ive said it before and i'll say it again. if we send one player forward when driving the ball in, the defence can put 3-4 players in a tackle, resulting in a slow play of the ball as they win the collision and the wrestle on the floor. so from acting half it will be hard for houghton to do anything.

send 2 or 3 forwards up whilst driving in, the defence has to think and only put 2 in a talk, so better chance of winning the collision and of winning the wrestle on the floor, resulting in quicker play the ball which is were houghton is at his best.

That's a very fair point. But regardless of whether you win the floor or not the passing should still be accurate if nothing else.

Andy the way round that is to fall on your front don't let them turn you Then you get a quick play the ball Good teams do it Wigan Leeds Saints

if you read this forum regularly you would see that his performances have frequently been called into question, especially speed and accuracy of his distribution

if you're losing the collision how can you fall on your front!

This is one of Paea's big faults and was at his time with us as well, he will make some barnstorming runs and keep the leg drive going often making an extra 5+ yards but this can be at the detriment of a quick ptb. Crowd pleaser for definite but often not he best option.

You only have to watch the Hudds game to see what a good player Danny is, in that game, the forwards were on the front foot and playing the ball fast, this allowed him to produce quick and accurate passing.

He certainly needs to improve his passing, but still a very good player and as people have said above, if he was available there would be many clubs after him, including top sides, he would get into Leeds side for certain.

You really believe that?

Yes as he is better hooker than Aiton. Also Burrow has a good scoot, but I rather have Houghton than him.

Put Houghton is Leeds or Wigan's team and with their structures and forwards he would be 5 times the player he is at Hull.

I fail to see how him being in Leeds / Wigan side will dramatically improve his decision making, tackling technique and his passing.

Why is it that Azza who is playing in the same structure rarely seems to struggle ? You don't see him giving away many forward passes from dummy half , slow low passing or rarely choosing to go the wrong way. Houghton is an ok SL player but far from the top, if the pack dominates he may make a few breaks but if the pack doesn't dominate (and lets be honest which pack does for a full 80 ? ) he is just a passenger.

The top class players in any sport find a way to win or carve open defenses in adversity and when they are up against it. Houghton can't, which seems to be a reoccurring theme admitted by most people on here.

Lot's of valid points on here, but, whilst he's not perfect & has plenty to improve on, there are a lot of things I'd prioritise changing at the club before looking to replace Danny.

My frustration comes from not wanting to replace Danny, but the issue with his lack of improvement in key areas he is lacking over the last four seasons. Why has there been no improvement in these aspects of his game. It is more indicative of the culture at the club, there are so many players that have weaknesses in their game and have shown little improvement in these areas. I just don't get why if the coaching staff cant help develop these areas then why players can't work in their own time on these problems. There just seems to be a culture that they have made it as a SL player so what do they need to work on other areas of their game for.

I'd agree it may not be the first thing on the list to correct but it should be on the list.

Your 9 is equally as important as your 7 and 6 IMO and he has contributed at times over the past few seasons to a pretty dire attack. He has to take his fair share of the flack as much as the half backs do IMO.

Playing with better players and better coaching would improve, faster playing the ball, better timed runs.

Look at Tuson, looked good in the Wigan team, looks average here.

You can pick up Hiughton on many things but defence isn't one of them, he is just about the best defender in SL, miles better than Heremia, whose defence can be poor at times.

I don't think Heremia is having a great season, but there hasn't been one thread about him.

Houghton has scored more try's already than any other season and one of outer highest assists, so he is doing something right. Even Roby would look average in some of our games thus season with how slow our play if the ball has been and poor runners.