after a very difficult year with injuries and form our greatest most successful team is going to need some major strengthening over the next couple of years !
webb not the player he was and a possible move to union in japan next year
donalds been a great player but now retired
senior maybe 1 last year
delaney hes ok but nothing special like a centre should be
hall best winger in superleague
mcguire lets hope he is the same player when he comes back if so good for a few years yet
burrow needs to find a new dimension to his game and put more players into gaps and not just duck under tackles,a 1 trick pony some opposition fans call him
leuluai does ok but needs to make more meters
buderus only 1 more year with him when hes on his game the best hooker in sl
peacock like mcguire lets hope he comes back the same player because hes carried our pack
jjb does not make the breaks like he used to do and could do with jjb of old
ablet we miss him when he does not play so must be a better player than most of us give him credit for
sinfield could anyone imagine us without him
ali very lucky to get a new contract probably his last year
kirke he is a salary cap squad man ( you get what you pay for )
eastwood pity hes going home could of been 1 of the best !
diskin never got back to his form of 2007
smith lets get him fit and we should see him back to his best
bailey needs to make more yards but he gets under the opponents skin and rattles them
clarkson our find of the season
burgess needs to improve to many mistakes in him

so what for the future !
ambler and pitts look ok and again lets see how watkins comes back after injury and mcshane is being linked with a season long loan to salford and if he can improve his defence he will be back to replace buderus.bjb had a good year at quins so lets hope he gets his chance.are coady,bush and amor good enough for sl ?
so this time next year with the possible departures of webb,senior,leuluai buderus and ali to go with donald and eastwood this year thats alot of our salary cap freed lets hope we spend the money and have a new decade as good as the old one !

Right, before the pr*cks amongst us start suggesting that this is a knee-jerk reaction to a defeat by Wigan, let me tell you that this is just my opinion.

I honestly couldn't give a rats a$$, but I'm bored so I thought I would offer up my opinion on the squad as I see it. Right or wrong, that's all it is.

Our team has been super-human for 3 years, but...

Webb - We used to refer to him as Superman. Used to!
Donald - One of the best wingers Leeds have ever had. Will take some replacing
Senior - I think it's been one year too many in the centres for our Keef, but will still be great in the 2nd row
Delaney - Shocking. Slow, can't pass, doesn't pass, can't side-step, can't make space for his winger. Bad signing
Hall - Was the best winger in SL for one year, largely due to playing outside a then great centre
McGuire - Was getting some of his great form back before injury, but this nasty injury really worries me
Burrow - Not a patch on his former self. Still got a reasonable kicking game, but there are many better SHs in SL today
Leuluai - Still makes the hard yards and big hits. Bags of life left in him
Buderus - Glimpses of brilliance, but is a bit too niggly and gives away lots of silly penalties
Peacock - The best signing of the last 10 years. Hope we get to see him play as well once more.
JJB - Awesome last year - indeed, my player of the year, but slightly disappointing this year
Ablett - Strong and versatile - 17 Abletts could win SL
Sinfield - Captain fantastic. Player of the year for me. Does he need to be the best #13 in the world?
Lauitiiti - At times lazy, certainly at the PTB, but remains incredibly talented
Kirke - A good squad player, but for his size he could and should be so much better
Eastwood - Glimpses of why he is in the NZ team, but injury ravaged and, at times, unmotivated due to home sickness
Diskin - At times has looked as good as Buderus, but isn't the player of 4 and 5 years ago
Smith - Always played better than I ever gave him credit for but seems to have lost some pace recently
Bailey - His really good games are few and far between. Annoyingly niggly, which some people think is good!
Clarkson - Looks very promising indeed, but understandably still has much to learn
Burgess - I genuinely wish we had his brother!

I'm not a pr*ck but to be fair that does read like a major knee-jerk

I'd prefer to think of it as a 'balanced' opinion

Just about sums it up perfectly, except .....re Delaney, big hitter, makes good hard yards, would IMO make a great back row, but only an average centre.
re Kirke, totally agree......this lad has the size, a good offload and can hit hard, but doesn't do it very often. Seems to lack confidence?

