I'd agree with that. If Briers had played for us that day, we'd have lost just as convincingly.

Having said that, I'd like us to have the option of an organising half back for the extra dimension it would add. IMO Sinfield's more valuable at LF - could Clarkson fit the bill?

It's just bloody-minded to suggest our midfield triangle is unimprovable. Teams need to regenerate, and whilst you'd like to do most of that from the inside it also means making signings from other SL clubs (Senior, Peacock, Ellis).

I know we need a prop more than a halfback, and I'm a fan of what Rob Burrow has done for Leeds, but the fact is that a few years ago you could call him the top scrum-half in the league (behind Long), and now you can't. Off the top of my head, I'd take Eastmond, Leuleui, Chase, Monaghan, Myler and Dobson ahead of him. There may be others.

Added to that, Rob's no more likely to complete a full season nowadays than Ali is, and the disruption to the team, moving Sinfield out of position, is much greater after each inevitable bang to the head. Changes to the triangle are at least worth thinking about.

There are times recently where Leeds look rudderless in the middle of the park and where somebody needs to step up and organise those around them.

Burrow demonstrated when winning man of the series against the Kiwis that he could do that job admirably at the highest level, helped by having a coach who clearly believed he could do it and trusted him to take the side around the park.

He's much, much more than a broken field runner and it would be nice to see him reproduce that kind of display more often in a Leeds shirt. Why he doesn't. who knows?

Sometimes I wonder what people watch when they go to Leeds games.

Burrow is the main organiser in the team. Don't just watch who is on the ball. Watch what he is doing away from the ball. Watch him setting plays up, putting runners in place. He does this far more than Mcguire who plays a very different role. It's what he's done for many years in the Leeds team.

There's absolutely no issue with Burrow.

I wouldn't mind if he hadn't just been instrumental in our last victory with a beautiful ball to Donald and a lovely break that set up McGuire's try.

There's a perception problem our fans have with him. It was never better illustrated than after our victory over Harlequins earlier this year when he was on the receiving end of similar questions and criticisms. I had to point out to his critics that he had actually been involved in most of Leeds tries that day. This was disputed until TVOC confirmed he had actually set a Leeds regular rounds record with the most opta credit try assists in that very game.

In which case Gareth, how much of the lack of organisation in the last few games (look at the number of players to be found in a group behind the play the ball, not involved in the game - last week in particular, but also prevalent at Wembley) falls into his lap? If that's his role in the team, then arguably his standards have slipped recently in that department.

I'd say that was as much down to the individuals concerned as it was Burrow.
Whilst i agree at times we've looked disorganised both with and without the ball it does'nt just fall on one pair of shoulders imo it's a whole team thing and 99% of them are experienced enough to take responsibility for their positioning and structural organisation.

Against Quins!?!

Not knocking Burrow at all, he has been a tremendous asset for Leeds, but his & McGuires games are very similar and both rely on forwards dominating & providing good offloads. I wouldn't say either are particularly effective organisers against the best teams, especially in games where the pack struggle to dominate.

This season we've been rumbled by these 'wrestling' tactics (prevent us from offloading or a quick ptb & you've a good chance of beating us) so we need to try something different. Lets face it, our tactical kicking game has been abysmal this season. I dont what games you've been watching if you think we look remotely organised. Headless chickens spring to mind in our last few outings!

We definately need another prop above all, but another half back would do no harm.

You said this in reply to G1

Am I missing something?

Ha ha! No, its a generic you've!

Yes.

It was illustrative of the way our fans perceive Rob's game bearing no reality to his actual game.

He's still one of the best 7's in the Country, IMO and is the best organiser in our team, again IMO.

To answer Andy's point I think the team have no structure whatsoever which makes the half backs look very bad and I think the blame for that comes from much higher than Rob, Danny or Kevin.

i would agree gareth but we never had that much structure under smith either. we have relied in the last 5 or 6 years in having a dominant pack and a quick play the ball.
this year the pack have been hit big time by injuries and this has really affected us.
get a big prop in and bodies back and we will be back to normal

I see it now, sorry. Funny how you can read something several hours later without any confusion at all.

I actually think there is a difference between an organiser, and someone who sets up tries. One will set up the whole play, and get most things going thorugh them, the other will be able to spot the gaps to put people through etc. Some people do both well, others can do one or the other. I have seen burrow do both, but he's more the second than first, McGuire also. Sinfield is closer to being a combination than anyone

Move Burrow to second row too.

Burrow is taking unfair crits here. As G1 has previously stated his contribution to our victory against Hull was 2nd only to McGuire and despite the extra man advantage we would have lost without these 2.

You cannot overstate the difficulty of playing behind a beaten pack which without JP & Biffa is not getting our playmakers on the front foot. If anything Sinfield is a bit below par.

Some of this lack of structure must be down to the coach who has not adapted his game plan to suit his depleted resources.