He seems to have lost a bit of pace as well. All well and good having nice footwork, but you gotta get through the gap

didn't look too slow to me at Catalans a few weeks ago. if its in regards to him being caught by Dawson watch it back, he thinks he is been chased by the inside defender only and doesn't know Dawson is behind him, he was cruising.

I agree. Shocking complacency though.

I think the loss of Peacock, Leuluai and Sinfield on the field cannot be understated. I think the players mentioned have had to take on extra responsibility in addition to playing their natural game. Can be difficult.

FFS, how long are we going to bemoan the loss of Sinfield and Peacock. They've gone, move on and rebuild. That's what the coach and team are trying to do. No amount of moaning will bring back retired / defected players

Re Watkins, I watched the GF again the other day and I thought his biggest problem was being asked to defend third or even fourth man in a lot of the time. That means a big tackling load, which must dent his attack. I can't think of a similarly classy attacking player being asked to do so much donkey work.

It's happened throughout the Burrow on the pitch at hooker era. Either Moon is 4th man in if McGuire and Burrow are both on the left side. But then McGuire usually alternates sides during games so either Watkins or Sinfield would be as far in as 4th, with them alternating themselves between 3rd/4th man in presumably so not to put all of the burden on Sinfield who whilst can do large tackling numbers, shouldn't have been averaging 27 a game the last few seasons AND expected to lead the team round at HB in attack.

The whole Sinfield-McGuire-Burrow axis required compromises to the team shape that most teams never have to make. We'll probably have to continue to make the same compromise until Burrow retires. I can't see anyone playing a similar role off the bench in the future who can't defend.

He's had poor pace for 3-4 years now, but that's been offset by rock solid catching under the high ball, and running the ball back well when we're camped on our line.

Ash Goulding? Lilley already does?

The coaches seem to like to be able to bring on an attacking player late on and it certainly works well for Brisbane, Queensland and Australia
It only becomes a problem when that player plays a full game as burrow has done at hooker recently
As long as the impact player only plays around 30 mins it is more of a benefit than a hinderance
In future when a hooker is injured then the dummy half role should be done by someone like stevie ward or keinhorst who can do the defensive work

Which player do Brisbane, Queensland or Australia put on that can't be relied on to make their share of tackles or a complete reset of the defensive line? The answer is they don't.

...and by the way, have a look at Michael Morgan's beautiful cutout pass the other week vs the Roosters. Or indeed his match-winning pass to the wing in last year's GF. Not bad for a player who according to someone can't pass.

NRL teams don't feel the need to hide their half-backs in the defensive line. Most (if not all) defend them three in either side. England did the same V the Kiwis in the Tests last year under McNamara.

Why would you if you had players with the necessary creativity who could deal with a heavy tackle workload too? We don't enjoy that luxury.

The workload third man in either side isn't greatly increased when in a well organised, consistent defensive line where players know and perform their defensive duties well.

Unacceptably weak defensive players tend not to survive in the NRL whereas SL coaches try to find places to hide theirs.

Brisbane use kodi Nikorima
Queensland and Aus use DCE or Morgan
they defend out wide and the centres or backrowers get pushed in

Brisbane and Canberra said JT was too small and couldnt tackle, look how well that worked out

Cut out pass was good, he is definitely improving, I think I was saying he doesnt kick though? You were saying Burrow cant pass and I was saying in response that Morgan cant kick and mainly acts as a runner I believe?

Who was it said the brits don't have halfbacks just small blokes who can't tackle

Watkins stopped superbly by greg minikin tonight, a lad whom was at York last year on his first team debut today, arguably watkins should have fed his winger.

His pass to Briscoe at the end of the 1st half was a shocker. All he had to do was a clean pass and Briscoe had a walk in . Terrible from Watkins.

The lad at present is heading backwards at an alarming rate, much like the team as a whole are.

Four missed tackles and five errors from the lad last night.

he is going through the motions right now much like most of the team.

he seems to be dropping the ball cold at least once a game these days too, a blatant sign of lack of concentration and general can't be assed mode.

Looks v low on confidence and yard or 2 down on pace. Does anyone know if Jason Davidson is still working with the rhinos or is he just training carnegie's kick and giggle squad?