Ah, Rob Burrow

It's amazing how decent we look with ball in hand when he's no where near the half back roll. McGuire controlled the pace from 7 and picked some lovely passes that created a lot of space for the outside backs. He also has a much superior kicking game and found the floor a lot. His passes were precise and he took the line on when gaps appeared. Something Burrow rarely does. Now, dont give me, "yeah, but Borrow set up a try with a good pass!". First of all, I agree, he looked pretty good out of DH but the pass was only made to look better because of Abbo's great flick.

I still think we will get Chase too. Thats twice now in the last 3 isnt it that McGuire has started 7 when he has been fit when Burrow has also been in the team?

Either way, that looks the best way to go. McGuire at 7 and Burrow off the bench as a hooker or not there at all.

Sober Analysis?
We lost

Nothing new about losing. It tends to happen quite a bit in sport. It's no big deal unless you're whole life revolves around such outcomes.

Anyway, I've a busy day....

No you have not. You never have a busy day. Ever. Fact

Overall very much improved and the competitive performance this squad should be putting in most weeks.
I just think we made too many errors in the 2nd half and i agree with Gotcha re-Alibut absolute p!$$ poor for both teams and way out of his depth at this level and he wasn't helped by the tough judges either.
I still don't Mc is the coach for us even though i expect last nights effort to ease the pressure on him somewhat i think the players were more determined to show their pride was wounded rather than anything inspired by him.
I also hope that it's the last season we see ALI and Kirke in the Blue 'n' Amber thanks for the efforts over the years guys and Ali is one of if not THE best overseas signing i've personally witnessed in a Leeds shirt and an absolute gentleman off the park.
Plenty of positives lets hope they can build on this now and get a win next week.

Couple of observations; when Wigan get a hard game they say they 'didn't play well' ......LEEDS didn't let them play well, most of the Wigan errors were forced errors.

Leeds certainly didn't get many 50/50 calls, Hallibut is not even close to SL standard reffing.

Dellaney could run through a brick wall in the back row, please McD keep him there.

McGuire was a class act at 7.

Although Ali didn't have a bad game, Abbo would have been better in the back row & a quallity may have made the difference. Watkins & a new world class would be good.

Think our boys did us proud last night, it could of easily been very different against one of the 2 top sides in the comp, WELL DONE LADS!!!

yes the old saying "that you can only play well if the other team let you" applies. Thought the lads did us proud and lets hope we kick on from here. A few silly mistakes and not getting the rub of the green cost us but as in the past when you are playing confidently the little things go your way.

That only applies to 5 days of the week.
I spend weekends doing what the wife and kids tell me to do

Smith and Ablett must be the two slowest centres in SL - whenever we had some space neither had the speed to exploit it.

As for Kylie a complete waste of a shirt - one set hen we deep in our own 20 needing props to get us out he never once took the ball up!! Ali the same and Bailey too.

Sinfield was outstanding last night his best game in ages. Buderus put in a huge performance once again as did Delanney who looked much more suited to the forwards.

Hardaker is emerging as some talent he easily outshone BJB and Charnley for whom last should be filed under "Could do better".

Sometimes you need the rub of the green - Leeds didn't get that last night

thought you were outstanding last night and really unlucky not to come away with anything. maguire was top notch and that young right winger
has loads of potential. the match turned on the kick off in the second half when maguire didn't field it and wigan gained a load of momentum but
you fought back and were unlucky not to score at the end. chins up, it's looking like more like the old leeds. get a few games under your belt with
a run of no injuries and you'll be back up there.

The problem is common sense does nor have much value on here!

That extra bit of luck, the rub of the green, the winning try from a forward pass or from being offside... these are all things which the top teams often benefit from because they get themselves in a position to do exactly that. They possess that extra edge to their game.

For Leeds, they used to benefit from such fortune on a regular basis but no longer because they've lost their competitive edge on a consistent basis. The squad is over the hill and they can no longer be considered one of the top contender teams. The only thing left for them is to provide nuisance value against the top teams. They've failed miserably to do this because there's simply not enough left in the tank with this ageing squad. They've been able to raise their performance only twice all season and it's no coincidence that's been against Wigan as they've treated both those games like must win games or Cup Finals. They can no longer maintain that level week in, week out.

I'd like to think the performance against Wigan last night will be the spur for Leeds to kick on from here and to raise their level of performance for the rest of the season. However, the evidence of the season thus far suggests their performances will drop off again as they face the rest of the SL whipping boy rabble. Not that it matters too much as they'll still win most of those rabble fixtures.

Next week is crucial. Leeds must beat Catalan otherwise they may well find themselves trailing them by 6 points and staring down the barrel of a 6th place finish on the SL ladder when they really ought to be finishing 5th.

A lack of quality centres was the problem. I agree that Leeds struggled at times in the second half to get momentum without getting a penalty in the second half. If Burrow wants to remain at Leeds then I believe his role should be as replacement hooker. Do not sign Chase, we need someone more in the mould of Brough.

A top stand off, a second rower in the mould of Eastwood and a world class centre please.

Where was that performance last week and indeed for good parts of this season. Another hard test next week but a little bit more confident now although catalans are playing well especially at home, lets hope they play their best today

Even more blatant than Sinfield jumping at Richards with the knees to take him out off the ball in your in goal area? Even more blatant than McGuire's embarrassing attempt at obstructing Pat earlier which failed and Hoffman got the try? What about the chicken wing on Hoffman that looked like his arm was gonna come off? Let's face it, when Leeds gave the first penalty with their niggling after just 15 seconds of the match it was obvious they hadn't turned up to play rugby league. Those dirty tactics got you close to beating the champions though, I'll admit that.

please dont lay on too long?not just in the tackle