Surely though if you have a back on the bench for 40 minutes the forwards are going to have to cover an extra 40 minutes between them one way or another? If JD moves from centre into the pack he is not fresh and imo to get the best out of JD now we need to use him smarter. He still has something to offer but overplaying him will neither help him or the team

One easy way to solve that old boy.....

JK did pick a strange bench IMO, but let's get the perspective back a bit here...

We are only one senior player missing injured, but one player was clearly not fit (and yes, I would have probably gambled on him playing) and we still have 3 influential players who are no longer with the club. This, together with the financial constraints we have at Wakey, means that even to get to compete with the likes of Leeds is a major miracle and, for all that we would have picked player A as opposed to player B, not one of us would be able to coach that side to play at anywhere near the standard that we currently do.

Do some of the people posting on here really think that the only thing JK should be judged on is what players he picks on the bench? If that is the case then it only goes to show how little understanding there is of such a difficult and stressful job!

Is that Rugby League blah blah??

No - I'm not saying that we can't question the selection (I think you may find that I said that he picked a 'strange' bench, but don't let that get in the way), nor do I think we can't question player recruitment / departures etc - or indeed any aspect of the club, but, in building my own argument (you see the idea here ) I am suggesting that there is far more to coaching than the mere picking of a side for matchday and, as such, I still maintain that JK is 'head and shoulders' the best man for the job at Wakey and that to ditch him would be akin to suicide for the club as we are currently in a point scoring position for our licence application and that's where we need to stay!

Please continue with the debate on the team selection - FWIW I would have left Gleeson out and had Murphy in the centre and an extra forward - probably Fergy - on the bench, but I don't think it would have altered the outcome.

jD WAS GREAT LAST NITE CANT BELIEVE THE TACKLES HE GOT THROUGH HES A MILES BETTER CENTRE THAN GLEESON EVEN IF JD WAS 50 YEARS OLD. GLEESON IS DONE !!! FINITO

well i watched last night expecting a good walloping, but i actually think we gave it our all last night and for me thats all i can ask, selection was strange as many people think i never known teams having a full back on bench to change half way thru, hooker yes full back no. i think matty should start full back and murphy in centres for gleeson, sorry just my opinion but he doesnt do it for me, fergie on bench i think, i would start with bj and sam as halfs and cooke to loose forward and deffo charlie on bench for wigan game we need some power i think as they are a big team, but i guess it all about opinions and i going to come out of my self exile on the evidence of last night, if we put that sort of effort in then they worth my hard earned money that all i ask is effort and commitment, if these things as well as ability to stick to game plan are there then we will win more games i sure

SENSE!

I feel the lapse in concentration 2 minutes before half-time lost us it and not for the first time this season! The moment Blanch dropped that ball I just knew Leeds would score before the hooter. We should have gone in 12-14 with all to play for in the 2nd half. Instead we go in 18-14 down and come out chasing the game in difficult handling conditions.

You could argue that the pass was on for Blanch and he should have taken it, you could also argue that Gleeson should have been thinking about taking the tackle and getting to half time. We'll never know.

On another note, take Maguire and Sinfield out of that Leeds team and they wouldn't have a clue.

Cant agree with you there entirely, as you say it could have gone either way. I dont think they were better than us on the night they just had a better goal kicker.

I wondered why Jk put BJ on the bench then it all unfolded.

Another mini project for JK.

It was the old cliche 'we lost it rather than they won it.' If Cooke had popped a 1 pointer over at 18-18 rather than give Hendo a crash ball to spill I think we would have gone on to win - game of inches!

What makes me smile today is after the recent slump I went to Headingley thinking we would win and we nearly did.

I've never felt that under any other coach since 1999.

The frustrating part in all this is that not only could we have taken six points off them we should have taken six points off them, apart from the Wigin drubbing we have lost on goal kicks against Leeds and FC lost to the Crusaders with two of the stickiest tries you will see this year, not to mention a disallowed try, bombed a lead against the Bulls. All this with injuries to our major players not to mention those what desserted us for different reasons. Some people will say that had we won those games it would only have been papering over the cracks, I look at it like this, when we are not competing and are getting outplayed I just think that come half time Kear will sort it, thats the confidence I have in a coach that as some people put it should not be in SL.