Daft?
Hardaker's absence not only as a star player but also as part of a team that was majorly disrupted only 48 hours before a massive
game was a major factor IMO - the team had to be switched round and the gameplan will have been out of the window.

To say it wasn't a factor is daft - coupling with the fact that Gale is a pivotal part of that side who simply didn't turn were 2 very
major factors indeed.

OK so Cas were just crap!

Yesterday's match ,yes they were

Hardaker was a great replacement for Dorn but, with more pace and agility.
One player doesn't make a team but, the disruption caused by his absence, at short notice, certainly cost Cas any chance of winning yesterdays game.
The biggest shock was that the bookies kept Cas as favourites, which helped the odds on a Leeds win

I disagree. Men of Steel rarely back up the season after to anywhere near the previous seasons form. Gale has been crap for many years, he may swagger next season but he could all too well look very foolish.

Gale Once is fringe (Head) returns back to normal after is man of steel award he may realise he is not a god. I am sure the Aussies will test how good he really is if he his selected? Swagger or no swagger

Leeds completely shut him down yesterday by dealing with the Cas pack. He'll get even less space off the Aussies.

Tip my hat to Leeds on a well executed game plan but unfortunately Cas did not make a match of it and for me resulted in a poor spectacle for the neutral. So I sway towards agreeing it was a terrible Grand Final.

To be fair to Gale no halfback would have had much chance behind the Cas pack yesterday, they were beyond terrible and bossed all game. Couple it with the fact that he is ovviuosly not fully fit after his operation then its no surprise he looked, and was, poor. Ben Roberts was every bit as bad as him if not worse and that followed up from him having a nightmare in the semi final as well. If you want to look for a bottle job look there.

I didn't say it wasn't a factor, I said it was one of a number of factors, and yeah, to blame that entire team performance on hardakers absence is definitely daft, heck, he could have broke down in the warm up just before the game.

That on its own does not explain that performance

Having an opinion isn't daft as we will never know what difference he would have made.
Simple as that.

Tbf even your own fans said you could put any decent winger on that wing & they'd score plenty, which you did at times and I don't really remember hearing anything different on any other forum.
I also think you did miss Clarke, as far as easy meters from dummy half for sometime after. But Powell's found a differnet structure for you to play under making the most of the players you've got.
As for Chase, he went and came back but in the meantime you made 2 good signings in Roberts & Gale.
Lets be honest though, Hardaker according to many Cas fans was the best FB they'd seen at the Club. So whichever way you look at it, he's going to take some replacing. I'm sure though Powell will have something up his sleeve if he goes mind.

Think Cas would've been his last chance saloon. Getting away with homophobic comments and beating up a student in Leeds, being allowed to jet off into the sun whilst his teams mate were struggling in the bottom four last year.