It's always a dilemma when to blood the young 'uns. In cases such as Sam Tomkins, an injury opens the door and they never look back, sometimes it's an absolute disaster for the player involved. With the run of games we have coming up there's certainly no room for error. I have a hunch he will stick with Watkins and I'd tend to agree with him.

I wondered if this would be worth doing, Watkins was great with ball in hand but his positioning wasn't great, so wouldn't want him there long-term. How long is Hardaker out for.

Not saying Watkins should remain at FB long term, but Hardaker WAS better at right centre rather than left centre.

As good as Ablett is in many ways at centre, if Watkins had been in the same position at RC against Melbourne, those same runs that Ablett had early on (more than Watkins has had probably all season to date) a lot more would probably have come of them !!!

We have more choices to cover Abett's absence in the pack (Ward or Clarkson) than we have to cover Hardaker's absence in the backs, so I'd probably stick with Ablett in the centre and Watkins at FB.

Ideally I'd like to see Sunley or Watson on the bench in the event there might be the opportunity to give him a run.

Watkins has that rare quality....Class. So he certainly has the ability to become a top fullback which would give him the ball in space and going forward at speed. My preference is to play him at centre. Had he been there on Friday we could well have won the game.

Im with you on wanting to see one of these young lads given a go while Hardaker is out.But only IF they are deemed ready and i think we need to trust Mac on his judgment on that.He has shown willing to give the kids a run, despite what some say.Ward,Hardaker,BJB,Clarkson and Watkins have become regulars over the last couple of years.

He obviously thought Hood was ready last year but quickly realised he wasnt and has got him out at Dewsbury and now Hunslet learning his trade.Of course, you can never fully know how a youngster is going to cope when stepping up to first team duties until they have had a few games, but the last thing a young kid needs if he is not quite ready is his confidence destroying at, say, Saints in our next game setting him back a fair bit in his development.

Yeah it would be a big ask of a youngster to play the next three games at FB against Saints away, an in-form Hudds and then against Wigan. If he was tempted to try one put them on the wing and leave Watkins at FB until Hardaker returns.

Agreed. Ablett is doing a fine job at centre and looks very good there, however in the Hull game for the first 20 minutes I liked the look of Ablett, moon and hall. Looked a dangerous combination

Ablest looks much more comfortable on the left, rather than right. He never looked like passing right, or that he was comfortable with it. On the left however he has no problems, and looks so dangerous.

Might that also have something to do with who is on the outside of him?

I wonder if Keinhorst will come back into contention for the RC berth with Abbo moving back into the BR and Watkins staying at FB???

On the money there Gotcha. His pass to the right is no-where near as skilled/confident as it is to his left.

There was a few occasions where he didn't even scan to see what options he could feed his winger, so he took it up himself. Not all bad - he has a great blend of footwork and power, makes busting through look very easy.

Watson has played 2 games for Hunslet and he was probably the Man of the Match in both if them. Yesterdays game against a good Featherstone, Watson did at least 6 try saving one-on-one tackles and scored a try of his own. His confidence is definately back. Don't forget Boxing Day was his first game since October and his first at FB at that level (others were on the wing).

He played out of his skin at Featherstone and is beginning to look too good for Hunslet (IMO); but my thoughts are if Rhinos are not going to play him now then they never will and its time he moved on to get game time.

If only Leeds had a versatile jack of all trades type player able to cover wing, centre, full-back, possibly even half-back and hooker.

Such a player (had he not been released to sign for Wakefield) would be worth his weight in bronze right now.

Hindsight is wonderful. The salary cap dictates that we can't have a great reserve for each position. We have 2 outside backs out due to injury. We will have to make do, and I think we looked well enough on Friday considering.

We brought Vickery in to replace Smith, and at least he will always be hungry for his shirt. Smith was only hungry for food by the looks of him over the last couple of seasons

he certainly was fond of Elamis in Gildersome