Thanks, glad I could explain myself better in the second post. What a lucky set of fans we are to have two of the best prospects fighting it out like they are and to both still be at the club. That’s got to be down to the club’s culture, management and a desire from both players to be coached by McD.

I think Jack is going to be a star and hope we can see him in a Rhinos jersey for years to come.

When walker is on form, he’s great to watch and he’s got more pace than Golding. He does offer more in attack and he’ll be better for last nights performance. He knows where he needs to improve now and when he’s played again at fb, the team need to offer better protection for him on high kicks. He also needs longer studs.

Thought he went too sideways on kick returns. Never got us any forward momentum but then again all the players did that. Can't be too critical of his attack as even the best need teammates playing OK but defensively very poor

Let's blame Walker for the loss. How ridiculous. Forwards were beaten for most of the game and Leeds were pretty much on the back foot. Hardly a fb in the league that wouldn't struggle under those conditions. Could he of done better, maybe but don't blame him for all the other failings on the pitch last Friday night

I seem to recall someone calling Schoey out as a flat track bully on another thread. Whilst it is hard for a full back to shine in that kind of game, Walker - and others - need to start showing more when we're struggling IMO.

No-one has done. Just an interesting discussion about how he played last time out.

At last, supporters are starting to ask question about our over hyped fullback. Don't get me wrong, I like Jack Walker and think he's talented and one for the future. I don't think he's as good as many, including the TV pundits, are giving him credit for.
I don't think he was MOM on Friday and think others, including Dwyer, had better games. I think he gets MOM on several occasions because of all the hype. I even think he's guilty of believing the hype himself.
I think Golding is the better fullback at this moment in time and has got the Rhinos ethos in his blood, whilst Walker seemed only interested in playing for Leeds if he could get his own way and play fullback. Golding seems happy to be the water carrier for us.

I'm not sure what people are expecting from an 18 year old kid in his first full year in the senior side. He's shown some flashes of brilliance (his try against Catalan in the first half) but also shown some weaknesses. Yes he is getting a bit overhyped but so what, isn't that a good thing why is the default position to be miserable and deride players?

FWIW he is getting a lot of plaudits from ex and current players on twitter, I'd say they know what they are talking about.

a few of us been saying this for a while, and its been taken as we are bagging him, but i for one am not, but he is not the super star messiah everyone thinks he is. long way from it. he was awful Friday nowhere to be seen when they scored the winner and seed to go out of is way to avoid tackling Tupou. dropped several balls. but he can do no wrong in some peoples eyes were as Golding can do no good. i do hope he kicks on but Golding should be first choice at moment.

The problem i have is i think you’re being over critical because he gets hyped, he wasn’t MOM on friday but he wasn’t ‘awful’ either it’s not a case of he can do no wrong he made some errors (so did Golding against cas) he will do as he’s still learning his trade.

Walker is only 18 and some Leeds fans need to realise that and show some patience. He needs careful nurturing and a training regime that can add some size without losing some speed. In the meantime manage expectations.

I think will naturally bulk up with age, if you watch him he’s not getting thrown around like a ragdoll n fact hes winning us a fair few penalties for high shots as he has a good step, id be more worried about him getting heads shots constantly rather than bulking him up too much.

I do get the over hype thing but I think that’s fine as long as internally in the aying group it os reigned in and Walker himself doesn’t think hes the finished article

Couldn't agree more. Most of us were gutted at the prospect of losing him when his contract talks stalled, yet now for some reason he has become a scapegoat for this dismal season. He clearly has a RL brain / eye for a gap and will only improve with experience. Who knows, one day he may even get to play behind a pack thats on the front foot. Strange breed us League fans!!!

He has more go forward in the collission than Golding. This is what I can not understand of those that talk about physical. He also makes tackles on the line which Golding would not do, and be taken over.

I have seen the lad sinc he was 10 playing, and the bulk he has put on in the last two years is a lot. I have no doubt over the next 12 months he will bulk up further.

However, I can not deny that I get frustrated personally that he always seems to get injured in a collission. I still think there is some second guessing by him, due to the previous fractured skull. But his first step was taken for confidence when he got rid of the scrum cap.

