I almost agree entirely. But Brierley's age is a problem because he is a project signing which limits his upside. And if when McGuire and Burrow go we don't want to take a punt on Lilley or Golding we can go get a proven talent

If we are going to take a punt, the upside of the players we have is far greater than a 25 year old championship player.

we can all edit for accuracy.

I'm eating a bag of crisps.

I'd agree with that. My only reservation would be as to who would be available that would properly full that role of mentor and an experienced player. We'd be looking for an NRL player really and top Aussies are very expensive.
But if there's one available I'd be happy with say a 30 year old half back for around 3 years to help the likes of Sutcliffe and Lilley.

Why I'd be interested in Brierley is of that option isn't available and if we lose McGuire & Burrow. Then we'd have 2 very young and inexperienced halves in Sutcliffe and Lilley with a huge amount of pressure on them.

If we assume both Burrow and McGuire will retire at the end of the 2017 season then Sutcliffe will be 23 with hopefully two years of being our first choice stand off under his belt and Lilley and Golding will be 21 with decent SL experience. Ideally we would like an experienced playmaker who can also play elsewhere if need be on a two year contract.

My personal choice would be to make a bid for Cooper Cronk. He will be 34 at the start of the 2018 season and will probably struggle to get a major gig in the NRL. He reminds me a lot of Sinfield and hopefully 15-20 games a year and the opportunity to make his mark on some young and exciting half backs will appeal to him.

I think McGuire and Burrow will be around for at least another two years, especially if Sutcliffe and Lilley are seen as long term replacements. With the loss of Sinfield we need Mags and Rob to really stand up and be counted in the leadership role. We still don't know how Sutcliffe will go after is injury or how long it will take for him to regain full fitness/confidence etc .

I have no idea about any deal done with Brierly but should he come in for 2017 to partner Sutcliffe/Lilley or to replace the older McGuire/Burrow it wouldn't be the end of the world.

if Burrow sticks around into 2017 what's his role going to be?

Assuming Falloon goes ok and decides to extend his stay, does Burrow off the bench and the extra pressure that puts on one of the centres to do more defensive work represent good value? Or do Leeds look to go without a specialist dummy half on the bench in 2017 and look for younger cover at hooker such as Lilley or Whiteley?

Would having him around end up being a roadblock to Jordan Lilley's progression, either as a half or as a bench hooker?

That'd be a good move. Weren't we in for Cronk recently? Someone to help "steady the ship" with the young halves would be very valuable. Much like Furner and Dunemann did for McGuire, Burrow & Sinfield.

I think it sort of depends which of McGuire or Burrow retires first. If McGuire goes first it'd be helpful to have Burrow still around. Though if both are still here it probably does block some gametime for Lilley, who I thought looked pretty good at hooker, though like Burrow we'd still suffer in defence with Lilley at hooker.

Having said that, and still in a good mood following the treble, I'm pretty much of the view that if players like McGuire/Burrow/JJB etc want to hang on for another year or 2 then I reckon they've earned that and it can be a good way of showing young players that if you commit to Leeds, Leeds will commit to you.

That awkward moment when Smokey tries to be funny but instead manages to reveal that he spends his time thinking about the size of another man penis.

As for the argument about the pathway for HB's. How many top sides have introduced a HB into their first team from their academy and he's stayed there and been successful?

At Wigan, George Wiliams has only just come through and whilst he had a great year, still to see if he can do it year upon year. Before that? Tomkins moved to FB, Tommy Leuluai, Blake Green , Matty Smith......the latter who couldn't get a gig at Saints and had to go to a bottom table team in Salford.

Saints? Mentioned Matty Smith, Lomax to FB, Gaskell and Wheeler didn't last and they've gone for two experienced Aussies.

Warrington, they've gotten rid of Gareth O'Brien and are going with two Aussies. Before that they had Myler who had to come good at Salford.

Leon Pryce had to do several years in the three quarters before he played HB. Brough moved around including a lower division. Kevin Brown spent a lot of time at centre first. Burrow started there but has ended up a substitute dummy half.

Only Danny McGuire recently has come through at a top team when young, been a success there and stayed there his whole career.

Many have had to cut their teeth in other positions first or other clubs lower down first. Yes Leigh are Championship compared to the likes of Salford who some of those players above played for early doors but Leigh have more financial strength than most Championship clubs have now or previously. In the past Brierly would've already been snapped up into SL because a club in the Championship wouldn't have been able to offer enough money to keep him or say no to offers like Leigh have done.

All the Brierly one shows is the changing style of pathways for players nowadays. 10 years ago signing a prop from the Championship for a top club would've been scoffed at but now people are looking for the next Chris Hill or Alex Walmsley. It's daft when people point towards the likes of Sinfield and Chev Walker making debuts at 16 when it was around 15-20 years ago and the game has majorly evolved since then.

You seem weirdly preoccupied with telling other people what is and isn't funny. And very threatened by penii.