a loose St Helens offload) and one on one follow up tackle on Wellens, gaining Leeds 15 meters respite and his potentially try saving one on one tackle on Gaskell hitting a gap two tackles later. Perhaps being unable to prevent the Roby offload that followed counts as a missed tackle at Opta (I've no idea) but it was a commendable double tackle effort which unfortunately on this occasion was not backed up by Leeds' right side defence where Hardaker left his wing exposed after Watkins (quite unusually for him) was sliding out to cover Meli, allowing Foster a walk-in.

And then there was the try saving cover tackle (assisted by Hall) after Lomax had skinned Clarkson and turned Webb inside out just before the interval. Last week you were all over Watkins like a rash for a similar try saving effort, not so with Buderus this week.

At the same time you may care (or not) acknowledge the quality of his dummy half pass to Sinfield that helped create the opportunity for Leeds' opening try to Hall. Which other dummy half in SL would be capable of making that pressurised pass so close to the try and defensive line? Not many I'd suggest, not even at Bradford.

PMSL

Yes. I witnessed Buderus fall off a number of tackles.

I have no desire to comment upon the other issues you raise in your post because I merely observed that Buderus missed the same amount of tackles as Watkins however your desperation to defend those misses with reference to other aspects of the game is duly noted.

DO you not think that Buderus missed 4 tackles? I do. Do you also have reason to doubt the accuracy of the missed tackle quota for Watkins or is it accurate for young English players making mistakes?

I am not in the slightest bit shocked that by simply daring to highlight the statistics show the two players have the same number of misses it's brought such an impassioned defence of the ageing, quota occupying, expensive Aussie and such criticism for the young, English player.

I have to wonder if Broughton would be the apple of your eye if he were in our first team making mistakes.

i agree, your comments seem to echo a wayne bennett quote about blooding academy prospects from a few years ago.

I think you've made your point more constructive here than in your OP tbh, in fact you've almost summed his situation up perfectly.....at present

IMO defense is all about team coached structures and how a player is required to defend within these structures.

We've now got a new coach at our club who is clearly re-structuring our defensive patterns/structures have we not?

So to pin the blame on individual players is wrong IMO, Either our players will learn to deal succesfully with these coach driven structures, or these structures arn't any good

Watkins can tackle,as proved by his 2 try saving tackles against Salford, but the thing he is struggling with at present and which sides are clearly targeting him with is his reading of the oppositions play, he seems to be more concerned with ball watching than reading the lines run by players.

This will only be remedied with experience, but he's got to be in these situations week to week in order to learn?

A regular wing partnership down that side of the field would obviously help him/them to get some defensive discipline out wide, but this hasn't happened as of yet due to injuries, he has subsequently had 3 different wing partners in the past 5 games, and was only a sub in game 1

I still have faith in Kallum Watkins

Put him on the left and give him hall as a partner?

Don't be so silly