[quote="alegend":3il5mnwu]You can not compare Russell to Gale ,though he was here for just a short spell as a player.Gale could throw passes out that put players in to gaps, Russell was throwing out a lot of hospital passes at Leeds .[/quote:3il5mnwu] I am not comparing them. You’ll need to read again. I suggested that Russell be trying to take a few pointers from Gale and his style of play. I felt that Russell needed to be a touch deeper personally. I do think Jowitt returning will give both halves a lot more options.

[quote="Trojan Horse":3m8tsk7z]I am not comparing them. You’ll need to read again. I suggested that Russell be trying to take a few pointers from Gale and his style of play. I felt that Russell needed to be a touch deeper personally. I do think Jowitt returning will give both halves a lot more options.[/quote:3m8tsk7z] Sorry my mistake . Agree about a touch deeper ,Last year We were standing a lot deeper when we had the ball .Leeds moved up very fast, said at the time we should be standing deeper .

[quote="alegend":33pr0cf3]Sorry my mistake . Agree about a touch deeper ,Last year We were standing a lot deeper when we had the ball .Leeds moved up very fast, said at the time we should be standing deeper .[/quote:33pr0cf3] Of course it’s only works if they have players running lines and the full back creating opportunities for the receiving half to pass. I have confidence that throughout pre season a lot of work will be done on this and as the season progresses we will see our halfbacks bond well. There’s certainly not a lack of talent between the three.

[quote="Trojan Horse":snp1tr8d]I am not comparing them. You’ll need to read again. I suggested that Russell be trying to take a few pointers from Gale and his style of play. I felt that Russell needed to be a touch deeper personally. I do think Jowitt returning will give both halves a lot more options.[/quote:snp1tr8d] I think the issue in the first 25 was the lack of penetration from the middles... All three starting middles began the game at championship pace and intensity (particularly with ball in hand) ... I think Powell likes to play his halves quite flat, but that needs the defensive line to be in retreat... (disappointingly) the team didn't initially adjust well to that and Leeds intensity and line speed, and gave away field position and momentum. That said... There was some real positives in the performance and i think adding the likes of McMeeken, Atoni, Storton, and/ or Pitts into the starting line-up for the middle of the pitch will make a difference.

Some good points made on here regarding our Boxing Day friendly. Overall I was reasonably happy with our performance considering we have only been back since back end of November.. It takes time to weld a new half back partnership together and I feel we will have to be a little bit patient going into the new season before we start to see the fruits of Powells labour… The warm weather week training in Tenerife will enable our lads to get some combinations going .. As for our forwards.. I think they are in for a tough season and some will have had a taste of things to come with what I thought was a well drilled Leeds defence in the first half at Headingley. We had some experience missing up front though with Pitts , mc Meeken Hood and Atoni all who have played SL. Also unlike previous years when we tended to cobble a team together I actually think our team will be looking forward to testing themselves in what will undoubtedly be a much tougher competition. Patience will be key to the season..

[quote="Trojan Horse":3dpefvzc]I think he will be a back up, bench player for us this season. Be handy to step in but I can’t see him in 17 most weeks so didn’t include him tbh.[/quote:3dpefvzc] Not been given the 12 number to make up numbers. I think he’ll be in the mix week in week out when fit to be a starter

I agree. The advantage of playing a full Leeds side was to see where we are in comparison. Some of the players we know will be just outside the 17 showed up OK but only ok. Which is exactly what you'd expect. If we just had one of them in I think we'd do well so that is a positive. Max, Tom, McM, Storton and Atoni didn't actually need the test. We kinda know where they are.

[quote="Pat Bateman":381rae3v]Not been given the 12 number to make up numbers. I think he’ll be in the mix week in week out when fit to be a starter[/quote:381rae3v] It's not like he isn't in the mix but I think they'll need to use him wisely when we have Storton, Seth and Vagana who are much younger.

