Sykes was a very limited FB for Broncos, defensive weaknesses and didn't add that much to the attack with limited vision - was kept well away from that role for his last few seasons IIRC, even when we had injuries there

TBH the team looked rusty and disorganised. And that was pretty much the problem last year as well. The pack looks good, but players in positions 1-7 just don't seem to have what it takes to capitalise on the forward's work

Tbh I was quite encouraged by platts performance. He got slated for the missed tackle leading to the first try yet he was one of about four players who were actually onside and able to attempt the tackle and morrison? missed it too. He had a slightly worrying tendency to run sideways a bit early on rather than taking the line on but started taking the ball forward beter as the game wore on. Can only remember one of his trademark passes to the winger which is an improvement on last year. All in all think he showed some encouraging signs and deserves to retain his spot against hudds. If theres still cause for concern after the hudds match then halley will be back off loan and could slot in against wigan. But I think platts biggest problem is confidence and he's only going to get this playing regularly.

I agree that we were a shambles defending that quick tap but Platt was our last line of defence, appeared to have his man lined up perfectly and got bumped off. Whichever way you cut it he missed a tackle.

Two reasons I think Platt gets flak from fans:

1) As a fullback any errors he makes are likely to lead to more disastrous results. Fullbacks are like goalkeepers in this respect. Platt's more error prone than any regular fullback we've had in recent memory so he's not looking good in comparison with Withers, Spruce or Dave Watson.

2) He doesn't contribute enough in attack. If he was finishing off his share of tries or making some breaks through good suport play fans would be more likely to forgive the odd blooper. Unfortunately his attacking play has gone backwards since halfway through 2007.

While I agree there are other underperformers such as Jeffries this thread was about Platt so that's why I mentioned him.

He played regularly last year but I didn't spot any major improvements in his game.

Maybe he needs to build up his confidence in the U21s?

Or sheer stupidity.. maybe you'd try it if we were leading or losing by a few scores but we were well in the game at that point. It was an unnecessary gamble in my opinion.

I don't think you can fully blame Platt for all of that either. Don't forget that's he's playing in a team that's turned in truly awful performances from mid 2007. IMO if Michael Withers was playing in the current side he would look have as dangerous as he did for the simple fact the service they receive is at times terrible. On a fair few occasions yesterday he looped round the back to joining the attacking line and our passing was so slow the Hull KR defence knew who was getting the pass before he'd caught the ball or the pass would go behind him on to the floor.

You can blame to a certain extent his lack of service and slow ball but he's still had an extremely low return when it comes to tries scored. I'd like to see him pop up in midfield a bit more. I remember Kris Radlinski was very adept at supporting forwards up the middle. Perhaps Platt could watch a few videos of him and try and copy it. I'm sure if he could improve his reading of the game he wouldn't be so dependant on good service from the halfbacks.

Michael Platt 188 metres from 22 carries not bad for some one who only runs sideways.

Does it say if those 188 meters were in a forward direction then?

I wouldn't know as I wasn't there

...and if you got back to collar him, Terry would be on his shoulder.

Statistically he compares well with most other fullbacks. Only Clint Greenshields really stands out a mile. 116 tackle busts in 2008! Platt got 48 but that compares quite well with others.

I think Platt's bloopers are his undoing really, they seem to be more obviously catastrophic. The more they happen the less patience fans have. That may be unfair but only a prolonged error free period is likely to get the monkey of his back.

It could be worse, we could have Richie Mathers at fullback!

think point is he didnt really make any last week, at least not catastrophic ones. One missed tackle, which led to a try early doors but at least he managed to attempt the tackle which is more than 11 other players did. One bad decision going outside the winger and being forced into touch but if it had come off people would be hailing it as a brilliant try and 1? unnecessary pass to sheriffe, which came off anyway.

Compared to some off last years performances I thought it was quite encouraging overall although theres still room for improvement, in particular cutting out running across the field and running forward instead although he did seem to improve in this respect as the game progressed