Excellent news to wake up to that!

Proper love the bloke me

Puts Leeds right back up there for next year. Great to see a talented player choose SL (even if he didn't have any NRL offers).

Still a halfback short of that imo, but should put us back in the top 8.

Best news this season. Keeping him was pivotal to us challenging next season.

The guy is on a different planet to the rest of the team. Makes us challenge for a place in the top 8 again. But he isn't Paul Daniels, we are a long way from challenging the top teams without further massive changes.

Excellent.

Quote ="SmokeyTA"No, you are wrong, big players can't cover tackle, and little players can't smash players off the field https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBtXLe5X7A'" Are you being sarcastic about your previous sarcasm now? I suggest you find an experienced fisherman to untangle the massive knots you've tied yourself up in.

Quote ="SmokeyTA"No, you are wrong, big players can't cover tackle, and little players can't smash players off the field https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBtXLe5X7A'" Are you being sarcastic about your previous sarcasm now? I suggest you find an experienced fisherman to untangle the massive knots you've tied yourself up in.

He knows that, that's why he's written 5 pages of nonsense trying to show us that the position of hooker doesn't actually exist.

We need a half back now and we won't be far away at all, not massive changes. Have you seen the standard of the top teams? Wigan and Saints could be taking home the trophy and both are bang average, and i don't even think their own fans would argue that statement.

We could probably do with coaching changes, but that's an other issue.

he lost me when he said distribution wasn't a hookers main job.

a half back and second row for me and we are on the way

A half, and a forward, doesnt matter if their a second row or prop, just someone who can add something different as all our forwards are a bit ploddy ball in hand.

Either that or we hope that Cuthbo can find form and we can use Ferres a bit more like how he was used for England.

So yeah, a half is still top of the list, preferably not a stop gap our someone who only has a year left in them.

I don't think it's that bad, a controlling halfback and a change in the coaching set up (preferably a new head coach but if not an attacking coach) and we will be fine for next year. Like Tad I would like a new second rower but with Delaney and JJB still under contract for next year I don't think we could get one until 2018.

very good news

Wigan and Saints are bang average, I am not dissagreeing. I am dissagreeing that we are anything close to that, we are not, we are right at the bottom of the cess pool, well at least until Segayaro took us slightly up.

I agree on the half, and would be adamant there is no probable about it on the coaching changes. That is what I refer to as massive, he simply has to go, or nothing changes. We also need to cut some players loose, freshen up, and install a new ethos in the team.

Given the right players McDermott has proved capable of winning many trophies. This is an unarguable fact. So how come you're so certain that there'll be no improvement if we freshen up the squad with quality in areas in which we are currently lacking?

The playing squad isn't that bad at all. It is a coaching issue more than anything for me and i think Mac has gone as far as he can, yet he will obviously get next season to put it right and barring a raft of early injuries to key players again, i can see us being up in the top few. I believe if we had managed to stay close to the four like Saints have we were more than capable of a late run ourselves with the addition of Segeyaro. not because we are a special team, but because non of the other top teams are anything to worry about.

Because I do not agree that their is an unarguable fact. What is probable though IMO is that without Sinfield and Peacock, McDermott would never have had anyone coming out with such a statement. The guy is finished.

Would anyone take Sam Williams from Canberra? He's out of contract, decent organiser and is only 25.

A decent scrum half & you will be up there with Wire & Hull as the best squads in SL.

It's an unarguable fact whether you like it or not. Has McDermott won a bunch trophies when presented with a quality squad. Yes or no?

Yes, two sarcasms. I mean, unless you were been serious about Keiron Cunningham being noted for his speed?

Except for all the times he is.

Every team doesnt defend the same. Every team doesnt defend one tackle the same as the next tackle. Our game is fluid, and you know real.

Smokey I suggest you watch the Nrl finals this weekend, and let me know when you see a team contending for the top prize in the best league in the world using a 'hooker' who defends one in from the wing, and is at best average at distributing the ball from dummy half.

But wait, you won't see that happen, because no one apart from Leeds do it, and only Leeds do it as a last resort or for 20mins impact.

As for Cunninghams speed, if you are talking about defense, speed is perhaps the wrong word, Cunninghams and all good hookers bring energy and lateral movement to the middle third of the pitch. You don't have to be fast to do that. In fact 3 of the best examples in the British game (Cunningham, Mickey Mac, Newton) have all been on the bigger side. But guys like buderus and Roby show it can be done by the prototype hooker aswell.

Nope they do line up like that, with some slight variation on whether your half stands inside or outside the centre, and how much free reign your 13 gets.

It's why we see certain players targeted in defence, and why players work chuffing hard to get back to where they need to be. Yes players make sure they number up, but roughly they stay in the same place.

To use some of the ape Wanes terminology, you have edge defenders (wing centre halves). And middle defenders (props, hooker 13) with the 11 and 12 kind of linking the two together and protecting the halves.