Rhinos face a difficult choice [url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/leeds-rhinos/leeds-rhinos-face-tough-call-over-hookers-1-5017524here[/url

Mcshane has a 3 year deal with the Rhinos and is currently on loan with Widnes

Lunt has a 3 year deal with Huddersfield and is currently on loan with us,

GH says one of them will have to go for next season. It looks like Mcshane for me. Why else would we have brought Lunt in the first place If we already had Mcshane?

McShane out to Wakefield (FWIH) Lunt brought in.

Sounds logical to me. Wouldn't be suprised if a deal with Hudds/Lunt is already concluded. McShane wont walk into the team at Wakey though, Aiton was fantastic last year

I actually really hope we retain Lunt, I think he has really fitted in well with the team, obviously not in the same league but he does fill the gap that was left by buderus.

I'd like to see Lunt retained too. I stress that he isn't at Danny Buderus' level, but he does play in a similar way. Moves the pack around the pitch in a fairly un-fussy way, reads the game well, stiffens up the ruck/central defence when he plays.

There might be a fee to pay, but it is possible that with a couple of other hookers on their wage bill Hudds might be happy to get him off their salary cap.

Wouldn't surprise me if GH is trying to negotiate another season long loan to be honest

Wakey/Widnes pay us what Hudds want for Lunt & they can have McShane.

Mcshane for me he still has improvement in him and offers the same as Lunt but with a stronger kicking game option and his cut out pass near the oponents line is quality and creates tries.
Saying that i dont think Mcshane and Brian Mc get on so we'll most likely keep Lunt who is decent enough imo but does that mean Hood going out on dual-reg/loan for all of 2013??

mcshane def is not a fan of big macs, and that is an understatement!
also paul anderson does not want lunt back. that came from the horses mouth. no brainer really

I know full well what yer saying tad but i was being diplomatic in this case!

In my view McShane is a totally different style of hooker to Lunt. He's nippy, scoots well and is more "off the cuff" but doesn't defend anything like as well and doesn't run the game in terms of moving the pack around as well as Lunt.

Any chance of using Mc Shane as a part exchange for Lunt ??.

El D.Lunt was just as weak defensivley until a few weeks ago as were the team i think defence can be improved as we've witnessed and also just to add Mcshane can cover 7 and 13 better than Lunt imo of course.
In terms of controlling the game again i'm sure given a sustained run of games he'd improve on that aswell.
However dont get me wrong i wouldn't be unhappy with Lunt far from it i just think Mcshane will be a departure we regret and he will become a very good all round 9.

Not sure Leeds would dictate the market in that scenario tbh with you!

Agree 100%. But this is one of the things that swings it towards Lunt for me. He really stepped up when it was most needed which is an obvious requirement of players in this Leeds team. And although McShane's impressed me on various occasions, notably the WCC, there seems to be an element of hit and miss about when he finds his form. Of course this might well be down to his on-off selection, but given that Brian M is unlikely to depart any time soon I don't really see now that he can be considered the player for us.

I too would be sorry to see McShane leave as quite clearly he has not been given the opportunities to develop unlike other players, Kirke for example. He is young enough and appears to have got better since he has been given game time at Widnes.
Lunt started off well and certainly finished the season well. But had some average games in between.
If a hefty fee was involved for Lunt I would stick with McShane and put the money to better use elsewhere for this big named signing we were going to get.

But the key you are missing, is that Lunt is far far far more versatile than McShane in the positions he can play. Bearing in mind Burow is going to play hooker no matter what, that limits the amount of time the second hooker gets. Far better to have someone who can play other positions also to accomodate that.

Lunt by plenty.

Although given a choice, an hooker even 75% of what Burerus gave us and playing near 80 minutes would be my preferred option. Neither McShane or Lunt are that.

I'd dispute that McShane is big enough to ever be a credible option at 13. Lunt on the other hand can (and has done) play in the back row. McShane can cover 7, but is behiind Sinfield, McGuire, Burrow and Ward as a half. 5th choice half backs are a luxury.

Also, I think a key consideration with Lunt is that he appears to have really bought into the ethos and spirit of this team. Which results and player testimony suggest is hugely important to our success. I retain some doubt about whether McShane had really done that. My big question is IF (and I have no idea) Brian Mac doesn't like him, is there perhaps a reason for that? Sporting teams require more than doing your specific set of on-field tasks well.

Lunt in the play-offs was a machine. He peaked with us and bought into that mentality. He'll never be able to do that at Huddersfield.

Showed some savvy assists to Ward and Abblett and tackled everything that moved with a gutsy shoulder. It's this area which has shown the most improvement. His hunger is there to see.

I think that McShane has massive potential but I'd say the same about Lunt. As I see room for him to grow and develop further if he can be a bit smarter when running from dummy half in the danger zone, especially against the better opposition. Not sure how do-able it is but I'd like to see both stay.

When I read the title to this thread my mind jumped back to this moment:

Mcshane is à thinker with à Great left boot see wcc .
unfortunately For him sir kev plays this role better than Any other player in SL. Wé will need a player like this when kev has gone but not for a few seasons yet . Lunt does not offer this option but fits in well now. I would retain mcshane as is as good as lunt now and offers better options for the future. Plus hate to see players coming back after heavy-metal investement by our club to bite us in the in the ass

Whoops , I meant heavy investment .

He played about 10 minutes in the WCC and produced 1 decent kick! I'm not knocking the kid, but I want to see more than that to call it a "great left boot."

I might be missing something with McShane but I struggle to see why he's so highly rated. Maybe he can develop into a really top player, but I haven't seen a huge amount from him in the game time he's had at Leeds to mark him out as more than "decent" at this level.

I might be missing something, but if he was a player at another club that was being touted as a possible signing there would be widespread shrugging of shoulders on this board.

I remain suspicious as to why a coach who has given good game time to the likes of Hardaker, Ward, BJB, Clarkson and Keinhorst would decide not to extend the same to McShane if there was no reason for it.

The problem is that McShane is stiffled at Leeds in that McDermott doesn't want him to do anything (in attack) other than pass from dummy half. He doesn't want him to scoot, kick or try anything fancy - despite him having the capabilities to do so.

He was also left to engineer his own loan move last season as he was told he wouldn't get any game time.

Basically he wasn't/isn't getting a chance at Leeds.

I think it's more that McDermott wants effective, reliable distribution from acting half instead of someone trying miracle plays. There's little need for him to kick from DH with Sinfield, McGuire & Burrow on the pitch and considering Lunt has often scooted from DH this year I'd suggest that isn't the issue.
I think McShane was trying to do too much and not doing what the coach wanted him to do. If he'd taken on board coaching advice from McDermott and especially Lowes, then I doubt he'd have been at Widnes and I doubt we'd have got Lunt.