Having watched us over the past few seasons and again yesterday, one major weakness we have yet to solve is height on the wing and centre positions. Briscoe and Yeamen are always poor under the high ball and for an international standard pairing, that is quite a surprise. Arundel and Crookes looked even worse yesterday, so I think teams are going to bomb either side and know they are going to get some results. I really think this will hold us back achieving anything great this year. What surprises me is the hesitation we show when jumping for the ball. I honestly believe Briscoe can’t be considered world class as this is a very poor aspect of his game which is a fundamental part of being a winger. Tom Lineham would address this problem on one side and looked the best winger by far yesterday. I think we should let Briscoe go and use the astronomical offer put to him for a number 7! Lineham can be even better than him in my opinion.

Why, has he suggested he will be paying his wages to Hull?

When Briscoe came into the team he looked dodgy, but he has since become very dependable under the high ball. Of course he will be disadvantaged when playing opposite a 6'5 monster but in that scenario Yeaman just has to protect him a bit better.

I dont often question Gentle's judgement, but I would like to know his thought process if he picks Crookes ahead of Lineham for the Leeds game. Tom is quicker, stronger, taller, more hungry for work, and he can finish and catch a ball too. Crookes is a useful player, in fact I quite like him, but Lineham will be something special.

Briscoe has never been great under the bomb A problem that should have been resolved under the previous regimes when he was a kid Thing is his iinternational centre has always had a penchant for going missing on the protecting his winger stakes Something that cant be said with Whiting along side you .Vertically challenged, Precky wasnt a giant was he

by no means, but as he has proved since, he was brave.

would defo start lineham, but also think we gotta give crookes and arundel time to get match fit, neither played much last year so there going to be very rusty,

Briscoe being poor under the high ball is a myth, was when he started but has really worked on this the last two season and is now very solid, when was the last time he cost us a try or dropped a bomb while playing on he wing.

From what I have seen lineham looks good under the high ball also.

I was very dissapointed in Shannon McDonnell. He seems very good in attack, and a good support player, but every single high ball he backs off and waits for it to land. We will concede loads from kicks this season.

Don't agree with that at all. Dobson put up a huge bomb yesterday and managed to get it spirralling too, which are always very hard to catch. Caught it no problem under alot of pressure too. The only time I've seen him let a ball bounce is when he and Briscoe didn't comunicate with each other so neither knew who was going for it in the Castleford game.

Think Briscoe goes for the tackle rather than the catch, it's a shame we don't have video ref enough because Briscoe is very good at turning attackers over when they dive and I'm sure there have been tries that wouldn't have stood if put up to the video ref thanks to Briscoe turning the player over and getting his legs underneath

Tom Briscoe is 6' tall. Players defending a high ball on their own line are at a disadvantage. The attacking player usually is running forward when they jump which means 1. they jump into the defender and 2 they have a running start - the defender jumps from a standing start. Something to do with physics I believe - or is that the forward pass?

Last tackle plays at both ends were a major downfall for us last season. Granted the execution was often poor (Seymour) but our ideas and lack of organisation were so frustrating to watch. As the OP says, we've not been too hot defending kicks in recent years either.

Thats the crux of it

In fact whose outside backs are far superior to ours in defending kicks?

most defending outside backs struggle under the high ball to the wing scenario, thats why so many teams use it

Pat Richards doesn't struggle under the high ball, probably 'cos he's 6'5". His new centre, replacing Carmont, is likely to be Iain Thornley who's also 6'5", if not him then Anthony Gelling.
No guesses for Gelling's height either.
Shaun Wane has five players in his squad who are 6'5". He has named seven props of whom 5 are over 6'3".
It does appear that's the way the game is going.
Hudds have a massive pack height wise and quite a few clubs are recruiting that way.