Indeed.

Im probably in the minority in not being a Leeds supporter by any stretch of the imagination yet I can see how effective Ryan Bailey is to the Leeds pack (Catalan performance to one side here).

He is a very tough player who adds some much needed aggression to the Leeds side and I think he compliments players such as Kyle Leuluai who just seem to go about their business without the drama.

Although he is effective I would like to see him use his head a bit more at times because there were times in the Catalan game for instance when he just seemed to loose it completely much to the benefit of the opposition and not to his team mates.

Effective player but just needs to be that bit smarter.

but you all are forgetting that he's Ryan Bailey, he does what he wants!

Are you suggesting that he did not want to play for the next 4 games

He paid his wages back tenfold, in last years Grand Final when on a promising attack in the closing minutes warrington having a 3-4 man overlap decided not to bother providing attacking support to the man in possession and though there time was better spent trying to push Bailey around

The look on Tony Smith's face when the ball was thrown out to touch with 4-5 Warrington players all gathered around Bailey in the backfield was priceless

John Kear spelt out Bailey's virtues pretty eloquently on Boots n All last night. He too seems to share the Leeds coaches' opinions. Edit: as indeed did Shaun McRae.

Not forgetting, of course, a Great Britain coach that also selected him to represent his country against some of the best players in the world.

And at that time he had the potential to become the best prop forward of his generation, then he discovered panto and decided to be a clown instead

Kylie may not bring drama but he is the only prop at Leeds who hurts the opposition in attack and defence he is a brick wall and he will be a massive loss IMO to our pack

Agreed, the fact that he doesn't bring drama was a compliment.

Yes I took what you wrote as a compliment to him.

Again I am neither a bailey lover or a bailey basher. I think he kops an unfair rep as a coward though.
But in general I think the players from AUS are alot better at media work and interacting with the fans. Two examples.

Last year I attended a Leeds game last year with my mate and his 5yr old girl who is a big fan of bailey after the game she was there with her autograph book waiting and he just shoved past saying not today, leaving an embarrassed JJB to sign her autograph book.

In contrast Brent Webb was brilliant with the fans and kids, it used to take him ages to get to the changing rooms before the game and kylie is exacally the same, a really really nice bloke away from the field and a real credit to himself and the club off the field as well.

"Coward" isn't strictly fair, but he is distinctly different from the traditional "enforcer" in that they would generally seek out the biggest and hardest opposition player to send out a message. Too many cheap shots for me to ever earn the title "enforcer".

If Bailey does see himself as something of an enforcer, I'd prefer him to drop the notion and getting on with playing the game. As for the traditional enforcers, I don't recall too many who were averse to rattling the opposition's playmakers as well as their hard men.

It comes down to priorities. Bailey consistently gives the impression that he much prefers cheap shots on 'playmakers' (aka anyone smaller than him) than lining up the opposition's biggest and hardest players. Any fan would want him in their team? No chance. I've 'hated' ( in the pantomime sports sense - they may be lovely people off the field) plenty players for whom that's true, but not Bailey. He's just not that good, and there's nothing more embarrassing than a big guy who's a cheap shot merchant.

Ive seen bailey absolutely crunch Adrian Morley, Ive seen him smash Maurie Fa’asavlu, Cause a big ruckus and then take the very next ball in. After whiteheads dropped JJB on his head easter Monday, we had a bit of pushing and shoving, things got a little tasty, Bailey ran the next ball right at Nick Scruton who woke up in Disneyland.

I’ve also seen ‘hard men’ like Paul Sculthorpe strike Bailey whilst he was playing the ball, and enemy of doormen throughout Hull Lee Radford throw punches until his arms got tired while Bailey was laid on the floor after a tackle. Bailey grinned, threw his weight around a little and carried on playing.

To say Bailey doesn’t get involved with forwards or tough men, or is excessive at cheap shots is nonsense. Regardless of going looking for the big men, Bailey makes sure the Big men are looking for him, and wears his target badge with pride.

Bailey is a big, strong, tough guy, brave and works hard, he puts himself to the front and takes what comes, gets up and does it all again. Another name for guys like that is Prop Forward.