https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkCkXWkNVAM ahem , i didn't post this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkCkXWkNVAM ahem , i didn't post this

Great bit of video. It just made me think that for wingers to score tries the team and good players working together to make space are the key.
Solomona this year scored lots of relatively simple tries due to Castleford's back door play usually involving Gale and Luke Dorn ... mind you Solomona is pretty handy. When we had Briers and Gleeson stacked up on the right we scored loads. When Brett Hodgson chimed in we scored on both sides of the pitch out wide.
Kevin Penny would have scored plenty this year playing for Castleford and Lineham would have bagged a few playing outside Briers and Gleeson.

3rd try of that penny hat trick. Be nice to have some pace like that in the side these days

I have always taken the view that the primary task of a winger is to score tries, I think the game is so much poorer now they are expected to be a jack of all trades. The pleasure I got from KP's tries at Knowsley Road far outweighed the mistakes in my eyes, guess I'm just a romantic at heart.
I also thought the treatment of KP by the Saints fans was shameful, they destroyed his confidence and in the process prevented us from seeing what could have been one of the outstanding wingers of our time. But that's just my opinion.

You're wrong, it's not just your opinion, it's mine too.

So it's the fault of St Helens fans that he's not very good at rugby???

Regards

King James

You could well be right with that. What Joel produced with a try a game was an amazing feat, but Hicks imo was amazing to watch ,he was an acrobat who was also a winger.

I think any player that lets opposition fans get to him like that is never going to be a great player.

The likes of Tomkins getting booed by 'England' fans whilst in England duty didn't affect him one jot.

We've given plenty of players stick over the years, and had the boot been in the other foot with Penny wearing a red vee, I dare say the outcome would have been the same.

We need a centre over a winger.

Atkins has signed a new contract so as he doesn't pass so much an expensive winger would be a waste of cap, n we have Lineham on the other wing who if can maintain and progress from his performances in the s8 onwards is fine. So realistically the easiest improvement would be a centre for Lineham

The other wing keep penny n Atkins on that wing hopefully t king can get some game time and look for a winger for king once Atkins retires or moves on.

That leaves Russell for cover on wing or full back unless he can improve and stake a place in the side for somthing other than a scoot.

Centre and wing play iswhat I love about rugby and we have not looked strong in that position for some time so if this rumour is true I hope he is coming in as a right centre I would be a tad more optimistic about our chances of silverware next season if Evans was not at centre. Cannot fault the guys commitment in how he defends and puts in 100% effort but there's no excitement when we move the ball out wide to him like when king or gleeson got the ball there was always the chance they could just do somthing don't get that with Evans, Atkins more but needs to make the easy pass more than try the showboat offload to Russell or penny.

I'm of mixed emotions about Atkins staying I like him and his performance this season certainly Warren another year in my books, but I do believe now could have been the time to give king the centre spot. He will make errors but also must be given the opportunity to learn from them. I think us wire fans have patience for youngsters and support them well whilst they are still developing and also are more forgiving if they make a blooper!

I think king is going to be very good. I can remember watching him at Widnes a season or so ago. He wasn't playing, but he had a ball on the touch line and was flicking it around for fun, until he found someone to pass to. He reminds me of Briers, who also seems to enjoy just having the ball in hand and messing about with it. For these types of players it's all about the ball and so the handling becomes second nature. Atkins is an athlete, but I suspect for him the game is all about running - and remembering to take the ball with him at the same time. Does that make sense ? it does to me anyway.

Remember the pass from King to Atkins in the GF when we were ?10m from the Wigan line? King shaped a flick pass from the side of his body which unfortunately Atkins put down. Not an easy pass, but not too difficult either, and I am sure if the players swapped around, King would have taken it and been over the line. It reminded me of Chris Bridge at his best, where he was able to fashion scoring opportunities for his winger / outside player. He is still only 20 and will surely put on some more muscle over the close season, but I think King is by far the best kid we have had through the youth system since Ben Currie. If you wan't a bit of fun (and it is still there) go to Youtube and look at King's compilation when he was playing for Meltham on pitches with slopes of 10 degrees, or where they had probably just shooed away the sheep to get a game. You can see the ball handling, the swagger, the timing of the pass and the difficulty players had to bring him down close to the line.

My post wasn't aimed at the "hard of understanding".

2 points;
1) Penny was very new to the sport so didn't have the experience that someone like Tomkins had
2) I thought Matt King let Penny down very badly on a number of occasions
It was a combination of factors, but the ridiculing of Penny went beyond anything I have seen previously and I thought it was shameful. Your opinion is different, so be it.

There was that famous photo now....

Matt King and Kevin Penny, split by 2 buses!?

As much as id like to blame saints for everything i don't think we can. Penny's confidence and development took a dive when the excellent James lowes hung him out to dry for showboating and daring to inject some entertainment into the game.

Thanks Offload ... good read this. I think Toby King and Patton made a leap forward during the season and it's made us look much stronger as a squad. Is there any body else you think might do a similar sort of leap next year or year after?