If Balmforth was leaving, I don't think he plays on Saturday. There would be no point, it would be a bit like Bullesye - "Let's have a look at what you could have won".

For me, I could handle going with Burrough, Rimbu and Balmforth, especially with Denive looking like he could play as a 13 as well.

With a solid pack of possibly Herman, Ligi, Cartwright, Holmes, Asiata, and another quality forward maybe, putting young Balmforth as a wrecking ball amongst this pack has me thinking the outlook is very much positive.

A bit of genuine pace in the three quarters please, with a flyer on the outside, the possibility of hope has returned.

Did we have a choice, had no other hookers.

I hope he stays, but just a feeling (nothing more) that he leaves.

Probably announce his new contract tonight now.

I think Grix probably spoke out about Denvie to quieten the noise and clamour from fans to see him included.

I don't agree with how he did it, but probably felt the pressure to say something. Rightly or wrongly.

Hope he stays, but equally won't be surprised if he leaves. I'd hope he sees a new coach coming in as a real opportunity to finally launch a good career.

https://youtu.be/ABur4r4oIxM Reserve game highlights

https://youtu.be/ABur4r4oIxM Reserve game highlights

Scott for Sutcliffe and Cartwright straight in
This coach seems to be in love with Houghton so i suspect he will be back

If it was Tinkering Tony he would have played Lane at nine

You'd like to think Danny might say to coaching staff to rest him till he's fully healed and put the team first. Would still have Houghton ahead of Smith when fully fit though

We’ve caused another Smith to be sacked. Let’s see how long it takes Rhinos to sign and pay for Rowley.

Think it’d be fair to say we know why Rowley suddenly changed his mind when he was all set to join us. Think it all changed when Leeds went after Blease.

Though I do think we have probably got the better Coach due to his experience and working alongside some of the best Coaches in the game. Fingers crossed Cartwright has a similar impact with us as the likes of Holbrook, Maguire did with St’s & Wigan

I think cartwright us probably a better fit for where we are as a club compared to Rowley. It will be interesting to see how he goes at a club with more resources than he's used to, likewise cartwright at a club with a fraction of the resources he's used to

They both took over teams that had got to within one game of the GF. They improved them but I feel like coaches get a lot of credit for doing what’s pretty routine at those clubs. Although there’s a case that it’s easier to make an impact where there’s more room for improvement (e.g. Cas under Powell), and that the last step is the hardest (as seen at Cas under Powell), I’m not sure that really applies to Saints and Wigan in SL.

I get your point to agree but when both Holbrook & Maguire joined St's & Wigan respectively both clubs/teams at the time were well below the standards we come to expect. Wigan were an absolute car crash and had an experienced Coach in Noble prior to Maguire coming in. St's were pretty awful under Cunningham maybe his inexperience cost him and St's.

The point is both Coaches went in to clubs at a time when they were poor not just by their own standards but in general overall and clubs that have a huge expectancy to be winners. For me if we'd have had a Holbrook or Maguire as Coach in 2016 to 2018 I believe we would have reached at least 1 GF.
I think with where we are as a club Cartwright does seem a much better fit for us, he has been working alongside some of the best NRL head coaches and at successful teams for a sustained period, which its fair to say you don't do that if you're just average. Also think Cartwright's knowledge & experience with the modern game of RL at the highest level will be invaluable to us as a club in our current state.

Think for a coach like Rowley it will be a huge step if he does end up at Leeds to then be under that weight of expectancy, though with Blease there it would lessen that weight somewhat. Question is if they do team up at Leeds can they replicate what they did at Salford?

Having watched the game back, it was great to see the scramble defence and the team really looking together and having some belief. Balmforth was great when he came on, his passing was nearly always where it needed to be, decent in defence but was blowing a bit towards the end, we look so much more of a threat with him at 9.

Ashworth, Sao and Ese Ese were also great (Ese Ese man of the match for me) really lead from the front, on paper Leeds have 4 very good front rows and we dominated them.

Thought Tony Smith spoke very well but Wilkin is an absolute clown which is something we already knew. The guy can't seem to give Hull any credit, I genuinely have no idea how he has a job as a pundit.

We’re not miles apart, so I won’t (for once!) be argumentative.
I think Radford was, for that brief period, the right man in the right place at the right time for Hull. Sometimes success is very situational.

What happens next at Leeds will be very interesting. They’ve repeatedly stuffed up their post-golden era rebuilds, when it almost seems harder for them to get it wrong than right.