Lane, Hadley, Thompson and Ellis on the bench for me

You've got to find a way to balance long term thinking with short term success though. It's great winning games here and now, but then what? Gaz retires again and we are back to square one?

Fwiw I think the difference Ellis has made has been fairly minimal. Yes it's good to have him back to give a bit of leadership, and he can still hit with the best of them. But his importance has been overstated imo, it has been very much a cameo role for him. I'm fairly confident we would have won these games without him. We just needed a little bit of confidence.

If there is one player you can point to and say he has made a world of difference since he returned, it's Westerman.

Whilst I agree with you that Radford needs to balance long term thinking with short term success I have to disagree about the difference being minimal made by Ellis. The impact of his leadership has been huge and its no coincidence we have won with him back.
You only have to look at him during the warm up with him talking and barking out instructions to the team to see what he brings and what we lost in terms of leadership when he retired.
It may well only be a temporary measure but his impact on the team during his comeback however brief it maybe can not be understated. One of the things that sets Ellis apart from other players is he manages to get players around him to up their game and its those little extra percentages that make the difference. Thats why he is a player that is rare breed and isn't replaceable in a sense.

We can only play our best possible side, and the great Gaz Ellis has a bit more to give, the signing of Savelio and Westy, and most certainly others, will hopefully soften the blow, when Ellis finally calls it a day “again”

We will win but not by 8 points.

Don't me wrong, I am pleased that he has come out of retirement. He clearly had plenty more to give. He is a born leader and one of the best players of his generation. I hope we can get plenty more out of him.

But you say it's no coincidence we have started winning with him back. Well I think it kind of is. We played pretty well in the first two games despite losing and a win was only around the corner. We managed to snag it (with a bit of luck it has to be said), and all of a sudden a weight has been lifted and we look transformed. Westerman and Kelly returning, coupled with a more positive and expansive attack, is what has got us winning imo. Not Ellis.

If we start to develop an attitude that we can only win when Gaz is there then that is a problem going forward.

Btw, Naulago hasn't lost in a Hull shirt yet. Is that also no coincidence?

Ellis has made a huge difference, nobody can deny that.

I agree that having Kelly and Westerman back is also a massive plus and for me Westerman in intergral to our progress moving forward.
My point is though that the leadership Ellis brings is a big factor as we lack that in the team regardless.

I don’t think they have the attitude we can’t win without Ellis but at a time when we were down on players and Taylor banned it can not be under estimated the impact Ellis’ leadership will have had in a team with a horrendous losing run.

It’s not so much his ability as a player that we miss but we have no one who seems to have the same leadership quality or commands the respect. As I said he seems to get players to play that extra percentage and those make the difference.

Well I am.

Just to be clear, I think he has contributed well and has more than justified the decision to bring him back. But he is only a small part of the reason we have won 3 on the spin. Lots of other things have happened as well. You could argue that his presence has inspired more from the other players and that is what has turned us around, but that is completely subjective.

Well surely if that's the case, then hes a massive reason for the turn around. I think your right by the way, in terms of him inspiring everyone around him

I think we're all agreed, we need to keep doing whatever it takes to keep winning!

Ellis, like a lot of great players, does seem to have a knack of getting others around him to up their game. But as I said, it's subjective. Effort isn't everything, I thought the effort against KR and Cas was good, but it got us nowhere. The difference now imo is that we are executing better and playing a more positive brand of rugby. Ellis isn't the reason for that.

I almost feel like I am being critical of Ellis, that really isn't my intention at all. I just feel that too much is being made of the difference he has made. Other people have been more influential.