Can't beat clinging to the past

Has this thread surpassed the 'Joynt voluntary tackle' thread yet?

We've no strike in the back 3 forwards. Just work horses. Get another Ali or Poaching and we could do something.

Second row is where we're weakest IMO. If we're not going to give Sutcliffe a run at centre next year, then we should build him into a full time 2nd rower

Surely we were just following the master plan of lulling Cas into a false sense of security so when we play them in the GF they don't play the first half because we're so easy to beat, and then fall apart in the second half due to nerves? Meanwhile our vastly experienced squad simply bides its time and executes a perfect gameplan based on muscle memory from 2015....

Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Perhaps we were simply a shower of the proverbial who yet again showed no idea or ability in how to stop Cas. Can't think we weren't expecting it given the shellacking they give us quite regularly nowadays.

The biggest problem is our inability to backup a result. The only time we have backed up in the Super 8's is against Hull the week after they won the cup. UI cannot see this team winning a semi final and a final.

Were weakest at prop. They're all complete plodders other than Cuthbertson. Need some serious investment in that area. Along with numerous others - including the back row.

Has Cuthbertson really stood out in a big game? I don't remember him doing much in any of the critical matches in 2015 or the 2014 CC run.

Cuthbertson would have been amazing in our quality years.

You're right. He definitely didn't do much in our 2014 Cup run.

He was completely annonymous in that CC run IMO although to be fair to Cuthbertson it's not easy to make much of an impact from 10,485 miles away - not even Kim Jong Un has managed that ..... yet.

My mistake, forgot he started 2015. I don't remember too many other games, but IMO he was bog average in the 2015 GF (dropped the ball almost with his first touch IIRC) - Garbutt was better.

For all the hype about his offloading game I just haven't seen him make any difference in the key games.

In his defence, i was sat on the touchline for that GF and recall Cuthbertson hobbling a bit down the sideline trying to warm up before coming back onto the field, and his leg was heavily strapped. He was carrying a bad knock that day for sure.

A poor man's Grant Millington.

He got off a good offload that led to McGuire's 2nd try in that GF and another one earlier in that set so he played a key role in one of our tries.

Think Millington is marginally the better of the two but it's a close call, both are very good. Had he been at Leeds the last couple of seasons he'd have played stand-off and done a better job than any of Sinfield's successors.

I'd also add wrt to Cuthbertson (and the other forwards) at the end of 2015 they clearly started to miss Aiton when he was injured and Leuluai was on short minutes because of a heart issue.

TBH I think Cuthbertson is a magnificent player. I'd love him at Cas. Like most of his team mates he has been poorly used at times.

I have watched plenty of Cas games over last three years, along with the Rhinos. Millington is an excellent player, quality. Cuthbertson is better though, very much. We have a quality player in Cuthbertson that could easily have been one of the best, had he been here at the right time. Cuthbertson however is very reliant on the dummy half, the difference in him with a quality dummy half is massive. You only had to see Friday night for that, Burrow in himself was very good, but not for Cuthbertson, they brought Parcell on and it was like a switch was pressed. It was the same with Aiton, and how we struggled when he wasn't replaced.

I love this!

He who laughs last laughs longest!

CC semi against St Helens at Warrington

So one game? In any event he was anonymous in the more recent cup semi (along with the other forwards).

I'll openly admit I may be biased against Cuthbertson BTW, as he was an absolute plodder in the NRL. He's probably not as bad as he appeared at times for the Knights, but equally I really think he was overhyped in 2015.

Depends what you are classing as big games. If you are meaning finals and semi finals then that would only amount to a handful of games in his Leeds career so far. The semi final against Saints was just one that came to mind.