I just hope he gets a game against the Aussies and gets utterly smashed.

He gets well marked, as does Roby. Did Roby not turn up either? He had a quiet game too. But you could hardly claim Roby doesn't turn up for big games. Same with Wilkin. Sometimes, you know, it is the work of the other team which negates the impact of our players because the other team know who are threats and seek to silence them. It isn't always our players 'not turning up'.

However, where Meli is concerned, you can guarantee he will go on vacation in a Grand Final.

England fans could always Boo Bailey when he plays......or is it just Leeds fans that boo England players

Spot on.

it will be interesting but do we know if bailey was reacting to something said to him on the pitch earlier in the game

but as Shankley used to say about opponents " Give em toffees"

if Wilkin and his team mates meet bailey in a final will the red mist decsend and they cannot play their game

or it might inspire them

jjudging by wilkins reaction bailey seems to have gotton under his skin which may be the intentions of bailey

He got under Wilkin's skin because of what he did to a few 19 and 20 year old lads. Wow, what a man Bailey is. He'd hide behind a player's shorts rather than face up to real men. Boy do I hope the Aussies and Kiwis give it to him! I'll be cheering them on if they do.

It's just good to see RL in the national press. Look at the thousands of column inches and hours air time given to football every day - nothing stories and windbag pundits. Will Jock McManager pick player A in a slightly different position? There's a rumour that Julio Geordio wants a transfer because he is homesick, blah, blah, blah.

In Wilkin's defence it seems from the story that he applauded the rest of the Leeds outfit so the 'sour grapes' accusation is pretty unfounded.

Hear hear , he's a talentless thug..can't stand him, i really hope he gets well and truly tw****d by the Aussies

Hmmm. Bailey will be lapping this up. Wilkin should know better and, as has been said, settle his scores on the pitch.
Far more effective.

Don't know how true it is but i heard that James Roby played the GF with a serious cheekbone injury(fracture?), obviously this was not publicised by the club prior to the game, but I'm surprised no one has said anything since

Wilkin should feel no pressure to hold back from saying whatever he likes. The kid is one of the most articulate people in SL and very often brings up something worth listening to. Compare what Wilkin says to the usual assortment of Neanderthal grunts and farts emanating from players who throughout their lives have never so much as looked at the cover of a book, much less opened such.

One of the problems with Rugby League is it has a mile-wide anti-intellectual streak running straight through it. If you stand before a microphone and spew forth thirty seconds of unintelligible gibberish fans will applaud endlessly. But dare to embark on expressive and thoughtful discussion and the click-click-click of shells being loaded into the shotgun breeches of a legion of gap-toothed rednecks becomes deafening.

As stated, Wilkin shouldn't feel obliged to censor himself - [iprovided he is willing to stand or fall by what he says. [/i If he says something dumb then his dumbness will be laid bare to everyone. I certainly don't subscribe to this bonkers notion of "media awareness". One of the many problems we have in our game (not to mention sport in general) is players are now terrified of saying anything lest they be pilloried by the media. It has led us to where we are now - a sport which should promote endless discussion by the players but doesn't (beyond the usual dog-eared maxims which have been used so often they've lost all impact).

It wasn't always thus. Many older fans will recall Alex Murphy's "Jumping off Runcorn Bridge if they win the Cup" statement (which was harmless enough and did no damage other than to Murphy's ego, which was more than big enough to take it anyhow). That was a talking point. It still is today. And the reason it still is today is because players and coaches, for the past twenty or thirty years, have been terrified of saying anything remotely controversial.

As for "sour grapes". For the most part I think this is a meaningless abstraction trumped up by winners to render any criticism of their actions totally harmless. It's remarkably effective because a) it appeals to the pettiest of emotions and b) taps into notions of tribalism, which are enormously powerful and by definition difficult to argue against. In many ways it is similar to labelling critics of American foreign policy "unpatriotic" or anyone who chooses not to believe everything government tells him a "conspiracy nut".

People want their triumph to be absolute and heaven help anyone who muddies the water. Which is why the "sour grapes" retort is eternally popular. It gives winners a free pass to stick their fingers in their ears and shout "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA" to any uncomfortable triumph-lessening realities being imposed upon them and then at the end claim the whole thing was nothing more than a jealousy-fuelled rant. As I said, it's remarkably effective. But it’s a lazy, weak argument and should be recognised as such at every available opportunity.

The worth of a player’s words should not be contingent upon whether he is a winner or a loser. So, when Wilkin says Bailey is an embarrassment because of x, y & z – does he have a point? (And before anyone chirps up with the usual – even if Wilkin were the next Terry Newton it wouldn’t invalidate his claim in any way). Given Bailey’s conduct since his arrival in the game I’d say he has.

Without criticism there can be no improvement. Which is why we need perceptive, well-spoken rugby players, coaches etc. to speak their mind at every opportunity. If it’s bull$hit it will be called as such without any need for ridiculous “sour grapes”, “bad loser” accusations.

Roby was our top tackler (again) with 45 followed by Wilkin at 31 and followed next by........(shock) Scott Moore with 29!!
Strange how all three are getting slagged off on this forum.

What was jammer (26) and TP (19) doing? A couple of games too many for them methinks.

According to opta wilkin gave away no pens.
Wilkin was our no 2 top tackler after robes though.

Mugwump, I agree with all your points.

Fans of other teams should be grateful that Wilkin is unafraid to speak out. Had he not been, but instead had he allowed the imminent backwash of peurile chatter to silence him, many more players this season could have experienced chicken wing tackles at the hands of Lima and been injured as a result.

It takes guts to stand against the tide, especially the tide of tribalism, but I am glad he did it and that he has done it again this time has highlighted an important issue. Bailey was unprofessional in his attitude towards our young players and he was incredibly childish (but he is). I suspect his coach would not have been happy at his behaviour given that he hauled him off straight after the niggle which happened towards the end of the match.

Sour grapes cannot be levelled at Jon Wilkin because he was very clear in crediting all the other Leeds players as professionals and also with their deserved victory. However, most fans - and media pundits by the look of it (not to mention McBanana, if his media response is anything to go by) - will ignore that part of what he said and instead prefer to indulge in a childish session of mockery about 'sour grapes'.

Unfortunately Wilkin has developed a bit of a track record when it comes to whinging to the Press. Coincidentally usually after loosing a match! This post from the Southstander Board illustrates his past history.