No..I would agree on balance ATM Smith would just edge it for me as well all things being equal.

I just disagree that a couple of mistakes dont necessarily mean he will not improve or become the better winger in time.

Its not making mistakes that is the problem it is what you do about it that matters.

One of the best wingers to pull on a Leeds shirt... J Atkinson was still prone to making huge errors even at his peak.

Most sensible post of the day so far

I think there is something in a quality wingers make up, a genetic flaw if you will, that makes them have brainfarts every now and then. I don't claim to have the best memory for these things, but from recent years..

Carney
Dallas
Albert
Bai
Best
Vainikolo
Calderwood
Raynor

Or a bit further back..

Sullivan
Chariots
Deveraux
Singe

I can think of several occasions where all these have made silly blunders. I can also think of many occasions where they have stunned me going forwards.

Thats usually cos they are loose forwards with their brains kicked out.



Seriously though it is one of ..if not the most... exposed and isolated positions on the field and the pressure can be immense on a young player.

Nail, head, hit.

Along with full back one of the most difficult positions to play in terms of the mental demands and decision making.

Anyone see Penny or Riley on Saturday?

Twas some bad uns.

I feel its unfair to lay total blame on Penny for the one where he & Hicks went for same ball.

i don't really see where anyones slagging hall off or saying he won't make it.

No you are right but how easy would it have been for either of them to shout for the ball? 50/50 in the blame game.

Where's Darren Rogers. How soon we forget.

No-one stunned me more. Stunned that he had a scoring record as good as his.

Darren Rogers...

Can't be bothered reading the whole thread but my opinion is that at times he badly switches off and at the moment this is being highlighted by other sides scoring points off the back of his errors.

However he's young and has plenty of time to improve but as it stands he is some way off Lee Smith who I think at this current time offers much more.

He lacks a yard of pace for mine but as I posted earlier it's a little premature to be writing off a 20 year old.

He certainly was and then he'd glide in for a try leaving the defenders on the floor looking up in his direction thinking how did he swerve pass me.

I just don’t see it, I don’t see the potential or the raw skills that make a top class player, skills that were there a few years ago with Smith.

Players like Michael Haley, Ben Jones-Bishop and Kallum Watkins excite me (no gay gags please) watching them play – IMO they all show the raw talent that can be tuned into top class players – Hall sadly doesn’t.

I could be wrong, in fact I hope I am but I just don’t see it.

Agree with BJB and Watkins they look the real deal, not seen enough of Haley yet.
I would like to see BJB given some SL experience on the wing.

Haley is a proper ‘old school’ style forward and looks like, with the right coaching, being a formidable player.

Agreed about BJB would like to see how he fares up on the wing – still think he needs a little more bulk though but he really does look like a cracking prospect.

I agree with you on the young guns but disagree on the hall opinion,i think he has shown potential and proved he can be a handfull on occasion.
I think smith is better at the moment but i wouldn't cut hall loose either.

which most wingers (if fact, most players) would have got...but would they all have let the tries in ?

no, i agree.....hall has never done anything to stand out (for good reason), or make you think 'wow, who was that'. yet he's had plenty of mares in defence.
when smith was having mares in defence last year (and before), people where all over him in a shoot. least when smithy was having mares, he was still creating wow moments in attack.

Ryan Hall won't spend the majority of his career on the wing IMO. With a bit of work on the physical side of the game he's got the skillset to make a decent second rower - quick, good footwork, not afraid of the contact (his two stops on Tupou at Odsal can attest to that). Where he seems to struggle is dealing with kicks - moving into the pack takes that requirement out of his game.

Nope. You are the one spot on, and others blinkered.

Hall simply does not have the ability to be a top class winger, with nothing in his armour to suggest otherwise. Potential for future in the pack though. But as a winger he offers no danger what so ever.

I think people who think he has potential are comparing him to other super league wingers. Thats the problem. The competition out there is so poor that a guy as trash as Gardner is considered our best International option in that position. No wonder people are so blind to have faith in Hall.

In Your (Not So) Humble Opinion ...of course..............

Now as a back rower he might just cut it, as you say he would need to bulk up a bit but I think you’ve got a point there.

I’ve not thought of him in the forwards but take some of the inherent defensive positional pressure off him and he could be a prospect.

Ironically the thing that has caused him most problems defensively is not having a settled combination on the right whenever he has played. The second try at the JJB springs to mind, where Ellis shot out of the line and left Hall in an impossible position. I'd like to see whether that side of his game would develop with the same centre week in, week out.