This isn't a dig at Ellis as I quite like him. A workmanlike forward.

But does anyone know why he seems to do a lot of 'gurning' when playing ?

He seems to pull these strange faces rather a lot.

Ellis is still an international quality back rower, as could be the three you mention, plus Hock and Westwood also.

Its nice to have a bit of strength in depth for a change!

Does no one know why he gurns a lot ?

Believe in the sleeve

I see this as simply some people not understanding the role of a back rower. They do the little things that go unnoticed. Subtle at times and rarely explosive. If all you have done is watch Gareth on TV this year then I suggest you re-watch the Catalans and Wire cup games. Gareth was immense. The battle between him and Menzies in Perpignan was worth the admission fee alone. Two great warriors of our game going toe to toe. Forget Menzies age he is an absolute legend of our game who is still as good if not better than the majority of back rowers in SL.

Gareth in the wire game was fantastic and for me the mom. He runs hard and often takes 3 or 4 men to pull him down. His tackles are hard. I would suggest that many many players would think twice about running anywhere near him.
Once you see through the hype of other jonny come lately players who Sky pick up on you can see where the real quality in the league is.
Its no coincidence that Hull FC are a far better outfit with him in the 17 (playing 80 mins) than they are without him. Our season could have been so much better if he hadn't picked up that injury before the first game of the season.

Spot on.

Thought he was magnificent against Warrington.

Defensively the guy is outstanding. Not just in his work rate (I think he's always played the full 80 since at Hull) but the quality of the tackles he puts in. I've never seen (at Hull) someone hit the opposition as hard and as consistently as Ellis. For example, vs Warrington two weeks ago, probably his best game for us, he's everywhere, putting in a couple which dislodged the ball in a key attacking position.

His leadership on & off the pitch is also vital for the club, something we've lacked in recent seasons. Being a positive influence on the youngsters.

In attack, Gentle uses him alot differently to when he was at Wests running off Benji Marshall. It's not an aspect of his play that he's got worse at, he's just carrying out the job the coach wants from him. As fans, it's not as pretty & doesn't get Ellis as many tries as he used to, but it's still effective. I think his meters gained average is the highest of our forwards.

He's easily better than those 3 players.

My view of Ellis is that he's one of those players that is great/devastating in an already good side and just average in an average side.

He's the sort of player that allows others to play, in football terms he's a Claude Makélélé.

The sort of player who doesn't break the line but leaves it open for others, Richie Myler/Danny McGuire would thrive off Ellis.
In a team in which people aren't singing from the same hymm sheet he'd look pretty ineffective.

I think that's a pretty fair comment

An over egged pudding.

If you genuinely can't see how good Gareth Ellis is then you're not looking properly.

Since Gareth Ellis left Leeds we've also lost (amongst others) Brent Webb, Keith Senior, Danny Buderus, Ali Lauititi and Scott Donald all of whom did amazing things at the club, but the only one that's up there with Ellis as one we've really missed is Buderus. He does so much right and so very little wrong every single game - it's not a second rowers job to be eye catching, that's what the backs are for.

Agreed, and a lot of the time he was toe to toe with Westwood.

Ellis, for me, is one of those players who can do it, no matter how big and hard the opposition is. In fact, the bigger they come, the better Ellis seems to play.