As he gets a lot of (often justified) criticism, I thought I would mention that Meli was brilliant today, as he was in the semi-final.

Take a bow Franny, and keep up the good work. Hairstyle might still need some though

Meli is our stand out performer at present. Apparently he was good last week too, though I didn't go. His MoM at Knowsley Road was well deserved. He seemed to be the only player out there who knew what to do and who actually wanted to win the flippin match.

played well and put the effort in.

Agreed he had a good game tonight

good game, bad hair, simples

He's been our best player for the last month. Well played Meli, let's hope a few more follow suit.

The hair

He is obviously mega-hard because there is no way anyone would survive five minutes with hair like that if they weren't. Princess Leya crossed with Polly Popkins.

Meli will always make silly mistakes but I think he played pretty well this year.

He's better than Gardner.

I have always defended Gardner and he has served us well but going forward and looking at the future you can't have two fairly slow wingers(relatively speaking). So if Meli is the brawn/bulk then Ade may have to make way for a quick Aussie or Kiwi import. It won't happen next year though.

same here pal, I've backed Gardner for some years now when others have got on his back.

He seems more intrested on how he looks these days. Spends more time looking at the big screen than he does watching the game.

Ade has done some good hard work on taking high balls and is pretty safe now to what he was 2yr ago but he has lost pace and can't beat a man.

Lomax did good job on wing when ade was out.

Like you and big dave say he isn't big, and he is already losing his pace, which is strange as he is relatively (for a sprinter) young.

At least when he is offered the outside he takes it rather than getting boomed by a prop forward like some other winger we have.

I think the problem is that while he was quick, he was never lightning fast in the way that wingers in the top bracket were such as Dallas, Albert, Donald, Sullivan. That was fine but as he has bulked up he has lost the speed that a winger needs to take the outside on occasions and beat a man and he simply can't do that anymore. He knows himself and never even takes the outside unless he is very close to the line.

In Meli's case he can just barge his way over over and frequently does. You can afford to have one winger like that so Ade will be the one way to make way I feel in the near future as he has no B game if you like. Still very safe compared to some though and a real grafter. I mean Penny is greased lightning but you can't cover him up in defence, he's a liability!

Ryan Hall seems a freak of nature as he is rapid and and a stocky lad as well.

Hall is like the lads the Aussies produce - Inglis, Hunt etc. in that he's a big chap and very very quick.

I love Meli. He really is an excitement machine and he may well be the best finisher in the league. He's certainly the best finisher we've had since Talau.