I forgot about that......add Whiting as well.

Now we have a genuine playmaker we may see him back to his best...although i dont see why he gets slagged off all the time.

Disappointing to hear he's a had a bit of a setback in his recovery. He's OOC so will be under plenty of pressure to deliver if he gets the nod at the start of the season (which seems inevitable) - competition has to be a good thing.

Agree with baldy that he gets undue criticism. The Yeaman of 2006 when he scored tries for fun combining with Cooke would get into most SL sides.

I'm not slagging him off. His form has been up and down since his injury in 2006 for one reason or another. We now have genuine options in the backs, and the pressure will be on him to perform and hold onto his starting position.

Some people go OTT, but by an large Yeaman is one of those players who generally gets away with little criticism compared to some others.

And Ade Gardner scores plenty of tries while being largely pants because of his centre partner. In Yeaman's case the key part of the partnership that resulted in so many tries in 2006 is now plying his trade across the river. It'll be interesting to see if the improvement in our halfbacks next season actually brings the predicted return to form for Yeaman or not.

I think you're being harsh. Yeaman played so well in 2005 I placed the only bet I've made in 5 years on him finishing top try scorer in 2006 before the season started. He would have walked it but for injury. He made the GB and Dream Team that season and he had far more work to do to get his tries than Gardner who generally has to just fall over the line when Gidley's sucked in the defence and got a decent pass out - Yeaman at least had to run an angle or use his step and fend.

I'm not disputing that Yeaman's been disappointing for the last 2 seasons, particularly as he's on a big money deal, that's obvious, but we've struggled to score tries full stop with no decent halves. A bit early to write him off altogether as some are happy to do.

just goes to show how much we have missed cooke doesnt it

its been two years without a good number 7 and now we have

Agree with all that and it hepls as well when you see Yeaman on a regular basis

Possibly. I admit I've never rated Yeaman as a centre - not fast enough, clever enough, and no passing game to speak of. It tends to colour my assessment of him.

He is a player that needs opportunities creating for him though. Top centres are capable of creating their own.


I wrote him off after his very first game.

just had a look for rovers squad numbers on their site, not released yet, theyve got that many voids next their number list its like an unfinished crossword puzzle

Fair enough. My assessment of him is probably coloured by non-rugby factors.

would have liked washy to get the 13 jersey tbh.

1 -17 is how i think we may line up, if all available.