Quote: SmokeyTA "The side that won in 2012 was incredibly reliant on Peacock and Sinfield, We had a make shift back line with a fringe player like bjb and Ablett filling in at centre, Hardaker was just coming through and started the year 2nd to an ageing brent webb, the pack was filled with fodder like Bailey, Kirke, Griffin, McShane, Hauraki, Moore, and the likes of Stevie Ward and Singleton were getting their first tastes.
Peacock and Sinfield were amazing that year, and dragged us to a title and had we lost them then, we would see the massive drop off people expect of us next year. Take Sinfield and Peacock out of our 2012/2013 squad and not making the 8 would be a serious possibility.
But 2015 was different, McGuire was our dominant half all year whether playing with Sinfield or Sutcliffe. Cuthbertsons addition completely changed the way we played and he became our most important forward, getting us so much front foot ball some Leeds fans were mistaking Paul Aiton for the second coming of Benny Elias. We have the best back line in Super league in my opinion, I wouldnt swap Watkins, Hardaker, or Hall for any centre, fullback on winger in the league, and the improvement you would get from swapping Moon or Briscoe for say, McGilvery would be negligible. McGuire is having something of an indian summer and at 33 has swapped from a speedy try scoring stand off to one of the most intelligent and creative scrum halves in SL, Sutcliffe is an outstanding prospect who up to the middle of the year was keeping Sinfield out on merit.
The pack is interesting because whilst Peacock (and kylie) would be a huge loss to any side, we are far more balanced. We are no longer a front row of a super human JP, 15 mins from Kylie and a succession of warm bodies doing a job. Cuthbertson fits perfectly in at Leeds, Galloway is a proven talent, Singleton has really grown in to his role, Garbutt gobbled up metres last year, and Mullally is a decent young prop who can contribute.'"
In terms of pure playing ability I think you're right, but what you've lost from Sinfield and Peacock in terms of experience, leadership and big match nous simply can't be bought. Sinfield did play a reduced role for you guys last year, but without him pulling off that 40/20 in the semi-final - which was so typical of Sinfield in big matches down the years - I think it's pretty much certain that you wouldn't even have been in the Grand Final. You've got a great squad, but I'd be amazed if the loss of those three leaders didn't take its toll in some way.
At Saints I think we're well equipped to challenge for the LLS. We have what looks like a better pack than last year, with the excellent Savelio likely to take a more senior role and Lama Tasi able to make a more consistent contribution than Mose Masoe. We also now have backup in pivotal positions, with Fages and Owens on board. As a result we should be able to spell Roby a bit more to keep him fresh, and also have plenty of cover when the inevitable halves or full back injury crisis happens. We have better competition for places this year and we shouldn't be as badly affected when we get injuries, so I think we'll be stronger on a week-to-week basis. I suspect, though, that we're a star player or two away from being a favourite to win the showpiece games.
