I think Scruton seems to be going ok at the bulls

Scott Donald may have bombed 2 tries yesterday but if he hadn't chased back & caught Hodgson we would have lost.
Also isn't Hodgson p11s poor

didn't think he's that good when I've seen him on sky (or maybe thats cos his team aren't playing well

)

Hodgson has lost a little pace which was his main attribute, still a good player though IMHO.

Hull KR were above us in the league until this weekend and got further in the cup than us.

Yeah but Chev hasn't featured much for them since joining them as he';s been injured

Only until they played someone half decent in Warrington. Two can play at that game.

Probably applies to union too. Passing to the left is far easier for right handers.

This Donald this is becoming a little worrying.

Over the last few weeks I have noted how many centre pairings he's had, the facts he's on the right and the fact he's had no ball, so his confidence is down.

All that is true apart from getting the ball against Giants.

Smithy provided him with 2 sitters and he fluffed them. The later being the more difficult of the two.

His confidence must be at a new low.

The first chance, he will never get an easier walk in.

And the second he mis judged. He caught the ball mid flight, but lost his bearings where he was in relation to the ingoal touch line. So when he caught the ball he tried to do too much with it, and attempted to ground it. Instead he should have just fallen down and scored.

BUT he did track back and madea great try saver on his fellow ginger.

Apart from Watkins I thought all the wingmen were poor: Donlad, the usual steady Hodgson and the poor Aspinwall.

What does Bluey do? Drop or persist?

If he does drop him, it wouldnt be a knee jerk reaction, is form has been off the pace all season. What would the impact be to Donald? Wouldn't this heighten the problem for him?

Maybe he needs time out of the team to re-group and refelect. Or maybe he just needs a couple of trys.

But one thing I do know, is if we're picking on form, it would only be fair to select Hall and Watkins.

But after listening to Bluey's post match radio interview on Radio Leeds, i don't think he will do this. As he aluded he has a lot of hard work to do yet.

One thing is for certain, Watkins produced the goods when his chance arrived. Be it next week or a few down th line, if Donald doesn't improve, Watkins has put a firm marker down to be a realistic option.

In 2006 Donald played 33 times and scored 23 tries playing on the right wing.

His starting centres were :

Walker 21 (15 tries)
Toopi 7 (6 tries)
Gibson 4 (2 tries)
Ellis 1 (0 tries)

Donald's best strike rate that season came when paired with Toopi at the business end of an unsuccessful campaign.

But can Watkins play on the right wing?

And?

Stats are great, but as I hinted at elsewhere what they don't show is as important as what they do show.

Was the arrival of Toopi the difference or was it that Donald was starting to get used to the British game, his team mates and playing on the right? Irrespective of his centre partner I'd have said he looked quicker, fitter and more with it the longer the season went on.

Even then I wouldn't say the difference was that marked and that the smaller statistical sample has to be seen as less reliable to infer from.

The reply was to G1 who managed to imply that all of Donald's tries in 2006 were scored outside of Walker.

I often refer back to the Wigan game in March at Headingley this season where there were four tries scored by the wingers and IIRC not one came from a pass from their respective centre. In that game the wingers attacking productivity relied close on 0% on who played centre.

how many times did john atkinson play right wing? or alan smith left?, a winger has a prefered ball carrying arm & a better foot to step off.
Donalds not world class but neither would offiah have been on the right wing with ablett, smith or gibson playing inside him.

Didn't Offiah manage to continue scoring bucket loads of tries outside the likes of BJ Mather and Sam Panapa?

Offiah scored plenty of his tries a long way off either touchline. The afternoon he scored 10 v Leeds in the Premiership semi final, only around half were down the left wing. Freak.

How, by dropping a player, does that improve his confidence?

I dont know but G1 remains adamant that it worked for Lee Smith.

How, by dropping a player who has performed better than Donald in their last outing, does that affect the dropped players' confidence?

When does the need to pick form players in the first 17 override the need to keep up the confidence levels of one under performing individual?

To be honest, I think this lack of confidence excuse is exactly that, an excuse, made up by the fans to cover his poor performances.

No player in that Leeds team should not be confident. It is surrounded by internationals. I can understand a young kid, or a youngster making his debut. But you are talking about a two time GF winning player here, who played many games in the NRL competition.

Lack of confidence my @r5e.

What are on about, you confusing silly man?

I disagree sport at elite level is all about belief in your ability - if you don't believe your form is up to much - and you could get dropped - you will never play to your potential. You will look for the safe option which in the end could cost the team the game.

Why do players have patches of good and poor form? the majority of the swing will be mental - let's face it their physicality or their skill levels are identical whether they are playing well or poorly - in fact it could be agrhued that Donald should be in better physical shape than the previous season.

To me Donald looks like a player struggling to play anywhere near his potential - either a rest or a swap to the other wing - you cannot continue to carry an under-performing player

No, you are right. We should pick a team based only on their last performance. Its a good job that Ablett got injured really, because if Rob, McGuire and Ablett were all available on Saturday, then Sinni would be dropped.

I never said that.

If Donald's poor form were only in his last game you'd have a point but it hasn't been.

What message will it send to Watkins to see Donald selected ahead of him after Sunday's showing and why are you more concerned with Donald's confidence than you are Watkins?