I don't think anyone should be deemed 'safe' and that they all should be fighting for their place in the side but I firmly believe that Briscoe/Hall are likely to be fighting it out for the centre spot alongside Yeaman.

As yet we have zero evidence to support Briscoe as a centre, in fact all the good things he has done so far in SL show genuine winger traits. Of course we won't know until he plays there and ultimately maybe Hall/Briscoe will form the centre pairing at some stage in the future but with the little service he has had Yeaman has had a good season. If we were to sign an overseas centre then the picture would change again.

You may be right regards Briscoe, and I think someone mentioned on here that he now sees himself as more of a winger. Whether that's just because he's had the game time there I don't know.

I do know that Yeaman is not a top centre, and IMO he will never be one. He simply doesn't have the skills or, frankly, the brains. He lacks the vision and/or commitment to create his own chances or back up the half-chances regularly. He shows occasional flashes but nowhere near enough.

Whether it's Briscoe or a new signing, we need better IMO.

Yet Hall has proved this?

Briscoe imo will play on the wing for at least another season. Yeaman and Hall will play in the centres (unless someone comes in or Turner plays there). Yeaman needs service, as does any centre and when the ball has gone wide early to Manu/Yeaman's side they have looked very dangerous together. He does miss tackles at times, usually when he is flying out of the line but at the same time saves tries with the way he defends too. It's not Yeaman's fault that it takes Hull an age to get the ball to him. Hopefully next season with Long's influence he will get better service and if he does then I have no doubts he will produce.

I'd go with that, but I would definitely give Yeaman first crack at it over Briscoe. As you say, to some extent he's still living on a good couple of seasons a few years ago, but that's as much down to increasingly poor supply as his own play. He's still a proven try scorer when he gets the chance, arguably the most consistent we have, his only weakness for me is still that he doesn't put his winger away enough.

I'd switch him to right centre for next year and pair Hall with Raynor on the left. Could work well for both of them IMO, as Hall looks more comfortable on the left and has showed good glimpses with Raynor, and being on the right would put Yeaman on the receiving side of the left-handed Long for hopefully better supply.

I have been saying that for two years, you only have to look at the way the both play to see it would benefit them both hugely.

Agree 100%. He's been living on past glories for far too long now. Calderwood has had no service this year and yet he's been one of our best players.

IMO Hall has shown more of the core skill and vision [iin attack[/i than Yeaman. There's still a question over his defence, although that seems to have improved.


Yeaman regularly fails to support attacking play unless it starts right next to him and/or close to the try line. Even in the few games I've seen this season he rarely backs up breaks that start from deep or from further away than his second row or winger. A top centre would be doing this, and would therefore be getting more 'service'. Hall gets the ball more often than Yeaman because he has the vision to do this. Yeaman has failed to show the same vision over his entire career - I'm fairly sure he's not going to start now.

We know Yeaman can score tries from mid to close range if put on the end of a defence-splitting pass. I'd argue that any decent second-row forward could do the same. Maybe a change to the other centre position would utilise his talents better as you suggest in another post, but basically we'd be working around his limitations.

Yeaman has been on the whole poor and is another one living on past glories. He lacks the skill required to make opportunities for his winger and the ability to read the game and be up with play supporting when he should be. Hall and Briscoe are far better prospects but agree where said elsewhere that Hall should have the left centre berth as his own next year. Yeaman to move to the right - Briscoe is still young and should be cover for wing/centre. Let's face it he will get plenty of game time with our injury record.

Back on topic re Calderwood being dropped Agar's comments in the HDM about preferring Briscoe and Raynor to 'bring the ball out of our half strongly' against the big Catalans side says much about his negative thought processes. Instead of using kick/chase to Calderwood's wing turning their big players around time and again he opts instead for a defensive type mentality with no thought for how to threaten the opposition. That while at the same time seeing fit to drop our most enthusiastic player when he has failed to drop players for consistent failure in the past. Time for his taxi I think.

Why dont we keep ringing all the taxi firms in hull, get them to turn up at the KC for the name AGAR. Surely that would get the point across !!!!

Maybe not then !!

That's the point for me. It's the first rule of managing a sports team that you don't drop your best performing, most enthusiastic players. Only a complete idiot would do such a thing.

His support play could be better I grant you that. However I don't see all these limitations you refer to. He has never been the best at putting his winger away but neither was Senior. Senior was constantly abused by fans saying his winger would not get the ball but in recent years it has become his strength and you only have to look at the quality ball that Hall now gets and the number of tries he scores to back that up. Both Hall and Yeaman need to work on this aspect of their game imo and if the did they would both improve greatly. The fact is Hall does look to be more ambitious with the ball in hand but often his decision making lets him down. Yeaman and Hall are the best two centres we have but unless the coaches do some specific coaching I don't see the improvement coming quickly.

If Yeaman went to play at Leeds or Saints then within 12 months he would go on to be one of the best centre's in the game. Of course that is only opinion and part of me would like to see him move just to see him fulfill his potential.

There isn't a single player at Hull who has reached their potential in the last two seasons, take Berrigan, Horne, Hall, Yeaman or Raynor (yes, even Raynor) and put them at Saints or Leeds and they would be 100% better players, it's a combination of poor coaching, poor recruitment, poor retention, poor tactics, poor options.

But hey, everything we do is A grade, we're even the best at being poor in SL!

Fu(K me i have been away in the lakes all weekend (so been cut off from the www) & we have lost again 9no suprise there) but i am now reading he dropped calderwood huh whats that all about he is the only 1 of em that puts some effort in....maybe thats the problem!!! This clown gotta go....

Not good is it!!

No, but it is what the fans deserve, too many years accepting mediocrity on and off the field I am afraid.