McShane has shown that he is a failed halfback who is making great strides as an attacking hooker, thus catching the eye. It would be folly to compare his style of play with that of Buderus as they are completely different. Buderus is a more traditional hooker, who provides excellent service to his halfback and is a much better defender than any other hooker in the comp, including Roby, IMO.

They complement each other well, with each one compensating for the other's deficiencies.

Do they? Not to me they don't. They count for an awful lot. They're like the corners of my mind. Misty water coloured.

I hope your optimism in Buderus abilities to emulate Diskin are well founded. Sadly, even if we manage to win one this year it looks like he may bail on us leaving him with 25% of Diskin's achievements.

Wowweeee

This poster is suggesting Buderus has deficiencies. Burn the heretic. Burn him!!!!

Get the pitchforks.

Well thats one thing we agree on, McShane will be a fantastic 9 - but still unproven on a week in week out basis. For that reason I wouldn't mind Buderus hanging around another year. In fact I reckon we've been at our best this season (from an attacking point of view) when they've both been on the pitch, just a shame it takes Mags to be injured before it happens!

or 33% of Ian Kirke's Leeds GF medal tally to put it another way.

Is Kirke missing 1% of his medals?

To be honest you're much more Hannah Gordon on Morecambe & Wise than Barbra Streisand...

Maybe the missing 1% was stolen by the same bloke that nicked TMFMISL's? I know who's I'd rather pinch...

Funnily enough I was just thinking that! By that logic Ian Kirke is therefore better than Gareth Ellis, Adrian Morley to name but 2....

Whose logic are you applying to come top that conclusion?

Bailey's of course, there are more of them and therefore the return would be greater, but that's exactly what you meant wasn't it.

Buderus was great again on saturday. Full 80 in 2 different positions, tackling everything that moved. When Hall made that great cover tackle, the players to get back and defend were Buderus, Pitts and Sinny. We haven't ever and aren't likely to ever see him at his peak, but he very very rarely plays anything below good, and is usually very good.

agree with all that Matt23

The deluded logic that measures how good a player is by number of winners rings/medals they gain in Leeds colours. Thats your logic by the way

How can people have the opinion that Liam Hood is going to be a success when he hasn't even played in the 1st team yet?, Potential is only half the battle, I'll wait and see his performances before i judge him.

Buderus continues to prove his worth and thankfully he is contracted at Leeds for 2012 also at this point.

An outstanding individual within a team sport.

Perhaps you could explain how you have reached that conclusion?

I want to see McShane make the sort of impression he's been making recently against a Saints, Wigan, Wire or Huddersfield before I'm totally convinced as well, despite how extremely promising these last few weeks have been.

Well, I couldn't out run either but I know which one I'd rather face when he caught me...............

Not sure why some people want to continually talk about Diskin as though he was barely average after his injury. We would never have won three in a row without a half decent hooker. It is after all one of the key positions in the side.

Simple!



Which reads to me as "Buderus cannot ever be considered as good as Diskin unless he wins 4 grand finals"

The structure of the way Leeds play with three playmakers Buderus was never going to have the influence on the side that a playmaking hooker such as Cameron Smith or Robbie Farah does. His job is to ensure the playmakers especially Sinfield gets quick quality ball - something he does as well as any hooker in SL. For some one who puts his own rugby knowledge on such a high pedestal - especially if you read the derisory comments he makes about others understanding - I would have thought Gareth would have understood that. The game isn't just about attacking - his defense is as good as any player in the side - something that Gareth also overlooks.

Gareth says he was a waste of cap - especially as we needed strengthening in other areas. You can only sign the correct quality if the players are available and prepared to play for Leeds. I ask again which centres has come from the NRL that Leeds could have signed in preference to Buderus - in fact which players have to come SL from the NRL since Buderus came to Leeds that would have enhanced the side?

No one on here knows what salary Buderus is on - it is unlikely given the salary structure at Leeds it will huge - I for one think he has been good value for money. To watch one of the best hookers of the modern era on a weekly basis is worth every penny it makes up of my season ticket cost.

My sentiments exactly.

For those interested, my views are; "Not as well".


I totally understand where G1 is coming from, but let's be honest, how on earth was Buderus ever going to live up to expectations?! Imagine when Messi is 30 and he's won everything there is to win, captained his country, and been the top of his game for 10 years, then he signed for another club because he wanted a challenge. What would you be expecting him to do? It's unrealistic to have that high an expectation of him, he was bound to let you down. Of course Buderus is past his best, did you see his best? How on earth could you still be expecting him to play like that? I think you've set your expectations far too high, there's nothing wrong with having high expectations, but having unrealistic expectations is setting yourself up for disappointment.

Abso-bloodly-lutely. And that, at the end of the day, is the only point that really matters to me.