Cas are a poor side without Clark - their half backs/hooker are poor can't see them making the 8.

BM tends to generally be very conservative when it comes to selections. The team selected for KR is about as conservative as could be - especially JJB at prop instead of Yates/Mulhern. In fact if there was one area our ex-prop seems to be stuck in a rut its the whole front row.

Oddly enough though BM also made the weirdest/bravest selection I can remember when he picked Keinhorst for the CC final a few years back.

In terms of blooding players, putting Burrow on the bench means there will rarely be a spot for any back, unless its a big unit like Sutcliffe who can play in the forwards. So other than that its injuries.

Just on Burrow, when was the last time he really changed a big game coming off the bench? Was it the 2012 GF?

In all fairness he is rarely used as the interchange hooker especially in regular season.the play off series of 2011 and 12 were the only times he was regularly used that way and shock horror..we won both.

He wasn't in 2012. He started at Wigan in Playoffs in 2012 at 7 because McGuire got suspended for a high shot in the Catalans game and he started hooker in the GF with Lunt coming on mid way thru the match (and not even for Burrow, so he stayed on the 80)

I tipped us to squeeze into the top 4. Any result between the two perennial underachievers of Hudds and Hull is unlikely to be of much significance but were either of those teams to surprise themselves by actually putting in some performances that count then either could displace us from that four.

I remember running this at the start of the year. Turns out GH was right after all about this being Leeds 'greatest ever squad' as my, at the time tongue in cheek statement from him came true! the 3 people that demanded nothing less will be pleased

As it turns out...

As it turns out it was you in those games and us Winning EVERYTHING.

Feel like a Clown yet?

Aye, imagine what could have been achieved with a decent squad...oh, hang on...

Can see on previous pages (and other threads around this time last year) the criticism I got for pointing out the huge effect the CC had on this team in 2014 and how that is what cost us the LLS and our hopes in the playoffs but it was just "excuses" apparently. Skip forward 12 months and it almost happened again if not for that last 5 secs at Hudds.

Said people were focusing too much on those last 6 defeats which wasn't a true reflection and that the cup wins vs Wire and Cas showed that when we were truely focused we still had it and so this season showed to be true.

Reading back on this thread was really quite amusing. Some of the guff spouted by certain critics against Brian Mac and some of the players was so wrong that you have to question the rugby acumen of these same critics. Our deserved Coach of the Year not only proved them to be totally wrong, yet again, but he did it on all fronts; winning all three trophies, getting the team to play in an exciting offloading style, overseeing the transition and creating history.... his victory over his critics couldn't be more emphatic.

Sal Paradise shows up well again with his assessments and predictions

Being so right is a bit dull though, isn't it? After the treble, there's no life in the opposition any more - be it terminal naysayers on here or trolls from other boards. Hopefully we'll lose a couple of matches at the start of next season so they can get the lead back in their pencils...