WHy we already know a team can do it, and have done it so why do we need another?

Except leeds dont only do it as a last resort of for 20 minutes impact. Leeds have done it regularly for 15 years. Very successfully. this is the re-writing of history i pointed out earlier.

Buderus was fairly large too, relatively.

I dont understand the obsession with pretending that what you get from Cunningham defensively is the same as what you get from Roby? Its crazy. There are hugely different types of hookers, Just the same as there are for any position in the game. It makes no sense that people are so desperate to define the hooking role in such narrow terms when players as disparate as Terry Newton, Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow, Adam Cuthbertson and Danny Buderus have all played there for the same team. 4 of them internationally.

But all those guys, with the exception of Cuthbertson, who is not a hooker, and Burrow could do the defensive work in the middle and bring energy and lateral movement, some also brought aggression.

As for your rewriting history and Leeds have done it before etc, when we used to have Burrow on the pitch for 80, he would play 7 and defend out wide. Diskin played hooker and defended the middle third, Sinfield played 13 and did b a 13s share of the tackling.

Then later when he spent time at 9, we still kept the real hooker, Diskin, Buderus on to defend in the middle third.

At no point during our successful period was Burrow considered a starting calibre hooker in any way shape or form. I don't see why that should change now.

except for last year when we won the treble. And 2014 when we won the challenge cup.

and as interchange hooker in 2011 when we won the grand final,

and in 2012 when we won the grand final.

We have not been starting a hooker who can't defend in the middle for 15 years. Burrow only started at hooker during the 2012 season and we still went out and brought Lunt in.

I'm not saying that he can't interchange off the bench. Im not even saying that for the odd game it's impossible to cover for him. What I am saying is if we are having to use Burrow every week at hooker we are going g to struggle, to the point where we need to make sure we avoid that situation.

Question, do you honestly think we'd have been in a position to win the treble if Burrow had played 80 at hooker every week?

I will repeat, at no point during our period of success has Burrow been first choice hooker/9/dummy half. That shouldn't and thankfully isn't (with Chicko extending his contract) going to change.

I would. I think he went well in his 'guest spell' the other year in SL with Catalans

Burrow did start at hooker over 20 times in 2013.....but we fell at the semi final stage in the playoffs and we looked shattered and busted.

We did win the 2014 Challenge Cup but I think if we had a proper genuine hooker in 2013 and 2014 STARTING GAMES (Aiton was the one of the bench in that year) we would've won more.

As for the question would we have won the treble in 2015 with Burrow as starting hooker most weeks.....definitely not IMO.

The club haven't covered themselves in glory with regards to solving the hooking situation since Buderus left and it's become a bit farcical at times but credit to them for not just getting Segeyaro over here but you can clearly see the hard work they've put in to welcoming him here and make him enjoy not just playing but living in Leeds and England.

I agree, the right skills set, plenty of experience but still potentially a long term fix.

Thanks Printer. Didnt Aston miss a big chunk of the 2014 season. And which year did we go out and get Lunt?

Burrow is a great player, who still has a lot to offer a team. Just not really as a specialist hooker and certainly not one expected to play 80 minutes every week. Not just because of what he can't do, but because of what what he can't do does to the rest of the team.

We also had Sinfield who was used to defending in the middle as a 13 so he could comfortably make up Burrows tackling

I think we'll be fine getting into the top 8 next year. With Segeyaro in and I think quite a lot of lessons learnt from this year we'll surely be a few wins better off after 23 Rounds in 12 months time.

Top 4 hard to say at the moment. Their hasn't been much transfer activity really. Wonder what coaches will keep their jobs (I think McDermott will). After losing last week to Widnes, just one look on the Wigan board shows a massive disapproval of Wane and if he doesn't win at Old Trafford they might be lining up under a different coach. Frayssinous might've taken Catalans as far as he could after he blew what looked like a certain playoff spot. IF HKR survive the Middle 8's then their appointment of Tim Sheens today is a pretty good move for that club. Hudds still have a squad capable of pushing for a top 4 if they can survive and bounce back from this season, but I'll have see more of them under Rick Stone before knowing what he can do for them there.

Aiton missed about three months of the 2014 season with a mystery "illness", Burrow was out for most of the same period with a collarbone injury and Robbie Ward had several games for us.

Lunt was in 2012.

You must be trolling.

but he is and has been for over a decade.

This isnt like Printer's circular argument that we can't be successful with Burrow at hooker that when we were successful with him at hooker we must have been less successful that we otherwise have been, you are outright denying something that actually happened.

Business end of last year, Rob Burrow as our main hooker, we won the treble,
2014, we won the challenge cup, Rob Burrow was the first choice hooker, starting in the CC final.
2013 Rob Burrow went to the world cup as an interchange hooker
2012 we won the grand final, Rob Burrow first choice hooker, England international interchange hooker