There were about 3,000 at the cricket

Bailey is still young. His go forward is similar to McGuire's at least. He has not yet reached his peak as a prop.. .. Cough!

Yes.



No. Not "always" he doesn't.

Bish will not mind being compared to one of the all time great fullbacks when fit. I think it a bit churlish to suggest BJB's 3 misses against Salford were any worse than the 33 that our other players missed which included 4 by your "entrusted" Hardaker.

What exactly are you trying to argue here?

Hardaker is the best defensive back we have, bar none. That is the simple truth. So if you are trying to suggest otherwise you are being silly.

The discussion was about Bish missing 3 Tackles. Hardaker has been in outstanding form this season and his game is based on strong physicality which includes tackling. However he has some improvement to do on his defensive positional sense.

I don't want to upset your boozing chum but I think there is a good case to say that both Watkins and Moon are better defenders than Hardaker. By the way has Hardaker got over his missed holiday in some sunny bar or is he still a bit peeved?

People attacking a player based on number of carries need to understand the game is far more about more than just carrying the ball, its about doing the job you've been asked to do, rather than the number on your back. 4 carries is low, but 30 tackles more than makes up for it.

If a forward does a 20 minute spell and during that spell their team only has 30-40% of possession, then their opportunity to make carries is going to be reduced but they'll probably have to make more tackles.

There's more to it than "X is lazy".

Actually, to be fair, that is a very valid point with regards Bailey on Monday. Didn't he come on at 16 minutes? I think from about 25 minutes to half time, it was all Salford with the ball.

Watkins has always been a poor reader of play and makes numerous wrong decisions on defence especially when defending 2/3 men in. McDermott I believe recognised this issue and sought to help him improve by moving him in to fourth man.

If Watkins were to ever fancy a go in the NRL he would IMO need to show a quantum improvement in his defensive reads to not be mercilessly exposed on a weekly basis.

IIRC he defended either one or two in against Australia in Cardiff, opposite Greg Inglis. Had GI in his pocket for pretty much the full 80 minutes.

Hardaker over Bjb at FB for me every time I've seen Hardaker make plenty of one on one Try saving tackles since he moved there some of which when the odds were in favour of the attacker.
I rate Bjb but for me he is still very much 2nd choice FB and 3rd choice W or Centre.

That would probably have been one in off the wing as I seem to recall it was refreshing to see an English coach not feeling the need to hide his half-backs - something you don't really need to do with quality players.

Inglis must have got out of Watkin's pocket long enough to set up Australia's opening score for Thurston and they came back that way again for their second for Bird (although that was Sinfield's miss IIRC) and again for their last score as Inglis' run had drawn Watkins in as the ball went out the back.

Those were well executed plays and not as a result of the all too typically seen Watkins obviously coming in as the defence is drifting out or charge out of the line leaving huge space in behind which has been a familiar trademark of his at Leeds.

As I said McDermott moving him further infield I think has given him less decisions to make and I stand by my comment re-Watkins that if he went over to the NRL he would be targetted mercilessly.

I agree with Andy entirely. Watkins held Inglis in check (the try was nothing to do with Watkis defensive skills, more Tomkins lack of height).

I thought Watkins edged the battle with Inglis that day. Even if he didn't and he only came close that is enough to question the validity of your opinion on Watkins defensive capabilities. based upon his one direct showing with arguably the best in the world I'd imagine Watkins would welcome and pass any merciless test that may come his way.

It's a not unreasonable claim that limiting GI to just 3 critical assists resulting in 3 Australian tries is tantamount to keeping him in check.

The claim that Watkins had GI in his pocket is a laughable one however.

Who was it who kept Jamie Lyon completely in check in the 2012 WCC? Can't remember if it was Watkins or another of Juan's "defensively suspect" backs Zak Hardaker.