Leeds may have a similar age split as most teams the problem Leeds have is all their key players are now all in the over 30 category - especially the props - and that for me is the issue.

IMO that's a fair analysis. I have a slightly different take on the recruitement issue though.

If we agree the pack is the engine of the team then the hooker position is the carboureter which combines the fuel and provides the thrust.

Do I think we have found the solution to this issue ? Well time will tell but I do suggest that playing Burrow there isn't the answer.

Its a dynamic position which requires a combination of vision craft and quile and an ability to take the pack into the required positions for the packs to apply pressure and then to score.

IF and its a big if..... we have found a replacement that can lead the pack I believe we have a good blend of youth and experience in the forwards and a very exciting set of backs which can achieve.

IMO that's a fair analysis. I have a slightly different take on the recruitement issue though.

If we agree the pack is the engine of the team then the hooker position is the carboureter which combines the fuel and provides the thrust.

Do I think we have found the solution to this issue ? Well time will tell but I do suggest that playing Burrow there isn't the answer.

Its a dynamic position which requires a combination of vision craft and quile and an ability to take the pack into the required positions for the backs to apply pressure and then to score.

IF..... and its a big if..... we have found a replacement that can lead the pack I believe we have a good blend of youth and experience in the forwards and a very exciting set of backs which can achieve.





So does that mean we replace them all regardless ???

Ask Tony Smith.

No but you also don't let them all get old together - we could have replaced Kirke & Kylie with younger models such as Amor and that would give the pack a younger feel without losing any quality in fact the quality would have been improved.

Ask Tony Smith what Nathan Brown has done!!

Hindsight is always 20/20



I agree Amor seems to have been worthy of retention on the face of it but we don't ever know all the circumstances.

Saints seem to have recruited well ( for once ) with Walsh and look very balanced and already had Roby in place , by the way what age are they ???

Just checked 26 and 28 so Saints seem to be in good stead this year.

I am looking forward to seeing a bit more of Sutcliffe, Singleton, Achurch and Yates this season.

DA-I agree re-Hooker but i still think Mc.D will put RB in there most if not all games when fit unless we lose Mags again & RB goes to 7.

Hindsight is no substitute for making the correct decision - in this case it would appear GH has made several poor decisions.

On Yates - I think that signing was GH trying to justify the scrapping of the reserve grade. A very average player even in the championship.

Hindsight is Hindsight and judging so called poor decisions is easy with the benefit of same.

GH may well have made some errors he is only human after all but I can say looking back he has made lots of good ones.

Judging such a young player with very limited game time is very subjective and at best personal opinion only.

I tend to leave those decisions to those with a lot more experience in the game. He might well fit into the category of decisions such as Hardaker Hall Watkins BJB Moon in recent years.

When Amor went in loan to Wakefield I don't remember anyone being bothered at all. In fact he had been written off by most on here as useless. By the end of that year it was clear he had something however he made the decision to stay somewhere he was guaranteed a start and enjoyed playing his rugby rather than fight for a spot at the current Grand final winners. Interesting no other big club was interested at that stage. It's hardly the horrible decision some on here would have you believe

Was it at Wigan, where he had about fifteen minutes of looking like an absolute headless chicken and had to be subbed out of his misery?

I think so. He played in a couple of other games I think but IIRC he never made an impact and was heavily criticised on here. Probably by the same people now criticising the club for not persevering with him

Quote ="ThePrinter"Tvoc made incorrect claims, thus needs to leave the board according to his promise. He won't though because he's a liar.'" As already stated people can look back to what I said and when I said it. My offer was in response to this post here - viewtopic.php?f=17&t=563946&tsmp=1393508477&start=32 where you made comparisons between six forwards based on Opta stats. You made errors in your calculations and you've admitted this to be the case. _____ All that's required now are the corrected stats that you've promised but so far failed to deliver.

Quote ="ThePrinter"Tvoc made incorrect claims, thus needs to leave the board according to his promise. He won't though because he's a liar.'" As already stated people can look back to what I said and when I said it. My offer was in response to this post here - viewtopic.php?f=17&t=563946&tsmp=1393508477&start=32 where you made comparisons between six forwards based on Opta stats. You made errors in your calculations and you've admitted this to be the case. _____ All that's required now are the corrected stats that you've promised but so far failed to deliver.

actually several people questioned the decision at the time. some of us rated him highly.
also its a good job young players aren't judged on one early game or plenty of our 30+ players now wouldn't be here!

