When he actually managed to catch it...

I've never seen a 'full back' with such poor hands.

i agree with sal, hardaker for me could be a real top class full back. BJB should stay on the wing.
boy did we miss burrow and mcguire, mcshane is not up to the task and it was a relief when hood came on. mcshanes distribution is so slow the shudds line was on the tackler when the ball got there.
kylie added a lot of go forward in his second spell but there was no creativity, ward apart, who was outstanding. for friday, hardaker to full back, wing, ablett centre and have mcguire at 7, sinfield 6,burrow 9 and ward 13

One positive from last night, Stevie Ward looked very comfortable and showed a little class. That apart we were badly beaten in the forwards and therefore always scrambling with no shape at all. The games are won and lost there and the backs have no room or breaks to feed off. The whole pack for me looked lethargic hence no convincing dummy runners and definatly no one running angles. Without JJB we don't have any energy in the second row, Delaney works hard but is never going to be a line breaker and Clarkson (who I thought would move up a gear this year) is definatly behind the game. Ablett works really hard and is a favourite of mine but is not making any breaks. I thought JP showed his age and Kylie seems to be carrying an injury.

I agree about Clarkson Digger47. I was expecting him to have improved this season............ and what Kirk brings to the game I have yet to discover but the powers that be must rate him.

Just watched the Saints v Wire game from last night.

Those who think we'd be ok without a class hooker might want to watch Roby's performance.

Hood is a great prospect but nowhere near the finished article and, although it really pains me to say it, McShane isn’t performing like we’d hoped.

If Bradford were to have a Fire Sale I’d welcome Diskin back with open arms.

One thing that I've noticed last night and at Saints is that the distribution from the base of the scrum by Ablett is very slow. Burrow has been packing down at loose forward (when starting as hooker) and the ball is away a lot quicker.

Thought ward looked good very promising, as for your backs they didnt play because we didnt let them play, our defence was pretty good for most of it and we closed your attacking options down pretty quickly.
In all it was a scrappy game in parts with our clinical finishing and goal line defence winning it for us,in years gone by we would have crumbled under that pressure and got steamrollered,but that was then this is now and i never felt like leeds would get back into the game.
As for getting above ourselves, one or two might be but most of us know that nothing is won in march but just enjoying a 2nd succesive victory at headingley.

Would agree with that if Webb's still out, even if it looks a bit clueless to have 3 different fullbacks in 3 successive matches. Hauraki in for Clarkson too.

The result was probably what I expected when I saw we had 3 playmakers missing.

They did brilliant at shutting Sinfield down on the last as we had no other kick option. I thought McShane could have either kicked out of dummy half or got out to second receiver to give us a left-footed option like we have with Burrow and Webb. However it did suprise me why we kept attacking to the right hand side on the 4th to leave Sinfield with a difficult angle to get the kick away on the 5th.

Stood out for me how when we have our creative players missing, we desperately lack a Ali-type backrower who can create things.

I don't think we played as bad as some are making out, not sure whether the shorter turn-around took it's toll, the players looked really tired. It was highlighted when Ward(I think) made a break and Hardaker (probably our best support player in that team) just couldn't get up to support him.

I'm sure no ones pressing the panic button. Any side would struggle without three starting playmakers a prop and the form second row. The experience that ward and hood are gaining will be money in the bank for years to come, we will be contenders at the end of the season without question. I did think Webb could be replaced from within and maybe bjb will be the answer but if Webb does leave full back will be an area that needs attention

How does the start of this season without him compare to the start of last season with him?

FWIW, we went from a team that plays with 4 pivots to 1 pivot. That is why we looked so laboured in attack. Sinfield was on his own. There was plenty of effort and attitude so that is a positive.

Bailey and Peacock looked old and tired and the pack is missing JJB and Bailey.

Not too disheartened and we'll be OK when everyone's back and I won't rush to condem players on the last 2 games unlike some. That said, I do recognise Haradker's struggles.

Oh, and Ward looks as advertised. Cracking prospect who should rightly be in the 17 next week.

Giants are full of pace and their pack full of backrowers is very dynamic and pacy. Having seen Smith try it 7 years ago I wonder if thier lack of genuine front rowers will take it's toll by seasons end.

BTW, Eden looks a fantastic prospect.

Agree with all of that meast.
Thought your defence was excellent and thought you shut down our attack pretty effectively throughout most of the game.
Your pack is tough and uncompromising and your backs have plenty of pace.
The key is to keep that going until October as you have already said.
For me Sinfield back to LF and Ward to SO alongside McGuire. Burrow to hooker, Webb FB and swap Hall and Hardaker.

Fully agree. Ablett is a very good 2nd row forward that can play in various positions and not let you down but then is nothing more than a 2nd row playing out of position. His distribution from the base of the scrum is poor with slow lobbed passes which often cause the first receiver to have to pause to catch the ball. When our Burrow, McGuire and Webb are back I would like to see Ward starting at 13.

Difficult to compare - given the differences in the line ups of the two sides. The team is hardly likely to be worse with Buderus in it - he has shown this year in the NRL he is still capable of mixing in the toughest league in the game.

The worry for me was the defence which looked very leaky - if the Giants had played anything like they would have put 40+ points on us.

Lacking three experienced playmakers in Webb, McGuire and Burrow it was always going to be a struggle and made you think of the future without any of them. I've always suported BJB as the next fullback but defensively he was weak and it has made me think whether he would be better staying on the wing. Powell said that Hardakers best position would be fullback so like others are saying maybe that's a possibiity when Webb leaves (if he does) at the end of the season. That could mean bringing in an experienced centre to tighten the defence as I don't think Ablett is the answer at centre.