[quote="PopTart":m37oxw24]It's not like he isn't in the mix but I think they'll need to use him wisely when we have Storton, Seth and Vagana who are much younger.[/quote:m37oxw24] How I see him he’s the stalwart in the back row. He showed up great last year and I was glad he’s decided to go again another year. I think he’ll get plenty of game time next year

[quote="Pat Bateman":13qmcpbv]Not been given the 12 number to make up numbers. I think he’ll be in the mix week in week out when fit to be a starter[/quote:13qmcpbv] I did say that ‘I think’. I still believe that Griffin won’t feature too much this season and when he does it will be off the bench. Let’s not forget he’s part time assisting with midlands as a trainer too. Just my thoughts. It makes no difference to me if he plays or not.

[quote="Pat Bateman":ritsidd0]How I see him he’s the stalwart in the back row. He showed up great last year and I was glad he’s decided to go again another year. I think he’ll get plenty of game time next year[/quote:ritsidd0] I thought he started the first half of season well and was great but he wasn’t as effective that second half of season personally and was just a solid performer. He should go okay in SL though as he’s used to it but whether he plays in starting team or bench I can’t see him doing near 80 like 2 seasons ago.

For me Griffin became a bit of a liability towards the end of the season. You could always rely on him to give a penalty away or drop the ball at key points in the game. We got away with that in the Championship, we won't in SL, for me he isn't a starter.

[quote="Spookisback":13fpln4t]:lol: I think the issue in the first 25 was the lack of penetration from the middles... All three starting middles began the game at championship pace and intensity (particularly with ball in hand) ... I think Powell likes to play his halves quite flat, but that needs the defensive line to be in retreat... (disappointingly) the team didn't initially adjust well to that and Leeds intensity and line speed, and gave away field position and momentum. That said... There was some real positives in the performance and i think adding the likes of McMeeken, Atoni, Storton, and/ or Pitts into the starting line-up for the middle of the pitch will make a difference.[/quote:13fpln4t] More or less sums it up for me however Leeds have been in pre season a month longer and looked sharper for it. When the season starts I am confident we will be able to rake them on bit we will have to be smart with the ball to come away with anything.

Sounds like Jarrod O'Connor did his MCL in last week's game so he might be missing for our repeat fixture ??

[quote="FIL":qc6iu5s6]Sounds like Jarrod O'Connor did his MCL in last week's game so he might be missing for our repeat fixture ??[/quote:qc6iu5s6] Talk of Frawley as back up hooker with Connor in the halves and Handley at centre which would not be my preferred choice wrt Handley.

[quote="Trinity_lurcher":2rmzi4s9]I thought their line speed made it very difficult for our halves. They had no time on the ball, as we lost a lot of contacts and had a slow play of the ball. We only managed to get round them a couple of times. Once through some quick hands from Hall. Considering the amount of ball and territory they had, our defence was pretty good. They seemed to target our marker defence and got some joy. That needs tightening up. A decent hit out with 4 first team players missing. It will take a while for some players to step up (pace wise) and Trueman hasn't played for ages. Promising. Really looking forward to the season to begin.[/quote:2rmzi4s9] This sums it up for me. We will need to be far better at competing in terms of intensity and line speed up the middle in future games as Leeds controlled territory and marched us down the field for the first fourty minutes which strangled us. We defended our line superbly well which was pleasing but if Leeds would have kept their first team on we'd have lost that by 30 in my opinion. However, we've got Atoni, Storton, Mcmeeken and Pitts to likely come into the seventeen in terms of middles as well as Johnstone who willg ive us some punch in our exit sets. I thought we looked extremely weak carrying the ball out of our own yardage which is my biggest concern this season I think in terms of our backline. Apart from Johnstone they're all a bit lightweight.

[quote="Adam_Harrison9":16p3fsmd]This sums it up for me. We will need to be far better at competing in terms of intensity and line speed up the middle in future games as Leeds controlled territory and marched us down the field for the first fourty minutes which strangled us. We defended our line superbly well which was pleasing but if Leeds would have kept their first team on we'd have lost that by 30 in my opinion. However, we've got Atoni, Storton, Mcmeeken and Pitts to likely come into the seventeen in terms of middles as well as Johnstone who willg ive us some punch in our exit sets. I thought we looked extremely weak carrying the ball out of our own yardage which is my biggest concern this season I think in terms of our backline. Apart from Johnstone they're all a bit lightweight.[/quote:16p3fsmd] Agree Hope you are right about those forwards .Hope we do not use Johnstone as a battering ram , with is injury problems on is legs . Defence looks good but you can not tackle for 40 minutes like we did in the first half against Leeds .You got to create something in attack that we did not do against Leeds