Quote ="tvoc"As already stated people can look back to what I said and when I said it. My offer was in response to this post here - viewtopic.php? ... 7&start=32 where you made comparisons between six forwards based on Opta stats. You made errors in your calculations and you've admitted this to be the case. _____ All that's required now are the corrected stats that you've promised but so far failed to deliver.'" I can't correct the stats until you tell me how 2013 was incomplete in terms of games. As I'm of the opinion only 2012 is incomplete then it would be utterly pointless to post new stats as my 2013 numbers would be the same, but you claim an error with them. Do share.

Quote ="tvoc"As already stated people can look back to what I said and when I said it. My offer was in response to this post here - viewtopic.php? ... 7&start=32 where you made comparisons between six forwards based on Opta stats. You made errors in your calculations and you've admitted this to be the case. _____ All that's required now are the corrected stats that you've promised but so far failed to deliver.'" I can't correct the stats until you tell me how 2013 was incomplete in terms of games. As I'm of the opinion only 2012 is incomplete then it would be utterly pointless to post new stats as my 2013 numbers would be the same, but you claim an error with them. Do share.

Amor is one of a very few players that we've let go that I wish we hadn't. I remember saying at the time that the loan spell at Wakefield was a good idea for the lad but we should have moved heaven and earth to keep his name on the Leeds books.

I'd be surprised if we don't see him as a regular international come the 2017 world cup.

The decision to let Amor go to Wakefield on loan was the correct one.

However, do you think Amor should've been judged on a couple of first team displays for Leeds or should Leeds have utilized the loan deal properly by assessing Amor's performances whilst he was out at loan.

Whilst the decision to Amor go on loan was correct, the decision to let hois stay permanently was not. This is not hindsight on my paty anyway. I said in game threads when he played against us or when IO saw him that he was impressive and better than most of our forwards (not to mention younger).

Hindsight or not the club messed up with Amor.

I didn't have an opinion when he went on loan. Mainly because I hadn't seen him play. I thought it was probably a good idea to see how he coped in a Super League environment. This had previously worked well for us when Scruton went to Hull and Burgess to London.

I'm not sure any of us are aware of how the situation developed while he was at Wakefield or what contact Leeds had with him at the time. It looks like they lost the player during that year but how much was down to Leeds and how much was down to the player we'll never know. At the end of that year other clubs could have tried to sign him and didn't. It was only another Wakey firesale which caused him to move on

Going on loan was a good idea. As I posted on here at the time my wakey supporting mates raved about him. The reports and marks in trade papers were very complimentary. You get the feeling once he was Gone he was forgotten by Leeds and they weren't interested.
Whatever the reasons it was a huge error especially by a coach who if anyone could recognize a good prop it's him

This is how i see it too.Anyone paying a bit of attention could see Amor was making big strides at Wakey compared to his early, fish out of water, few games for us.If he was still with us now he would be the second best prop at the club behind only JP and way ahead of the likes of Kirke,Achurch and Kylie who is running on fumes.

It does strike me as an odd decision. You have to wonder why Leeds didn't rate him highly

Freely admit to being one of those none-too-fussed when Amor signed for Wakey. Luckily I'm not the one being paid to get these decisions right



Having seen a couple of his recent performances, I'm wondering whether we didn't miss the boat twice-over. The reported £30k fee that Saints paid to Wakey is starting to look awfully good value.

Unfortunately, Amor does seem to be the one that got away.

It's irritating the situation regarding amor.

We are gagging for a player like that at the moment.

We had him just a few years ago. If we had simply shown patience like we did with ablett and and buchanon our pack would be much better equipped.

Short sightedness from the club, don't know how people can squirm and defend the decision.

I thought it was mistake in not retaining him,unfortunately it looks like a very big mistake!!.
What makes it worse is when they come back and play really well against us, still nothing can surpass us turning Jason Robinson away.

When we let Amor go in the first place was almost unforgivable but to not pick him up when Wakefield were selling the family silver was definitely unforgivable.