Sam Walters was MoM. I agree that Sinfield deserved it, and would have been my vote.

Sam had a decent game, but I got the feeling it was partially a farewell gift.

I think RS needs great credit this week. Under all sorts of pressure, and the team we had out couldn’t have gone much better.

I thought he really for the side up for that game and we smashed Cas to the point they didn’t want it.

if he deserve credit for getting them up for last night does he not deserve criticism for his failure to do so for the vast majority of the season?

I don’t want to get carried away as Castleford were dire last night, but it was the first time it actually looked like we had a structure to our attack. Like they genuinely called and lined up plays when in the opposition half. Was strange to see after looking clueless for the majority of the other 26 games.

I like the way JOC and CJ were used. I don’t mind JOC as a solid first 30 mins tackle everything. CJ is much more fluid in attack and without out Smith/Sezer/Austin outside he was calling plays and taking control. Sinfield looked good as well, good controlled kicking game and I loved that inside step for the Lisone try.

Without another few signings of proper quality it will likely be much the same next year. Happy to sign off the season with a win.

Im not sure it would automatically be the same as this year, look at all the disruption i cannot see that happening again next year

If Johnson can nail the 9 shirt and is the better option, O’Connor is perfect for the 14 role off the bench with the current concussion rules etc. He can do a decent job or allow you to shuffle people pretty much anywhere.

Agreed and he can cover back row or in an emergency the halves too.

Isn’t it strange to think that’s the last Rhinos game now til Boxing Day and then the friendlies? 3 months.

All eyes on the next 2/3 signings, getting these right is so important if we’re going to start making real progress over the next couple of years.

Walters was best player on the field and will be a G.B regular within a year

Yeah, sadly he looks better and better with the ball with more room to improve further and defence is much improved

I thought Sam had a real impact on the game as he has several when playing prop.

How much will we have to spend to replace him, versus how much it would have cost to keep him?

Maybe he wanted to be back closer to family again who knows.

Yes hopefully that is the case and both are fully fit and rested for the start of next season. I can't remember if Newman has had a season without missing a large chunk of games due to injury. If he could do that, we would see the player he can become and it may help his attitude on the field. He must be a frustrated person due to the injuries he's had and let's that get the better of himself at times.

I’m no elite athlete but had plenty of hamstring and calf tears and I’m just prone to them - could be Newman’s physiology or just accumulation of scar tissue. He limps almost every game.

Hopefully whatever he picked up yesterday is minor and he’ll be able to have a good off season. Think Holroyd needs one too.

I`m not sure that was the case with Walters.
He has been playing here a while now and I understand was settled.
I think at the time he was not getting in the team whereas others who were not performing were.
He wanted his future sorting early (Smith said as much) but Smith clearly wasn`t convinced he was good enough.
He got in the first team due to injuries and suspensions and the rest is history.

I also heard Sam wanted to play second row rather than prop, he’s much more likely to play that position at Wigan, Smith saw him as a prop - FWIW he is a better prop than second rower imo.

Fair enough but I can’t believe Wigan have offered him less money than Leeds…

Good luck to the lad, will definitely be spicy next time he plays Leeds. Holroyd will be after him all game for one.

Walters has a bit of attitude but he could be an outstanding player. Let’s hope we have one or two more outstanding props in development.

Yeh, sorry to say that it looks like we've messed up with Walters.
He's gonna be a very good player.
For whatever reason we've let him slip through the net.

Regarding Newman, it's a very big year for him next year.
Injury free and playing well and he will earn an upgraded contract, or potentially a move to Saints/Wire/Wigan or the NRL.
Injury blighted season again and I can't see us renewing his contract and other clubs will be put off.
Interesting one.

We have messed up with Walters, no two ways about it, theres a dearth of big, talented British forwards and we've lost one to a rival whilst spending a pretty sum on a load of Midgets...Donaldson, Goudemond, Bentley.

Dont mean to turn the positive result into a negative thread, but it is what it is, plenty of fans could see the potential even before he started Playing regularly, the club should of been able to.

The club did want to keep him and offered him a decent contract. He just chose to go to Wigan, it happens.

Obviously didnt offer a package good enough did we, aswel as not putting enough faith in him until our hand was forced.

We messed up, like you say, it happens

If he wants to play back row and we see him as a prop (imo I think he’s a better prop) it might not have mattered what we offered compared to Wigan. Particularly when he looks at how they use KPP and his game is very similar and there’s a spot to slot straight in there.

Clearly we did offer and want to keep him. But if he wants to be a back row I can understand why he’d see Wigan as the more attractive offer of money etc is all roughly equal.

Because who wants a 6ft 6, athletic, try scoring, backrow, who runs good lines, can offload, got some attitude and has loads more physical potential to come.

Yep, makes sense now, we dont need one of them

I’m not sure anyone’s said that, just that he’s performed better at prop than in the back row for us.

For me part of the issue is allowing an ex-England academy international player with loads of promise to get into the last year of contract. I would have minded a little less had Wigan had to pay £100k for him but as it is this is a limp exit. He hasn’t really contributed meaningfully to first grade yet but we’ve put 4 years of development into him.

It does look to me like the player wanted to go anyway, players are not in the club’s control. It is going to cost us a fortune to replace Walters though and I have to wonder whether we could and should have done more.

To be fair he didn’t really show as much promise until he had a run of first grade games at prop so some of this is benefit of hindsight.

And we are forgetting one important factor in this, what Walters himself wanted to do.

He might not have wanted to extend his contract last year and he might have always wanted to play for Wigan, we made him a decent offer he turned it down that’s it move on.

He has played well at prop, but thats where he's had his first team oppurtunity, he's also a very good second row who hasnt had the oppurtunity to play there consistently at first team level.

Matty peets on record as saying he's a prop or second row, which is exactly right,so for anybody who believes everything clubs/players/coaches say, that dosnt sound like a coach who has made any guarentees about position. If we have lost him because we were refusing to budge on him being a prop and prop only, then thats even worse considering we are crying out for a second row with his characteristics.

To give the club some credit, i dont think thats the case, despite what GH says, i just think we undervalued him.

Walters himself is on record after the grand final as saying he 100% wants to stay at leeds but we had not begun contract talks, so again, for anybody who wants to believe everything clubs/players/coaches say, we were in an ideal position to keep him, but for whatever reasen we have messed that up, that decision has looked worse and worse as the seasons went on.

To call that hindsight is too broad a statement jim, there were plenty who are/should be way less informed than the club, who could see the talent/ability long before he got the chance to prove it consistently, which only came when others, who were showing way less on the field, were unavailable.

This isnt aimed at you Jim, but i think theres probably more denial than hindsight going on, some posters refuse to accept the club has made, and continues to make, more than its fair share of mistakes, despite having more bottom 4 than top 4 league finishes to prove it.