1.Luke burgess,took the ball up strong and hard and made yards everytime

2.kylie,yet again made good yards solid in the tackle and played long minutes which was needed

3.Delaney,second row really looks his place,hard 2 put down and made good yards and prob a lot of tackles would like 2 c the opta

Had to agree with sky, thought burrow had a great game

They all looked good tbh. Things I've learned so far:

1. Buderus is effective over 80 mins.
2. Despite Stevo's sticky underwear, BJB and Watkins look the business.
3. Delaney had a stormer in the second row.
4. Burrow has got a good short kicking game.
5. Kirke, Burgess and Kylie were excellent in defence and attack. Loved Kylie's hit on Fitzgibbon.

I think Delaney was on for man of the match if he had played the full match. Buderus looked good, clever player. BJB was strong again and Watkins didn't look out of place.

Lee Smith needs to improve drastically for me.

1. Thought Delaney had an outstanding game in the second row.

2. Burrow, great game always had the Hull defense on their guard

3. Kylie, for his fitness and overall game.

Great team effort.

Very difficult to choose 3, but I'll give it a go:

1. Buderus, as mentioned looks very good playing the full 80 and his experience is key
2. Burrow, appears to be returning to his best form and looks electric at times
3. Burgess, his go forward looks much improved from previous seasons.

These aren't in order and I think the rest of the squad was immense tonight and Delaney looks at home in the 2nd row. I really rate Smith but looked a little off the pace tonight.

And finally getting his opportunity, now that Diskin's testimonial is out of the way and he's thankfully gone.

Comes as quite a shock for some people



Never doubted it myself.

It's just funny that for all of last season certain individuals supposedly held in esteem by the "s" (sychophants) on here would deny it.

I (and others of course) have also stated for what seems like eons that Delaney would be a better second rower.... and that the likes of BJB should not be shipped out to other clubs (and is indeed wasted on the wing).

Burgess was the biggest improvement and was a very impressive prop. Burrow looks back to his unpredictable best.

In fairness, I think we are seeing the benefit of BJB being 'shipped out' to Quins last season. Not least because he played under McDermott last season who has total faith in him.

Without getting into a pi$$ing comp were Buderus and Diskin not rated for their individual Rhinos performances fairly last season?
Bjb was onto a winner going out on loan and GH saw that ,Delaney was signed as a centre the other option Watkins got injured early on.
Delaney was unfairly scape-goated at times when the whole team were struggling and there clearly was'nt a back-row spot available to him.

not really a shock, just impossible to say for sure that he can do 80mins week in week out for Leeds until we have seen him do it, still haven't

We'll never be certain of course...but if BJB HAD been available last season to play in the threequarters (at least, if not FB) allowing Delaney to play in his patently obvious (to me and others - Bloodbath) much better more natural position in the second row who knows what we might have acheived in 2010 ???

Don't forget BJB is not a "kid"...he's 22 !!!!

Delaney couldn't have moved to Second row last season simply because nobody was there to cover centre. I'd say Watkins, who wasn't available for 95% of 2010, has forced McD to make the move and try and make it fit.

BJB is the player he is today because of his highly successful loan move to Harlequins.

1-17 impressed this eve.

I have every respect for you and your optimism/faith in the club's decisions...but:

1/ Diskin was "accomodated" IMO
2/ Why limit the options in any position ?
3/ I could always see Delaney's virtues of hard drives and good tackling...but it seemed to be incongruous to being a good centre. I am happy he is getting a run in the second row. He deserves it.
4/ "Not available to him" makes no sense. No position should be made exclusive to certain individuals only.

Lee Smith impressed?

Delaney was superb in the second row.
Ablett looked competent at loose forward again.
BJB, Bedsy, Burrow and Sini all superb.
The forwards as a unit put in a really good performance, especially considering the injuries.

Senior yet to his his stride this season, Smith looked dodgy as well. Find that one strange as he looked immense on New Years Day and I was expecting him to come out strong this season.

All in all an encouraging game though. Thought Silverwood had a superb game (save one or two decisions that went our way) and it's just a shame Eddie and Stevo still quote the rules incorrectly.

I guess it is, but his playing career suggests it shouldn't be problem.

Glad he was on the bench tonight though. Do you still think he is a wasted option as a sub ?

Even if Webb had not been injured his presence there effectively makes Senior the fourth forward sub option... if needed. Neither though should be guaranteed a place....in my mind both come behind BJB and Watkins in the pecking order for 2011.

Silverwood had a good game tonight I must add too.

Delaney
Burrow
Kylie
in no particular order were the top 3 performers IMO in a promising team performance.

Nantwich ......
You've had that opinon from day 1 about Disko and fair play to yer but when we signed Buderus it was to play 2 hookers.
As frustrating as it was at times both warranted selection for most of the time and the same could of been said about Buderus at times especially during his 1st year when in all honesty he had about 4/5 games where he showed his true quality imo.
I don't think it was a case of "limiting" our options it was much better to get Bjb out on loan to Quinns for a full yr in SL rather than have him hanging around in the u20's waiting for injuries ,it also helped him see 1st hand SL RL week in week out rather than a couple of apearances here and there then back in the reserves.
Others saw delaneys good leg drive etc and mentioned it aswell but he was signed as RC and ddeserved to be given at least the full season to settle in that position.
There is'nt a restriction as such on who plays where but there is a "pecking order" and Delaney was'nt amongst that for the Back-row which is'nt unreasonable given who was in front of him at the time.

We'll just have to disagree...but why do you state BJB would have had to "hang around waiting for injuries" ??? Who do you think was immune from de-selection in his favour ??
A waste of a year IMO. (He could have played centre at least if not FB...allowing Delaney to have competed effectively for a second row spot. Another waste of [ihis [/iyear playing centre).

Suprisingly, i agree with you. Smith was handy to have on the bench, whether it be to fill in at FB, Wing or Centre.

I thought he did what was asked of him. Nothing more or less.

Bjb is and always was a FB who could maybe cover wing or centre and when he played Wing he did'nt look overly comfortable.
Now at the start of last year Webb was 1st choice FB and the wingers were Donald and Hall with Watkins the preferred choice to cover the back 3 or either centre and with Ablett as 2nd back up.
Before the ridiculous injuries kicked in the chance arose for Bjb to get a full season of SL in at a club where he'd find it easier to gain a spot in the 13/17 so it was a "no brainer" he went did well gained experience at both FB and centre.
Now when the injuries bit the deal to secure Smithys return was bubbling away behind the scenes to recall Bjb would of taken us over the SC limit so again it was'nt an option.
The loan move has worked wonders for us and the lad and lets be straight barring that awfull injury list last year Bjb would not of had a sniff of a regular place so again it was'nt really a serious option to keep him "on stand by".
The Delaney debate has been done to death he was signed as a centre and deserved to stay at centre and was never in the running for the BR with the likes of Ali ,Jjb ,Ablett ,kirke ,Eastwood and the emergance of Clarkson.
In fact under Bluey it was the intention to spell Senior there to give Watkins more game-time in his natural LC position but of course the injuries bit.
There was a hell of a lot of circumstance that went against us last year and the 99% of the options you or others suggested at the time or mention with hindsight were'nt options when the season planning was in place and it's easy to see why imo.