What surprised me is that he didn't even try to change direction or use footwork to try and get past Currie - either with a big left foot step back inside him or by taking a couple of paces straight to hold him then going off the right foot towards the corner again. He just seemed to accept that he was going to get caught and cover up to take the tackle.

Which game was it last season where he blew an open run to the line by just stopping and taking the tackle (Hudds away?).

Yeah that's right....forgot about that. Again Burrow can be forgiven much for all he has contributed over the years and he [uIS[/u generally a fearless, plucky individual, but again I thought this just pulling up was hard to forgive when so critical for the win (he 'chickened out' although there are a few on here that would still desperately attempt excuses for it).
Even if he had not made the line (and I think he would have) he could not have been criticised for going for it......and on the next play out wide a try probably would have been scored (Hall)

Maybe he is worried about some sort of injury/potential injury that has not previously bothered him.?

Holy Moley I forgot about Handley. Again another who looks too good to lose. Unfortunately for him Hall, Briscoe, Watkins and Moon are nowhere near past their sell by date. And Moon proved again on Thursday how good a player he is.
Hmmm not at all sure what to do with Handley.

As for Golding, you'd think the half backs will be Sutcliffe and Lilley. Unless Hardaker leaves I can't really see a role for Golding other than like you say as a half off the bench with Lilley moving to hooker.

Thanks for that.

Maybe we can all enjoy the game a bit more now you have brought us up to speed.

Any other pearls you wish to share?

I reckon it could be your year this year

No really it could

from memory he slipped and fell over last year at hudds. He has probably lost half a yard over the years as well. Think he was hoping to come back inside currie. As GH would say enjoy whilst still here,. We will miss him when he goes.

I see the talent in Lilley and Golding although I still have slight reservations with regards to Golding. Handley, however, I have not seen anything from him to suggest he would make it at a top SL club. He has had a couple of good matches against Saints but he doesn't appear overly fast, he isn't great under the kick and he never looks like he'll break a tackle. I might be being harsh as he is only young and he may grow into a really good player but from what i've seen so far I have not been overly impressed. He just appears steady away at the moment.

No problem, you obviously forgot that bit.

Can anyone else smell a red herring?

It's obvious to everyone your one of those posters!

I've seen plenty of accounts like yours.

The point was how patronising are you (which isn't a red herring) posting stuff like

"Defence is just as important in a game as a attack"

No $hit Sherlock!

Rebuff! Rebuff! Straw man! False opposition!

Sure

I'll just agree with everything you say next time and save myself the abuse.

It's always best to sleep on it!

I really think you are being very harsh to be honest mate. Handley is way ahead of where anybody could have expected him to be right now.He has all the core skills needed imo, and the fact he played almost half a season at 18 scoring plenty of tries (13 in 21 games for Leeds 2015) and generally holding his own and not looking out of place against seasoned pro's bodes really well for the future. By comparison Ryan Hall was 19 almost 20 when he was just breaking into the Leeds side sporadically and was not the monster winger he is these days. Handley at 1 inch taller has the frame to also fill out and become an excellent three quarter in the next few years.If he keeps getting the game time at Fev and the odd game for us he is on the right track. Same goes for Golding and even Lilley ( who is getting his chance now but is no way fully developed) these lads need patience if we are to see them hit their full potential but that is a few years away.

....have you been watching the same player? He scored some cracking tries last season and apart from a little hiccup against H'field I think, he never looked out of his depth. In fairness too after his 'hiccup' he bounced right back next match. He is faster than Hall and as equally fast as Briscoe - regardless speed aint everything these days for a quality winger. He is definitely fast enough for a SL threequarter, has elusive credentials, is strong (will get stronger) and I don't remember him ever been Joe Vickeryish in any way whatsoever. Now he was hopeless which everybody could see, apparently, long before our esteemed coaching staff did. I think the last straw for them was that bluddy awful crabbing across the defensive line before being embarrsingly pushed back over it (Hull??).

Yeah, me too. I reckon if Handley had been a couple of years older we'd not have signed Briscoe.

Going to have to take you up on that one.

There were a number of times he looked out of his depth last season - Cas at home when his backside fell out taking a straightforward high kick, Magic Weekend when he was like a rabbit in headlights and couldn't hold the ball in contact both stand out.

He did some good things, but let's not pretend there weren't times he looked to be in over his head as well.

I agree with AG and RL88. Of course he is a great prospect and stood in for Briscoe very well on the whole last season. But he is some way from the finished product and I still have doubts as to his handling and defence. Apart from the dropped balls he also blew a couple of crucial tries for us last year with an inability to pass and being a big lad he often goes in too high in the tackle and a bit half hearted. He has the chance to develop further this year as time is on his side but I would rate him some way behind Golding and Lilley in class at this stage.

Ah yes forgot about those....but that's indicative. The lasting memories of him have been mostly good (in direct contrast to Vickery, eg). He is at least good enough to be enticed to stay if possible; as we all agree you can't expect to have superstars/world beaters in every position across the park.

He seemed to get his confidence back pretty quickly after the aforementioned howlers. A very good attribute in a young player; some would've shown the scars from that drop against cas for a long while. And let's face it, we don't have to delve too far into the back catalogue to find examples of equally poor play by Hall and Briscoe. I think he's a great prospect.

The Cas game was a couple of days after one of his best mates from his Academy days had died and he had to get through a minutes silence on the field before kickoff......I think in the circumstances I wouldn't hold too much (if any in fact) on his performance that night in the slightest.

I wouldn't hold it against any player never mind a young one. It happens, even to experienced players. As long as it doesn't happen regularly it's not an issue.

Agree with you that there is much more development for all 3 which is likely to take a few years. Appreciate different for props but think how long Leeds have been bringing on singleton before he hit his straps last season. Let's not be in too much of a rush to see the back of MCGuire and Burrow. No pair of halves have got anywhere near their success for Leeds. 14 championships between them.

Cas away by contrast he was absolutely superb in awful conditions where he was bombed constantly with Carney in his face.

He's a great prospect. Rough edges though.

True enough though even if he never improves on last year's standards he's playing at a level not far off some regular starters in SL. BJB, say.

Handley is very much SL ready imo yea there were errors but he was much more good than bad.