Mike is a mate of mine, he's a sparky now.

Never forget him going past steve hampson at Knowsley road!

I`ve got that moment on video, classic commentry from Ron Hoofe.

It's because he's not very good!

Because he is one of the worst strike wingers at Saints in twenty five years. This isn't being cruel. You just can't begin to compare him with the likes of Sullivan, Hunte, Albert, Quirk, Barrie Ledger or Kevin McCormack (pre-injury). Indeed, Ade wouldn't get a game in front of support wingers such as Sean Hoppe.

All credit to him he throughly deserves it, even if its for all the stick hes taken, good on yer ade.

But whether that is true or not, he still works very hard, which is what I was referring to.

I'm sure most of the halfbacks we have had over the last 20 years couldn't get close to Alex Murphy, but do we write them off and insult them because none of them is the genius that Murphy was?

Gifted players in any position are relatively rare. There is hardworking, there is talented and there is uber gifted. IMO Ade is hardworking. He's never shy of taking on the line, he does a pretty good job of catching bombs (better than Meli), he never shirks his defensive duties (unlike Meli) and he can finish. That'll do me for now and I think insulting him after he has given us such commitment over the last 10 years is pathetic, frankly.

Such commitment?, he's been paid and paid well. Its not like he's been swimming in other offers like KC, Robes etc

That is only your opinion of him though. For everyone that slates him there is always someone who ]rates] him. Yes I know sometimes he can have a stinker of a game but there are times when he has done us proud and people forget that. He has in his time at the club saved us from losing a game by scoring when in an impossible situation and also by his defence. He has also slipped up in games both in attack and defence just like most players do. At the end of the day everyone has the right to an opinion be it good or bad.

yup, and thats what we're all here for, our opinion

You keep saying he's "hardworking" as if it were an invaluable attribute. For heaven's sake - he's a PROFESSIONAL rugby league player. The only thing he has to do in life is train hard and play. That's it. "Hard work" isn't the most we should accept from a pro. It's the least!

So what? For every one person in America who believes in natural history there are two who think the world was created circa 5,000 years ago and dinosaurs lived among men. The fact that there is disagreement over the merits of Gardner does not mean we cannot arrive at a valid conclusion about them. A bad opinion is a bad opinion - no matter how many people agree with it.

I'm sure I saw him make a break last night.

You did, first one this season?

Has he? When?

He's an average pro that is neither the worst we have seen, nor the best. Like most of us in our daily lives in all probability. He works hard enough, and worked hard on improving the glaring weakness of his game.

What I will say is that he appears to be running the ball in a bit harder this year, hopefully that will mean a few more breaks than it has done in the past.

Exactly what I was saying.