Sykes is a solid player. I thought he was worth his England call up.

As for the Roy Powell thing and aggression. I have to agree with Puig a little there. However, it wasn't his tackling that was noticable for me (he tackled people, and he did it really well and was seldom knocked backwards - I think in these days of "winning the collision" and wrestling he would have been absolutely sensational), it was his running with the ball. He seldom broke tackles or hurt people as a runner. But in a balanced second row with Paul Medley providing the impact running and big hits he was possibly perfect.

Replacing him with the likes of Richie Eyres and George Mann was bull$!tt.

My mates dad had season tickets in the centre section of the North Stand for ever in the 1960s/70s/80s and in that way that all the old fogeys who inhabit the North Stand think they know everything there ever is to know about RL they could summarise a player within ten seconds of him first pulling on a Loiners shirt.

Roy Powell was always "Dead Ball Powell" because apparently whenever he took the ball he'd run it into a tackle and keep hold of it, the old men in the North Stand had spoken and it was so, "Dead Ball Powell" he was right through his Leeds career.

Old North Stand members know best.

This Ian Kirke fella. Is that the same Ian Kirke that's got 3 grand final rings?

Yup, the same bloke who Peacock gives props to in his autobiography.

Mind you i await the old "so what, blah blah won a challenge cup and he was pony too" argument that is bound to follow.......................

And apart from one notable performance in a JPT/RT Final at Central Park V St Helens in the mud and rain their first impression turned out to be fairly accurate in that regard. As DHM said though there is nothing wrong with a second row pairing where one is a tackling machine and the other is an explosive runner. Graham Eccles and Phil Cookson immediately spring to mind here.

Graham Eccles, just mentioning his name hurts ..... crunch.

Warrington to beat Bulls by 41+ on paddy power anyone? 8/1

You know I was thinking of that game as I was wrtiting. He ran exceptionaly well in that match, broke tackles and offloaded, a rarity. He had that little shuffle thing he did with his feet as he was taking the ball up. I suspect in these days of obsession with landing on knees and elbows to get a quick PTB he would have been well suited.

Roy Powell's standout performance in a Leeds shirt, where he did everything he always did but also a few things you weren't expecting.

A clear Man Of The Match performance which probably explains why they gave it to Paul Loughlin although in fairness he accounted for most of the St Helens points that day (all bar the Neil Holding drop goal) and judges notice that sort of flashy behaviour more.

Poor old Leeds, Garry Schofield, the thickness of a post, so near and yet so far.

I'll roll out your usual pathetic argument on this point.

Kirke has 3 GF winners rings...............................bwahbwahbwahbwah..............

Maybe only fits when you want to use it perhaps?

I think people are under-estimating Roy's ability with ball. He was sensational going forward in the 1987-88 season. Somewhere in the loft I have a motivational video Phil Larder prepared for the 1988 tourists. It's about 90 seconds highlights from that season for each of the tourists with Labbi Siffre's "something inside so strong" as the sound track (the hairs on the back of neck are rising as I type). Some great runs on that video from Roy. If anyone has a scrumdown tape of a match at headingley against Widnes from 88 you can see a dummy and go from Roy that is so good the camera man even takes it.

I admit that after his collapse against Widnes the following season his offensive game suffered somewhat though, strangely, his defence remained spot on.

Whatever, Mal reilly rated him enough and he was right in the thick of a couple of legendary results for English rugby, most noticeably Sydney 1988 and Wembley 1990.

Powell was the reason Northern stopped up in 1991/92. He was Peter Fox's first signing which speaks for itself. He did the work of two Paul Medley's and I found would offload if he was sure of getting the ball away safely to someone in support.

Perhaps his early days at Leeds saw him play cautiously. I expect if he'd tried dodgy offloads he'd have been binned given the way Leeds treated players in the 80s.

As G1 states. Reilly took him on two tours down under and he played a major part in GB's improvement in the period 88-90. Anyone remember that 30m romp under the sticks in the 3rd test versus NZ in 1990?

Not sure how to bring the thread back on topic but I'd say that Powell, like Sykes is unappreciated by the fekkwits.

Sykes is a limited player, he's got defensive issues at centre but has been played at stand off. He's currently working his guts out trying to make a success of it. He's never going to be top class but he's an important part of our current team. He's going to be a relatively cheap player so re-signing him is a no brainer, especially as he's home grown. There may be better players OOC but I doubt we could afford them.

Whilst premature death and being a gent off the field might cloud memories I'm not sure Roy was ever unappreciated (barring old blokes in the Northstand).

I think he was applauded for everything he achieved but there was a feeling that he was physically capable of doing even more.

When there were comments made (I recall one from a Southstand wag after a Powell drive of "Great yard Roy, great yard"icon_wink.gif they were generally affectionate.

As for Sykes, he's no world beater but hes generally solid and is versatile, plus being home grown might very well count for alot in terms of team spirit.

Bradford have let go better players than Sykes in the last couple of years. He is far from cheap, if in comparison to others in the structure, and there is plenty of players in the Championship who would do a better job for you on cheaper wages, and English too.

So really I can't see any argument for why any club with ambitions for success would utilize a player as average as Sykes as one of it's main players. Of course that is assuming that the Bulls have any ambition.

Of course though, a Bradord fan will have seen far more of him to judge than any of us. I can only go on what we see from the media, or matches involving Leeds.