What's the news on Watkins? While this kid may be a great talent, is he really injury prone? Seems to be picking up injuries quite frequently.

Unfortunately true



We might yet see the return of Keefy......on a pay per play basis he aint gonna do too bad at this rate as Watkins's cover.

[iWatkins[/i and [iinjured[/i in the same sentence?

Oh.

I remmeber many years ago seeing Jamie Jones Buchanen and injured in the same sentence a lot. He seems to have turned the table and become a member of the England squad so I have no worries over Kallum. Going by what I saw on TV i suspect the cause of the injury was the hard surface which cant have been doing anyone any good. Surprised the pitch didnt get watered more as at Man City matches ive seem the sprinklers come on at half time

With Watkins at the moment it's not a question of if it's just a question of when. It's the reverse case with his fellow centre delivering a pass to his winger.

Watkins is young and some young players go through a spate of injuries early in their careers. It shouldn't be that big a concern in the long-term if it's not the same injury re-occuring and as bewildered says Jamie Jones-Buchanan went through something similar at an early stage of his career and it hasn't held him back too much.

Ablett appears Leeds' most reliable centre at present and has been since Senior's injury 20th May 2011. That's a full twelve months away from playing now but despite that I'd be happy to see some of that spare cap money head in his direction just to see if he's anything left to offer.

Agreed. Disregarding Seniors age, a 12 month lay off will have cleared quite a few niggles, and he certainly seems up for playing at SL level. Whilst Senior & Ablett wouldn't be the fastest centre pairing in the world, they'd certainly be solid. Plus the wingers may see some decent ball. Never mind pay as you play, give him a contract until the end of season and lets see what happens

Completely Agree with Bringing Senior back to fill the gap

Oh dear, with the way this thread is going.

It was only last week that I was taking a bitch slapping for suggesting Keinhorst was just a project and would not make it as a super league player.

For gods sake, Senior? I would rather give the kid Keinhorst a go whether ending up proven wrong or not. The decision was made to let Keith go. Had Crusaders not gone belly up he would have been earning his living there now. Leave it at that. We may not have proven options to step in if Watkins is long term, but we do have Ablet and academy players who would give it a good go.

That's because you, like most people on here seem to think Leeds are still top class, and it would be below us to sign Senior. We ain't anywhere near where we used to be in terms of class. Senior wasn't as cr@p as some on here might suggest. He will slot straight in and provide the Tries we need to climb the table.

The Kids aint good enough and need someone to learn from. Someone like Senior.

Im with gotcha on this, i love senior and he was a great player for us, but there comes a time when a player needs to be moved on. If kallum is out long term we will go with abbo in his place like last season. The only way i can see senior back with us is if he accepts the pay as play deal which is by all accounts still on the table

As a fan I'd like to see Senior given the opportunity to complete his Leeds career on his feet rather than on a stretcher as was the case last May.

Depends on the extent of Watkins' latest injury set-back but I'd rather see Senior than Delaney moved back there or a kid who last week some were saying rugby isn't their priority and wasn't even Championship standard. Steve Menzies isn't letting the Catalans down and Senior's a spring chicken compared to him.

G1 will be wetting his pants now with laughter on reading that, what you have said about me. Contrasting views eh.




But he was finished tvoc, before his injury. He wouldn't have been training with us now even had the injury not happened, had Crusaders not gone belly up.

There is far too much sentiment with some players as it is at this club. Senior back in there at the expense of looking for progression would be a very wrong move.

Totally agree. With the Off Season Senior has had, alot of the Knocks and Bangs will have healed and he will be back to the form of a few years ago imho.

Steve Menzies is playing at a very high level even at his age.

I would offer Senior a Contract at a reduced rate for 12 months, after a Pay by Play Trial and ask him to mentor the likes of Watkins, Hardaker and Keinhorst. His experience is vast and would offer a massive improvement to these guys game.

Absolute rubbish even before his injury Senior was a mere shadow of the bald destroyer we'd grown to love.
His defence was weak and his impact ball in hand became very limited now he's been out over a year with a crocked knee and you think he'd be a positive signing???
We may not be top class anymore but we are past Senior and he is past it lets not also forget he isn't "pre-season fit" yet.
Let keith remain the legend he is and stick to doing his "Blakey" from on the buses around kirkstall and get on with developing and coaching what we have.

A mere shadow is better than evident inexperience which is starving 2 of our most potent attackers of Ball. Hall and McGuire used to score Tries for Fun off the back of Seniors Carriers and Assists. Burrow made up in the Defense.

Used to is the operative word there. Think you also under rating Ali's role also. We seriously miss a running backrower down that left channell also.

"USED TO" is the key in your statement he's walking with a limp or at least he was 2 weeks ago.
He was way off his best prior to injury and should be left well alone.
The inexperience isn't starving us of anything the TEAM structure is as much to blame as anything as is playing behind a struggling pack and the insistence of playing a 7 at 9 and leaving a 9 on the bench ,the defence is struggling and we've hardly created any space or offered quality ball for Watkins and Hardaker to use.
Our problems are much more than having Hardaker at LC and a crocked way past his best Senior would add very little if anything other than another place for the opposition to attack.
Also agree with Gotcha re-Ali.

Well something needs to be done, Hardaker looks more & more lost centre as each game passes & Watkins misses more games than he plays. Net result we have no genuine centres and the wingers get no decent ball. Senior isn't the perfect answer but the best of very few options

I said this the last time this came up a few months ago, i think the problem is people are remembering the Senior of 2004 which was great. The Senior who played the first 3rd of 2011 was really poor, especially in defence where he left Hall out there on his own quite a few times.

Plus after the YEP story last week of Keinhorst apparently being on the verge of a first team call up i would suspect he might get the nod before Keith. He may or may not be good enough for this level but only one way to find out, but i would wait until after the next 2 games against Wigan and Wire before giving him a chance.

Re-signing Senior until the end of 2012 is a Risk, but a Risk worth taking.

Worse things could happen.

Just a few of the comments around the time of player and club parting ways July 2011:

My how absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Senior was my hero for years, but was clearly slower, less powerful, and very much less decisive in both attack and defence during the last couple of seasons.

I can understand the yearning to bring him back to fill a gap, but I fear more for the gaps that he may leave in our defence if he returns.

if watkins is out do you think Brian McDermott will play Jimmy Keinhorst he said he is closing in on his Super League debut.

I doubt he'll chuck a young lad in for his debut against the pies or the wire, Ablett to continue where he left off in the centres I reckon

i'd convert ablett into a left centre and move hardaker. ablett has all the skills to be a big success at 4