I'd like to think that rather than have a massive overhaul at the end of next year, that we'll bring in a couple of new faces this close season, and continue to bring on the promising players like Clarkson, Watkins & BJB and continue our excellent record of producing top quality SL players

Strong rumour on our (Salford) board that Sinfield is coming to us next year. Anybody at your end heard anything?

(Don't agree with Hall being the best winger in Super League, I think Jodie Broughton is better

)

LL makes a pretty fair assessment I'd say. I rate Bailey more highly but think he becomes a bit of a luxury once we're lacking others capable of making ground. Kirke is too big - more precisely, his centre of gravity's too high - meaning that he's easily toppled. No amount of training will overcome this IMO.

This may seem harsh to some although I'd add that most other teams are equally flawed.

Why would he?

That'd be Warrington you'd be meaning?

[uPOSSIBLY[/u:

Higher pay, change of position, change of scenery, coaching, age, salary cap issues at Leeds.

I don't know really, I was hoping you could tell me



You could as the same about Patten, Wild, Paleaaesina ect. They've all come from better teams.

lets see who gets picked for the england squad as i wouldnt be too upset if we only end up with hall called up as the squad needs a big rest

So who do you chaps see as replacements from other Super League clubs? Which players are lined up as incoming?

Shenton and McCarthy-Scarsbrook. Oh, wait...

ye your right you will see him when we play you in the league and if we draw you in the cc you might see him twice

IMO we need 2 good go forward props. Keith Mason and Earl Crabtree fit that bill. Im sure if we wave a few pouind notes and ryan bailey under the giants noses they might bite.

Hasn*t Crabtree just signed a long term contract?....5 years i think...

Yes in January this year I recall.

For me, we only need a couple of astute signings to freshen things up.

Hopefully Mcdermott can improve the defensive discipline. We need to improve our play around the ruck. Wigan have been very clever at that this season. We haven't really adapted. We need to improve our attacking structure. Wigan attack with purpose to specifically create overlaps and isolate certain players.

We give the ball to webb, mcguire or senior and epxect them to sh*t miracles. They quite often do.

Smith can take donalds place on the wing and with a rugby league off season should regain his full athleticism. We'll miss peacock and mcguire but the extended rest will do them good. We need a centre on the right who can make stuff happen. Delaney is solid and would make a good second rower. Shift delaney into the 2nd row and sign a genius at centre (if anyone is avilable who fits the bill?). We need a big player at prop. A big signing. We rely too much on peacock and he's coming to the end of his career.

BIggest thing of all though, is how we set up and play. We need to start really controlling the ruck. I can't remember many, if any games against the top teams where we've genuinley had control of this area. Defence has been shot this season, tighten that up.

We haven't developed this season. Teams like wigan have made huge strides in the way they play. We need to do the same next season and evolve.

Evolution, not revolution

Theres nothing luike the enthusiasm of skillful youngsters to help rejuvenate a team.

all three should be given plentiful gametime next season.

IMO we need a new half back in the mould of Dobson,Briers or Brough to let Mcguire do what he does best being a support player. If we were to have 2 players with top notch kicking games then we would spend alot more time defending in the opposition 20 rather than are own 20 a new prop to take the burden off JP, a centre who can attack AND defend so both are wingers are able to score tries but I would settle for an extended period of Kallum Watkins if we were to get the other 2 which are the priority.

I dont know what players are available and im sure we would have to check out the NRL but we have extra space on the overseas cap now Eastwood and Donald are going.

Certainly agree that a tactical half back would be useful. Could the McDermott/McClennan combo be enough to calm Paul Cooke down!? The Paul Cooke of 5 years ago would be a welcome addition IMO, but the fact that no one seems to want to touch him with a barge pole (not even Bradford) maybe tells its own story!

Just hope the sleeve has something lined up, as every other team seems to have finalised their 2011 line ups -maybe we've left it too late

Which isn't far from what I was saying since the start of the year, but apparently was accused of writing off the team. Although two was never enough, unless you are purely talking about external signings? if so yes, but 4 or 5 changes were needed to that first 20, including promoting from within.