[quote="Adam_Harrison9":oohml8aq]This sums it up for me. We will need to be far better at competing in terms of intensity and line speed up the middle in future games as Leeds controlled territory and marched us down the field for the first fourty minutes which strangled us. We defended our line superbly well which was pleasing but if Leeds would have kept their first team on we'd have lost that by 30 in my opinion. However, we've got Atoni, Storton, Mcmeeken and Pitts to likely come into the seventeen in terms of middles as well as Johnstone who willg ive us some punch in our exit sets. I thought we looked extremely weak carrying the ball out of our own yardage which is my biggest concern this season I think in terms of our backline. Apart from Johnstone they're all a bit lightweight.[/quote:oohml8aq] You missed Jowitt, Hood and Doyle.

[quote="Trojan Horse":1g466jjb]You missed Jowitt, Hood and Doyle.[/quote:1g466jjb] I wasn't referring to all we had missing. Just the ones most likely to make an impact through the middle in terms of winning the arm wrestle. Not sure Hood, Jowitt or Doyle will necessarily help much in that department with ball in hand.

[quote="Adam_Harrison9":id1y4m6k]I wasn't referring to all we had missing. Just the ones most likely to make an impact through the middle in terms of winning the arm wrestle. Not sure Hood, Jowitt or Doyle will necessarily help much in that department with ball in hand.[/quote:id1y4m6k] They would certainly stiffen the defence up which in turn would improve field position and have an effect on where we play our sets out. Hood especially is a strong defender. Regardless, those 3 would strengthen the team in a few areas, not just down the middle.

The full game is now on YouTube, still the Leeds commentary not TC

[quote="Trojan Horse":31mluv5u]They would certainly stiffen the defence up which in turn would improve field position and have an effect on where we play our sets out. Hood especially is a strong defender. Regardless, those 3 would strengthen the team in a few areas, not just down the middle.[/quote:31mluv5u] Hope Hood is not around a lot ,struggled in is last stint in S L .Need more than a player who can tackle at 9 as not even got a kicking game. Defence looks decent, lot more work to do in attack . Hope Russell plays 9 and Lino 7 .If we are struggling to make some ground ,we got 3 good kickers on the park

[quote="alegend":2ocf1d3f]Hope Hood is not around a lot ,struggled in is last stint in S L .Need more than a player who can tackle at 9 as not even got a kicking game. Defence looks decent, lot more work to do in attack . Hope Russell plays 9 and Lino 7 .If we are struggling to make some ground ,we got 3 good kickers on the park[/quote:2ocf1d3f] Strange reasoning there. You want to not play an experienced 9, replace him with an inexperienced 9 who wants to be a 7 and play a player at 7 who struggled in Superleague last time he played there. That just doesn’t add up to me. The issue with Hood imho isn’t that he isn’t good enough for SL but that he wasn’t managed properly. He was slogged on the pitch for 60/65 minutes a game. Too long imho. He needs to be spelled better in SL this time round. His defence is very good and his distribution is fine, he’s a danger on the opposition line too as he’s quite strong. What he is, is a solid 9 who this season will help us transition and play his part well enough and also allow Doyle and Smith to grow their game this season.

Hard to disagree with any of that, Trojan

[quote="Trojan Horse":1x1kopeo]Strange reasoning there. You want to not play an experienced 9, replace him with an inexperienced 9 who wants to be a 7 and play a player at 7 who struggled in Superleague last time he played there. That just doesn’t add up to me. The issue with Hood imho isn’t that he isn’t good enough for SL but that he wasn’t managed properly. He was slogged on the pitch for 60/65 minutes a game. Too long imho. He needs to be spelled better in SL this time round. His defence is very good and his distribution is fine, he’s a danger on the opposition line too as he’s quite strong. What he is, is a solid 9 who this season will help us transition and play his part well enough and also allow Doyle and Smith to grow their game this season.[/quote:1x1kopeo] I agree completely. He was great until he sometimes ran out of steam because we left him on too long. That would be the same for any front rower who tackles like him. I'm more than happy for him to start and Doyle to come on. Or at first, Smith if Doyle not ready.