I'd rather see Clarkson in a Leeds shirt over Eastwood.

I'd sooner see them both play to be honest. Clarkson more than deserves a place on merit for sure. Eastwood on his day is one of the best all round 2nd rowers in the business so it would be churlish to ignore him simply because he has asked for a release in his contract. At the end of day he could have well & truly spat his dummy out & walked away from the club with immediate effect but has instead put his body on the line and helped us reach the final.

We could potentially have a bench of

Ali
Eastwood
Diskin
Kylie

Very large and experienced bench, that on paper looks very strong. However with Kylie not looking to shift his weight and Ali could get injured it could also work out to be very risky. Although I still like the idea of Ablett and JJB putting a hard 20 mins in with Ali and Eastwood coming on and making a huge impact for 10/15 mins.

What if we're required to defend during that 15 minute spell?

I doubt we'd have to be defending for 15 minutes solid. They'd still make an impact either way imo.

Oh Andy, you're such a tease, but I like you.

Hoping that one turns out to be true. Would have the previous GE over the present GE any day of the week.

There's more chance of Steve Ganson getting an invite to the next royal wedding.

Or getting made an honoury patron of Help The Aged!

Chris Feather?!



God no. Isnt 1 Ian Kirke enough?

Aye, Graham Eccles could teach the incumbent GE a thing ot two...

Definitely



He isn't the only ex-Leeds player in the NRL at the moment though. I notice Clinton Toopi seems to have effectively replaced Delaney for the Titans at centre. Not sure if he'd be worth a go at Leeds again in the back-row, but I have good memories of him putting in some massive hits for us in that play-off game against Saints in 2007 (amongst others) towards the end of his Leeds career.

Toopi hit very very hard in the tackle, and looked superb in the back row in his 4 or 5 games he played there for us. Wouldn't be a bad replacement for Eastwood, not that it's ever going to happen.

I'd welcome Toopi back with open arms.

He may not have serviced his winger with the style we may have exepected, but he still put his winger away more times than you may remember.

Tough as old boots. Didn't shy away from anything and would get his fists out when required.

His shift into SR worked well and was huge in the tackle area. He is taking his chances well at the Titans. I presume he will look to secure career in the NRL at present.

That would be a fantastic signing, but sadly i can't imagine Gaz coming home until he's into his early 30's......But you can but hope

Not sure what else has been posted here but surely we should be looking for a good quality centre ......???
For a long time we seem to have resorted to having back row forwards (Toopi, Ellis, Ablett and now Delaney - who is also surely better placed there too, IF we had better cover in the threequarters) ....or a winger/full back (Smith) covering the centre position. All have done a stirling job....but none were/are specialists.

Hopefully Watkins can fulfill the role next season....but then we are back to square one when Senior packs it in.

A centre for me please.

Completely agree - Toops was a vastly underrated player and 'read' the game well too.

Would have in back in the blink of an eye.

No. We have Senior/Smith & Frogga for first choice next term. Watkins & BJB (If he doesn't go) can cover, along with the likes of Ablett etc.

That'll do for me.

This is the same Toopi who the club released? I don't recall anyone complaining at the time.

Nothing to do with him being crocked for the rest of the season?

Wasn't the final straw in the CC semi against Saints? Seems to remember him get crocked in that game which not only ruled him out for the season but also the season after. I liked Toopi aswell. Gentleman off the pitch but a real Warrior on it. Gave his all everytime.

Something like that. I did like him. Defensive centre. Did his job no nonsense or thrills. Was sad to see him go, but money was spent better elsewhere (despite the payout he'll have received)

The same one who was slated and indeed booed my many of the regulars on here.

At the time, he was injured and went home. Seemed logical with the lengthy injury.

His loss was appreciated by the more knowledgeable supporter.

Clinton was mentioned by King Kev in his post GF speech, so was appreciated by his team mates.

Obviously you had the 'tard lot as well. Who bemoaned him. In the stands, the stick he got was ridiculous. He had a low point of form, but he recovered and more than put in a shift.

His crunch that he offered was really brought to light the following year when we also lost Ellis.

With Bluey's love of Kiwis, it's a shame they didn't have get to form a longer Leeds colours working relationship.

But that's my point.

Senior is in his twilight years and next year even more so (I hasten to add he is still as good as any other in SL, but the consensus is he might move into the back row). Smith (Full back/winger), Delaney (better suited to second row); BJB (Full back) and Ablett are all [inon[/i specialist centres !!!
That leaves Watkins who has the 'potential' to be a top class centre. Nothing more.

Still think we shouldn't prioritise a centre ?

As a right centre he wasn't the best to be fair. Not that I ever booed him mind. He was a good tackler but his positional sense was pretty darn awful at times. He tried the daft offload outwide when it wasn't on alot of the time. Once he moved into the middle, his footwork against the bigger men afforded him alot more freedom to offload, and he was certainly strong enough to mix it in there. Plus in the middle he was actually supported. For me outwide he was all flamboyance and no product. In the middle he was a good mixture of both.
(p.s. He probably would have gone alot better in his natural centre position on the left).