he wasnt worth keeping

Smith is certainly leading the way with the amount of tackles and carries.
And all this clamouring for Mikey Lewis yet he`s the worse in the league for missed tackles.
Rhyse Martin doesn`t go unnoticed either.

Yeh I'm not sure on Lewis tbh.
Decent prospect, but nothing more yet for me.
Abdul is different league.

Smith and O'Connor will always top our tackle count.
Always the first ones into the tackle down the middle.

An it confirms that Austin is a penalty machine.
Often gives stupid ones in key positions as well.

Stats are a useful indicative tool however they may not paint a true picture. Maybe Austin receives more penalties because in recent weeks he seems to be in the thick of the action. Credit to him he always seems committed. Abdul is a superbly talented kicker, his running game seems limited.
Watched the first half of wire and hull, Williams produced a master class of rugby, everything was on view, strong running plus tactical kicking. He absolutely controlled the game. As for tackling the union boys have come up with the phrase dominant tackle, which I think is a useful stat.

Wonder what the reason is for the down turn in performance with some players Bentley usually dose a ton of tackling.

For mine some of these stats only tell part of the story.
I reckon Austin has given away at least 4 of his 8 penalties not kicking it 10 yards from kick offs or drop outs.

Smith and O’Connor do a lot of work but it’s largely passive defence. Bentley is doing a different job at times. He’s trying to get off the line fast and nail people to change the momentum. It did not really work on Friday in the wet but he gets a missed tackle against him when the ball carrier my have to change direction etc and I can’t recall them making a decent break because he missed one.

As for Smith and 24 carries, I reckon at least 6 of them would be a negative for me, where he takes a pace or 2 and does not pass wide fast enough, then comes inside aimlessly and gets tackled, still classed as a carry. I don’t want a ball playing loose forward getting tackled 24 times a game.

Austin has given a few away for high tackles, a few times he has shot out the line aggressively and got the tackle wrong, fair play to him as a half back trying to make a difference in defence.

Think that's a bit unfair on O'Connor, he is often the on leading the line in defence.

Spot on re Austin. I'd also add he throws in the odd very good tackle where he spots play opening up and nips it in the bud.

The golden era was based on the progression of academy players through into the first team squad not filling the squad with average Championship players. Most of those academy players played in the first team by the time they were 20. Broadbent is a utility back who could play wing and centre and as such is better player than either Hooley or Ruan. Walker is on a different planet to Hooley - why he can't stay fit needs to better understood. McDonald is an average centre who has significant defensive issues. Both Ruan and Roberts starting at Bradford says it all - what was the score at Keighley? Even the coach said picking Ruan&Tindall was a mistake. The best signing for me is McDonnell who came from Wigan - no suprise there a SL youngster progressing

Walker is not a great player even when fit. He's not quick and can't pass. He runs some good lines every now and then. He's also, sadly, an utter crock which is a disaster in a salary cap world. Broadbent took his bat home when Smith arrived after not playing well and getting dropped in Smith's first game in charge. I'd rather he stayed but he clearly cracked the whatsits and left. He's not exactly the greatest centre ever and he's 22, not 19.

Your argument about Championship players doesn't make any sense because in terms of experience McDonnell was a championship player, and had played just 6 SL games in 3 years for Wigan. Sangare also played most of his rugby there.

The whole point of these signings - just to reiterate AGAIN - is that we have sweet FA quality players in their early 20s that the club has produced. Last season we were one injury away from picking 17 year-olds in the backs. Not because they were ready but because we had nobody else. Smith wants his backup players to be full grown men, not kids. He made that point very early in his stay last year.

The club is now focused again on bringing through kids. Fantastic. About time. But look at the quality of former Leeds juniors playing elsewhere who are under 25. Talk about mainly championship players...

The games changed from when the goldens came through. Throwing kids out to play every week at 18 is (rightly in my opinion) seen as the wrong way to go. And even back then the likes of McGuire and Burrow didn’t play every game. In reality there was always plenty of ‘squad’ players. Whether you’re talking Dunneman or Millard, or later on with the likes of Kirke, Worrall, Ambler. Our best squads have always had depth, some of which is from the academy but some were from other clubs or the championship.

For me this squad is the closest we’ve come in a while to getting the balance right. Some of the overseas quota just needs addressing now.

Quite correct, as I mentioned previously the stats are a useful tool but don’t paint the whole picture. For me one of the benefits is how much yardage the forwards are making. If you have a dominant pack you usually win your match. The stats will give you a rough idea as per the pack’s performances or lack of.

I disagree with just about all of that, and not surprisingly, just about everything else you post. No matter. It's all about opinions, as they say.