The kid has one bad game (by the standards we expect of him) and all of a sudden he's Andy Hay...

Geez, get a grip Leeds fans, he's a kid who will make lots of mistakes...

Agreed. I'd be tempted to take him out of the firing line for a few weeks, but then again a few games in the middle 8s could be just what the doctor ordered, as he looked fantastic against Leigh.

On the attacking front I suspect that much of the problem is about how the team as a whole is playing. If we're playing a lot of one-out stuff he's also going to struggle in forcing his way through on his own. He showed last season he was capable of creating breaks for himself when he was even smaller, back in the days when the team were generally playing better as a whole. Bullseye is surely right about being patient.

If we're looking for scapegoats amongst the players it is surely the experiences professionals like Cuthbertson, Hall, Briscoe, Moon, Myler, Singleton, Parcell, Ferres etc who should be delivering the goods on a more regular basis. If they play to their potential it makes it a hell of a lot easier for Walker, Golding, Handley etc.

I personally am not looking for a scapegoat and do not think many on here "bashing" Walker are tbh.
Let`s face it if we were looking for scapegoats we would have a herd of them!
For me it`s getting a balance of people going over board with how he is playing not helped of course by Sky who see no wrong in whatever he does. Compared to bringing him and others on here who cream themselves thinking he is the next messiah without him justifying it yet.
Yes he has made one or two nice breaks but he has had made some bad errors too.
I`m sure the more expert minded on here will know he will be an asset in the future but what we need is the asset now along with a decent pack and a stand off.
So he isn`t a scapegoat and he is not the finished article yet but he does have age on his side and hopefully a future at Leeds.
Just because some including me are having a go it is just an opinion but recognise it`s early yet to write him off completely.
With what we have lost in terms of players over the last 4 years and what we might lose next year we are without doubt no longer going to be a top 6 side unless we start to get some decent replacements and the likes of Luke Briscoe, Dom Crosby, Josh Walters, Ian Ormandroyd, Paul Aiton etc etc are not going to get us out of that rut.

I think signings like Aiton and Crosby will be enough to keep is in SL which is the point, i dont think anyone including the management see those players as anything but a quick short term lift, Sinfield has repeatedly said it will take time to sort out the current problems. We have signed a very good halfback for next year and I hope there is more to cone.

Would think he wouldnt at his age and never played rugby! haha. Could cause some trouble on the wing though if you could float some high kicks to him with his height

He was watching his lad at Halifax the other week and he had a stinker. Lost ball about 3 times in the collision and got sin-binned. Mind you Dwyer was awful too but I thought he played OK last Friday. Not sure these lads put their heart into this DR mallarkey!

My problem isn't one 'bad' game, its how many games has he actually had a major positive impact? I hope I'm proven wrong, but unless he bulks up he'll never be a top class full back IMO. There's no way he'd even be playing open age at a serious level here in Oz with his current build, he'd get smashed out of sight.

rob burrow didnt have a bad career from an early age despite being slight.
he's a boy. he'll fill out. can't believe the stick after one average game

He’s 18! He’s going to bulk up. Last season the vitriol aimed towards Golding when it looked like Walker might leave was totally underserved. Ive a feeling this has created a bit of hostility towards Walker.

He’s had plenty of good games, plenty. He’s the best fullback we have at the club at the moment and there’s a few other areas a lot weaker that we need to fix first, though I don’t think he’s unstoppable, not at all, and Golding should be given a go there at times.

I can. An element of our support are complete moaning s

Cobblers. Yes he's 18, but I'm watching games this season and would struggle to name many full backs in SL he's currently better than. I can see glimpses of potential but he has a lot of work to do both with and without the ball to be a real force, and a lot of it's down to the fact that he's basically puny. If he can't accept criticism then he'll never be as good as he could be.

IMO we spend too much time excusing young players for their failings rather than expecting/hoping that they actually address them. That's why we end up with so many who look like a star at a young age but look more and more average with every year that goes by.

Burrow's an interesting and rather pointless comparison. His job was never to run the ball back into a straight defensive line, and in defence he had very good technique but would still get run over every now and then. That's manageable in a halfback.