A little unfair on the player IMO G1 - it's not his fault that Leeds had an incumbent, established, one club hooker with three GF wins to his name when he arrived.

His level of performances haven't been those of Danny Buderus from the mid 2000's when he was the best player in the world in his position. Then again, anyone who expected they would be had unrealistic ideas given the time that had passed since then.

I've no gripes about his performances in a Leeds jersey. There have been some games where he'd probably admit to himself that he'd fallen below his usual high standards, but over the last couple of years I don't think he'd be the only player holding his hands up to that one.

I couldn't have gone to greater lengths in my posts to make it any clearer in my posts that those criticisms were not necessarily aimed at the player.

And yet you've taken it (among others) into account when deciding whether he was a worthwhile signing.

About the only thing you've missed off your list of determining factors are his performances on the field.

Couldn't have put it better myself mate. An absolute gent of a bloke with time for anybody. The best 9 to grace these shores IMO

I'm not sure what more he could have done since been here. He has two Championship winners rings, a league leaders shield win, played in 2 challenge cup finals, and more importantly his final year has coincided in what will be Leeds Rhinos finest ever achievement.

How many overseas signings have come over to England and had that record yet gone back with fans still yearning for more? What was Jamie Lyons record at Saints? Trent Barretts at Wigan? Jason Smith at Hull?

As for we needed to fill more glaring obvious spots in the team, where? we have won two out of the last three Championships and played in two challenge cup finals. So what was the spot that we failed to fill that had we not signed Buderus we would have bettered this record?

A legend of the game, and a priviledge to have seen him in our colours. To come up with those defensive stats in such an important game is testimony to that. As much as I am looking forward to see McShane & Hood progress I still feel his 'nous' will be missed next year. Good luck to him, glad he aint in the Australia squad!

Why on earth wouldn't I take it into account?

My view from the last 3 years of Danny Buderus is as follows:
100% commitment. Always played his heart out for the team. Certainly not here just for the money
Didn't have the impact with the ball that I was expecting.
Seemed to fit into the team pretty well in terms of ethos and workrate
Had much more impact in defence than I expected. Was probably our best defender, certainly once Sinny started defending out wide
Year 1 struggled with the sharing of the role with Diskin, I think that his injury had a significant improvement on the team, as we went with just the 1 hooker in the 17, and we looked better balanced. Having said that, I think we'd have won the title that year with DB as hooker had it been diskin breaking his leg
Certainly wasn't the injury prone person I though we'd got after the opening period of 2009. He had a couple of injuries early on, but think he was mostly ever present in 2010 & 2011.
I would say he probably didn't live up to his reputation, but exceeded my expectations based on signing of similar nature that we and other clubs have made.
Some fans probably went overboard desperate to justify him
Some fans didn't recognise the excellent work he does without the ball, something that goes unnoticed a lot of the time for a number players.
As a signing we didn't need him. However, I think by mid 2010 we could see why it was done, as I think Diskin wasn't performing as well as I think we needed him to. In other words the Diskin of 2008 & 2009 was as good, and warranted a place in the team. However, he wasn't the player he was before his injury. The Buderus we have had this season has been the best hooker performance over a season we've had since 2004.
I think he let himslef down with too many penalties at times, though maybe this was because he was involved in more tackles than most.
Didn't run from Dummy half as much as I'd have expected, but when he did it was usually well targeted.

Overall a decent signing, and one I'm glad to have seen play. I think had he have been a straight repacement for Diskin, and hadn't had to share the role, we'd have seen better from him earlier, but it may have caused wider issues at the club, and would have been disrespectful to a loyal and good servant of the club to do such. In a word, right signing, wrong time.

CBA getting into any of the Buderus vs Diskin debate, all I'm going to say is I am delighted we signed him, it has been a pleasure to watch him week in week out, I can count the bad games he's had here on one hand, and even when not at his sparkling best he was still trying as hard as anyone else if not harder. The debate of whether or not we needed him overall is null and void now IMO, but he certainly made a huge contribution to the last couple of months or so, we needed him for that.

I am glad that buderus played for our club, one of the games greats. Was he right signing at the time?, probably didn't need him at the time but last 18 months he has put in some good desplays for Leeds. His commitment is 100%. his tackling is great and always seems to be there first in the kick chase. Really glad for him to go home with a winners medal, seems a nice bloke and although I would agree he isn't the same player as 10yrs ago I am glad he played for us and got to see him play

Danny Buderus is a professional out of the very top drawer. His attitude and work rate has been first class and his commitment this season when all seemed lost is one of the reason we turned the corner. Without his him we would not have made the GF and without him we not have won it.

IMO he ran JJB a close second as our Man of the Season and must have had a positive influence on the development of our young hookers.

Its a great shame that injuries and having to share equal time with Diskin robbed us of seeing more of this great player. Although not in his prime we have been privileged to see one of the all time greats ply his trade. Thanks Danny.

Someone metioned his tackle stats. Has anyone got the full stats for the final?

Buderus made 46 tackles 0 missed tackles 10carries 55m 2offloads and no errors. Great tackle effort

Got to agree with all of the above. Glad I got to meet one of the true greats of the game and I truly wish his all the best in his 'swansong' year with Newcastle.

Buderus made 46 tackles 0 missed tackles 10carries 55m 2offloads and no errors. Great tackle effort

An example of why the Aussies have held the upper hand for so long over us Brits.

I used to marvel when the likes of a Craig Izzard or Mark Laurie used to hit these shores and set new standards in enthusiasm, commitment and technique and those were player's I'd literally never even heard of.

Buderus = Champion. Really pleased for him that his team-mates found it within themselves to match his standards and send him home on an unbelieveable high with a final 160 minutes (against the current best in SL) that will stay forever in the memory and a fitting reward for all his efforts.

Watching him play for Leeds has been an absolute pleasure and as far as an individual contribution to the club reminded me very much of Ellery Hanley's time at Headingley at a similar stage of his career.