after what i thought was rileys best season last year in terms of his defence as well as try scoring i find it a little worrying that a couple of games in teams seem to be targeting his wing more and see him as a weak link in our back line.
its not an all out aeriel bombardment to target his lack of height but quick hands out wide which seem to result in him flying in off his wing to make a tackle at every opportunity thus leaving his opposition winger with a stroll in at the corner.
i applaud his efforts but he should be leaving his centre and back rower to cover the inside tackling and hold his position more,i wouldnt like him to become another kevin penny type player who despite scoring the trys becomes too much of a defensive liability.lets hope the coaches can eradicate these lapses from his game as i think this season points difference could be really vital.
i like reilly as a player and hope this is just early season rustiness but we need everyone up to speed quickly as after a tough start the games coming up look difficult enough,as a team the table tells no lies so onwardsand upwards wire.

Blame Eddie Hemmings, early in the Sky commentry he declared Riley to be one of the most under-rated players in Super League, poor Riley then had the most uncertain game I have seen him have!!!

Seriously I think the issue was communication inside him leaving him in a zone of uncertainty. Not much to worry about this early in the season, but he probably needs a "cuddle" rather than a bawling out, so as not to lose his confidence.

I know....let's hound him out of the club like we did with Kevin Penny....He's too small....can't catch a ball...can't tackle and his belly has spots.

No comparison between Penny and Riley. Riley is leagues ahead in ability. And if it was simply people hounding Penny out, why is he now only playing at Championship level.

Every single player in the team has strengths and weaknesses, good days and bad. The coaching staff will work on these with each and every player, using Emma's game video to pinpoint specific aspects. Riley is a great attacking winger, but his stature can be a problem, as can his positional play at times. Atkins and Riley seem to work in tandem most of the time. Riley will make an initial halting tackle on his opposite man, then the much larger Atkins will come in and smother man and ball. That didn't seem to happen against Cats, possibly because Atkins had his hands full ? ( I have not watched a replay ).

Either way, just like Carvell's overuse of the offload last season, these things can be worked on and solved. GOB had a poor record for tackling at one point, Myler was not great either - but look at him now. And how does the diminutive Burrows manage to play amongst the forward giants in the game ? Solutions will be found.

Do people really think it is down to one player? Surely it is a failure of the structure and communication of that left edge? Riley is often caught defending the space between the opposing centre and winger as his inside defender (Atkins) is often caught ball watching and wedges in too much. Add the fact that Myler also defends that channel and it is inevitable that other teams will attack that way.

one of the most reliable wingers in the game..ive not got a problem with his defence or attack or size...some people would find fault with owt

he didn't have his best game on Friday. The attempted tackle on Blanch for his first try was terrible... He looked like he was trying to put a coat round his shoulders as he ran past him.

The second try was poor positioning, he just got sucked in.

The 'oohh lets not say any bad thing about a certain player' line trotted out on here sometimes is ridiculous. If a player has had a bad game and has made mistakes then they're fair game for criticism... They SHOULD get some.

If you thought riley's defence was sound last season you obviously missed the grand final. How he escaped criticism for the ben jones bishop try is beyond me. I don't like having a go at players, but people shouldn't be immune from criticism just because they are a local lad and we want more of them in our team. Riley has improved into a decent super league player and i was one who didn't think he would make it this far. However, he can make blunders just like any other player and still has several things to work on.

Was Penny hounded out of the club?????

Tony Smith has an excellent record of giving young players a chance and he clearly didn't think Penny was good enough.

Riley has made a couple of mistakes, it happens. Now is a test of character for him.

I remember about 2 years ago when he played full back against Catalans away, before the game a few posters on this board were saying he wasn't up to it. He went out and played a blinder.

i am not saying he should be hounded out of the club,his defensive positioning so far this season isnt up to scratch,he shouldnt be flying in off his wing to make tackles when a wingers ultimate goal after scoring trys is to stop his opposite number scoring,if the men inside are not doing the job then they will become fallible but deserting his post only puts the onus on him,
syslak,i didnt miss the grand final but i would say there were plenty of other key players in our team who had worse games than riley in the grand final,overall last season i thought he was one of our better performers.
kevin penny wasnt hounded out either when it came down to it all he had in his game was pace.

He had a poor game in defence, it doesn't mean he's a poor player. I remember him having a poor game against Hull a few years back in a similar vein.

One of his best attributes his is ability to learn from his mistakes and improve in ways that people on messageboards have regularly claimed he never could. He'll kick himself for a couple of poor reads and sort it out for the big games later in the season.

His problem is that Atkins is an unreliable tackler so Riley's probably subconsciously no confidence in him and so comes inside to help. Centre and Winger cover the edges, so don't blame poor old Riley, Atkins shares some blame.

As pointed out earlier in this thread, Riley is not 6' 7" and will have to adapt his defence accordingly. He can be exposed to the high bomb landing in his area but he has coped before and will have to use his noggin.
I most certainly am not writing him off, he just needs to further develop certain aspects of his game.

Kevin Penny was made to look bad by Matt King's eccentric centre play often leaving Penny as last man in defence of a two man overlap. Same thing happened to Riley last week only the eccentric this time was Atkins.

Never mind the Grand Final, I've still not forgiven him for Catalans away in 2007!