I was at a party Saturday night and got talking to a bloke I know in passing who is a Wakefield fan. I asked him if he'd been to Headingley the other week. He then went into a rant for 30 mins about how Bailey should've been sent off against Wakey, about how Atkins chinned him and about how happy he was to see bailey get knocked out Friday. I listened politely.

Anyway, once his rant was over he asked me if I was going to see the Salford game on Sunday. To which I pointed out, I was a Leeds fan, not a Wakefield fan and he's been talking e the last 30 mins.

No doubt about it, having Bailey in the team is worth it if only to get oppo. fekkwitts frothing at the mouth about him.[/i]

Bailey is rarely an eye-catching prop but he does do the unfashionable work (and alot of it) very well. I'd still like to see abit more out of him going forward (like friday night), but he's more than worth a place in the team.

Thing is though Gareth, although the oppossition fekkwitts hate him, he isn't actually playing the same sort of game that made them hate him in the first place.

He is not the cheap shot merchant he is made out to be. He actually contains his aggression very well and channells it in the right areas. Infact if some of these morons took the bias away they would see that Bailey actually receives many more cheap shots (in order to wind him up) than comes close to what fans say he does. On Friday he copped two head high tackles from Fozzard in the first 10 minutes which never got a penatly.

In my opinion Bailey is not protected enough from refs, but is very quickly penalised if anything is 50/50.

But of coure like you said, it adds to the excitement at the ridiculous rage it puts oppossition fans in.

I couldn't agree more.

How did you keep a straight face????

That yours as in opta is it?.

Opta where the team's missed tackles = 3 while the individual players = 66?

Opta where a Paul McShane offload (to Lee Smith) is a try assist but an identical Paul McShane offload (to Ryan Hall) isn't?

At least they now realise McShane in number 26 and not 25 so that's a step in the right direction.

Opta where a Danny Buderus pass (to Ian Kirke) almost from acting half is a try assist but a Matt Diskin pass from acting half (to Carl Ablett) isn't? (OK there was a small difference with that one. I was just trying to figure out the 5 of 11 Leeds' tries that were individual efforts.)

I guess if it's all standardised and applied consistently to every game it'll make the results credible but I don't take them at face value.

No I can't answer for Opta either.

The thing with Bailey is there are a lot of opposition fans (and one or two Leeds fans) that still judge him against his impetuous youth. I think we all remember when he was breaking into the first team and could be ‘over zealous’ at times but Ryan has matured both physically and mentally over the last couple of years and has settled in fantastically as a reliable, hard working squad player.

Ok so he aint gunna be a Golden Boot but there’s not many props that I trade him for – lb for £ worth every penny.

No offence intended. I am man enough to listen to reasoned debate and accept it when I am wrong. My 'evidence' is non existent...it is purely based on perception. Why do I have that image of him ?? Is he totally innocent of such a charge ? I can believe he might have matured...and on last Friday's performance he more than justified his selection. I just hope this is the new Bailey and he is here to stay. Contrary to what you might think in your undoubted erudition...I am not a "". Respect !

To be fair Ryan does not help himself. Paul Sculthorpe told me how Bailey is always mouthing off in a game. Asking players to run at him etc.... but the guys a fairy