Completely agree.

Also, an interesting comment from Barrie bout the GF when 3 or 4 Warrington players were after Bailey while Warrington were attacking - they had opened Leeds up and player with the ball looked for someone to pass to, but there was nobody there - they were all squaring up to Bailey at the other end of the pitch. He effectively took out 3 or 4 attackers - classic.

Is Bailey "a tough guy enforcer"? I don't think he is. He gets under the skin of some opponents and supporters but this isn't from out and out violent play if it was his disciplinery record would be far worse, despite what fans think the officials aren't blind. If he was more overtly violent and tough then perhaps he'd actually get more respect from fans?

Does he play hard but usually fair? His record suggests so, there may be plenty of sly digs and verbals in that career but nothing major. I think the problem here is his general manner that people object to. There have been far dirtier black players that have got less stick than Ryan Bailey - Sonny Nickle for one. I think Bailey's main asset is his ability to put opponents off their game simply by being himself.

Is it racism? Unconcious or overt? It may be in some cases but I don't think you can tar all people that dislike Bailey with that brush.

Personally I think the attention he gets is way OTT.

To have him sat in the stand more? No thanks.

You think too much.

"It must be cold there, in our shadow..."

Hugs to Radders!

My genuine take on this is that all of the players you name are very much toe to toe "tough guy enforcers" as you put it, and I think it's the the toe to toe aspect that gets the respect; it always has in RL.

The general impression amongst supporters is that Bailey's tough guy antics are often reserved for the smallest players on the pitch or are of a less mano-a-mano nature.

I certainly don't buy the "coward" nonsense, he's clearly not that - no RL props are.

Wilkin had a go at Bailey with his after game celebrations in the 2011.I think he had a moan in the previous 3 too

Dragons fan in peace.

I think the incident was taken a little out of context because of his first half swing. Bailey has a reputation now like it or not.

What is certain though is that it had no bearing on the outcome of the match so well played.

I didn't think the shoulder charge was all that bad, it was a fraction late but I've seen worse. The fact that it was a shoulder charge probably attracted most of the ban.

I didn't much care for the swing to the head in the first half though.

In general, I still struggle to understand people's obsession with the guy's discipline. By reputation, he's a penalty machine adn a liability. Numbers of penalties, cards and games banned usually suggest otherwise.

I'm very happy he irritates people the way he does though. I think he's vastly underrated as a player. Sometimes being underrated is no bad thing.

That's fair enought but I think it's a mis-judgment. I've said him Mano e mano with plenty of big boys. I saw him put Julian O'Neill (6 foot 7) at Widnes on his bottom in a dust up. I saw him put Luke O'Donnell on his bottom in a dust up. He came off worse with Sculthorpe but the point is, he doesn't shy away, if necessary. On the other hand he shows better self control and discipline when things break down like that than ANY other forward in the entire league. Bar none. Look at last Thursday when Scruton knocked himself out trying to level Bailey. When the ref (needlessly) spoke to Bailey afterwards he was in complete control. Look back at the famous Fasavalou incident and compare the demeanour of Bailey and Graham.

Bailey will never be liked or respected by opposition fans. Fair enough. I don't care, he doesn't care and I doubt his Leeds team mates care. I'm certain Bailey isn't liked by his opponents. Again, fair enough. Our own coach commented last year that he misunderstood Bailey until he worked with him. It's a shame that modern day rugby league players are such wall flowers. I can't recall John Holmes crying about the attention he was paid by Chris Arkwright in quite the same way as Wilkin did

I don't really think it's a colour issue more than that it's a perception that "he gets away with it". I think that's mixed up in a mixture of general anti-Leeds feeling and a lack of appreciation of his genuine ability that you get with s. A player who's main attribute is to rub people up the wrong way and put them off their game is never going to be universally loved particularly when he's in a winning team.

Sonny Nickle was far dirtier than Bailey yet got none of this nonsense, but he won fewer trophies and didn't look as pleased with himself. Same applied to Fleary and Farrell at Leeds.

So you're saying they would take your head of and then say "yessir massa, very sorry massa" which made us all like them?

I am a fan of Ryan Baily, all teams need an enforcer and he is ours. But my main point without being flippant is he adds a bit of spice to the game. Most other teams fans dislike him but they spend enough time waffling on about him,the modern game by and large is quite bland . So the more players like Ryan the better,that's why I miss big Barry Mack never a dull moment when he played. Also Morley when he was younger,even master Tompkins over at Wigan , with some of his antics he gets people's dander up. So when he gets the ball at HQ most if not all the south stand want to see him propelled over the south stand. It all adds a bit of spice and needle to the game.
Hence I enjoyed the Catalan match, with bailey getting his marching orders and the French crowd going nuts it made the victory even more sweet.