My apologies!

Agree about trading up Briscoe. Of course, as others have said, pace should be one of several attributes we should be looking for.

Thankfully Briscoe has other attributes to his game - we don't need another winger a la Francis Cummins at the back end of his career

Also, Tommy Briscoe is still a handy player. I know nit everyone on here is a fan but he is pretty solid. For me if we keep Hurrell on that RHS the two of them could strike up a nice partnership, with Martin and Eastmond down that edge too.

The problems with Briscoe amongst othes are he lacks pace and is not an acrobatic finisher which is becoming vital in the modern game

Briscoe done alright in his career and still fits a great job. Not sure what people expect....

Briscoe seems to be one of those players who always get criticism. I think he has a good attitude and and is becoming a stalwart

Do you not think it is now important to have Acrobatic finishers on the wing then ?

Not that important no. Briscoe is strong enough to barge through people for trys.
Would you rather have a Kevin Penny, or Greg Eden type than Briscoe?

He isnt the quickest but still has decent pace.He his strong going forward and seems to have improved his concentration in games.I hope to see Tindal more this season if Briscoe's form dips.

Depends, do we expect to create opportunities that require acrobatic finishes? Whilst they look great, they are only worth the same number of points as a try scored anywhere else on the pitch and I'd prefer to have them closer to the posts so there's a better chance we go up in 6's not 4's.

Interesting interview with Mike Ford on the Leeds Live site. Speaks very highly of Eastmond and refers to him as "world class" a couple of times. Thinks he will be a big success at half back. I'm genuinely intrigued by this signing.

I hope Eastmond proves a good signing, and that he fits into the team.

One thing I will say about us at the moment is that we are building a very skilful side.

Very interested to see how we go. If we had just retained Ava I’d be feeling quite confident. If King can make an impression that might be something.

I read that and was quite surprised how glowing he was about Eastmond.Lets hope Ford is correct.

Interestingly Agar hugely glowing about Tetevano last week to the press. Not quite so about King, he wasn’t negative he just sounded as if King had a way to go yet. I think King is a gamble that we need to pay off if we are to challenge at the business end of the table

So, is Eastmond still any good? I genuinely have no clue what to expect having not seen him play for 10 years. Has he lost that pace?

I expect he's a bit slower - anyone would be at that age. He may be better able to read the game now with more experience (albeit at union) so that can make up for a drop in pace. My concern would be his durability. He got a few knocks when he played for Saints and that's continued in union as far as I know.

I've a feeling he'll return as a different type of player, a bit like Iestyn after his union stint.

It's not important if we win anything this year. No crowds and the farce the season will descend into with Covid testing and postponed games means it's very much a trial season for all.
2022 we should be really really strong as we will be seeing some upgrading of players again in the off season (Lui, possibly King, possibly even Martin and Koni too)
We may have plenty of cap and overseas spots. Going to be very interesting.
Would like to see Broadbent, Tindall and Walters get some serious game time this year....

I don't know if any listens to the fully 80 minutes podcast, but Danny McGuire was on the other night. He was saying how much he rates Mclelland and thinks he'll be a superstar...

This Eastmond signing makes it seem like his days are numbered to me, but maybe the club expect him to take over from Gale in a year or two? I suppose there's a lot of question marks over Eastmond too.

Personally, I think Mclelland has skills, but it looks like he's going through the motions a bit at times. If you look at the way Sydney Rooster have dealt with Kyle Flannagan, you might think we've given Mclelland long enough?

Never been given a run in the team, never mind too long!

I guess you need options and cover in case of injury and loss of form. Eastmond has plenty of question marks over him too. Just because he's signed doesn't mean it's all over for McLelland.

if he could run he might have a run

Is he seriously that slow? Never make it at his size if not even bit of acceleration........

I don’t think McLelland is done yet. There is a very solid player in there; I was impressed with him at Fev under Ryan Carr.

We simply haven’t seen enough of him at Leeds yet to form a real opinion. The lack of academy and reserve action has held him and a few others back too.

When I have seen him play for Leeds he’s been trying too hard individually, and losing his team focus. That’s confidence and experience though.

What we really need is one or two from the academy to come through. Maybe we’re treading water until Sinfield MkII is ready...

he' s 21 and a can't remember one break , at that age danny and rob were on everyone's shoulder , danny had the 2003 semi final try as a long range match winner . harris was scoring hat tricks for fun even graham holroyd had some spark when he started , much as i'd like to be proved wrong there's been nothing exciting about his play

You cant compare Callum to Rob and Danny hes a totally different type of half back. Rob and Danny were out and out runners, Callum is an organising type half back and they take longer to develop and mature.

Will Callum make it at Leeds? Possibly not but ive watched him in the academy and he isnt a bad player at all. He can run but thats not his game. Hes a good defender so thats a positive in a young half.

To play half back for Leeds you should be top drawer tho and im not sure he is quite going to be at that level but he needs more time to learn his craft before we write him off.

His problem is next year we should be trying to bring in a top half back to partner Gale so opportunities could be limited if he doesnt take his chances this season. Its a big year for him now Lui is out for awhile.

The problem for McLelland is that he's an organising half and should he playing 7 alongside a running half at 6. We should be comparing him to Gale who only started to develop at the same age 21 when he moved to Harlequins. McLelland would also have stalled a little in his career in Union. His route to the team is blocked by Gale quite rightly but potentially we should use the next couple of years to gradually give him some game time in a full strength team by occasionally resting Gale to try and extend his longevity. Gale and McClelland as a pair of 7s just don't work in the way Myler and Moon didn't as a pair.
Undoubtedly if Gale is injured McClellan needs to start at 7. Otherwise he will go but may still turn into a decent player like Gale and McShane did when they departed Leeds.