Ryan Hall is one of my all time fave Leeds players but based on how long Hetherington takes to react is it worth planning his replacement soon? Ryan is currently 29 and although we've youngsters coming through I personally can't take another world class star not being replaced by someone of the same calibre!

Just to make it clear i'm not saying he's past it or should be replaced next year it's more of a future thing and a dig at those who run the club!

I see your point mate but wing is the bottom of the worry list right now imo.FWIW I also see Hall playing till his mid 30s and at a good level as his game isn't built around raw speed.

I think the immediate question regarding wing is that Briscoe needs to pull his socks up to keep Handley out.

Easy to replace, not an issue.

I think Handley has shown himself more than capable, and is almost certain to be the next man up.

Personally i think there is no reason he can't be a world class winger, i think people forget how late Hall came through and that for the first couple of years he was the back up to Donald and Smith. It wasnt until 2009 that he became a first choice player.

i'd like him to bulk up a touch but under mac its a damn sight harder to get in than get dropped, depending on who you are

Agree re-Briscoe needing to up his game.
Handley is easily ready to step up & imo one we must keep & i know it's frowned upon but i think eventually Hall will move into the SR unless he goes for a swansong in RU.

As much chance of playing SR as Keith senior did before he retired

I've seen this on a few threads now possibly both you cannot remember, you may well be right but I think it's a little early I have yet to see him be given any real attacking opportunity from memory, if we manage to get him some ball and he still isn't performing then fair enough but the only time I see him getting any ball is running it back out from our line.

Senior had a serious knee injury then ended up retiring H-T-H.

Also given how Keinhorst has made that transition it's clearly not unthinkable Hall woulsn't switch & be a success there.

Leeds have had enough players covering/out of position last year I think we can do without converting wingers into the second row even if it is in a couple of years!

I agree Handley should be given a chance as he certainly knows where the try line is!

A little off topic but I'd like Watkins to pull something out of the bag this year, he has too much talent to just go through the motions, it's annoying because every now and again he gives us a glimpse of what he can do, he's just not consistent enough!

If we gave the big lump the ball 5 yards out more often he could happily rack up lots of tries until his mid 30's.

Great player, really enjoyed watching his career.

Hall attacking from 2nd row I can see

Hall defending from 2nd row doing 30-40 tackles? Not a chance. His tackle technique is all stick his arms out and hope.

perhaps if Watkins got some early quality ball he may make some breaks

Exacally he made a quality break in the first game. The centre and wing get so little ball on both sides but Watkins briscoe see even less than the other wing

How he defends as a winger is not final proof of how he'd defend in field with support either side of him.

It's not final proof but really his tackling technique doesn't suggest he'll be able to do the job at 2nd row.

All calls for him to play at 2nd row are based purely on attack with no consideration for defence.

My pov re-positional switch is longevity for him as a Rhinos player i just dont see him seeing out his career as an out & out winger but i dont doubt he'll also have other options i.e RU.
Im not suggesting we switch him tmw & that's it nor just do it "cold" either.

I agree with Printer here. Hall has all the attributes of a great winger. If we are being generous he has at most half the skillset of a good second rowers.

He can cart the ball up and is a big lad.

Can he Run a good line? Can he make 20 plus (on the low side) tackles with his shall we say interesting technique? Can he stand up to the punishment? Can he offload in contact or pass and act like a link player to the back line with a passing game? Imo the answer to all these questions is no.

There have been plenty of wingers or centres who've turned into second rowers. I don't think Hall will be one of them. As someone said earlier in the thread, because his game isn't based on speed there's no reason he can't keep doing what he's doing into his mid 30's. Monaghan and Richards being recent similar examples.

Should at least move him in one at centre and see how he goes before suggesting moving in as far as 2nd row.

Are you suggesting he isn't capable of learning the SR position?
As for the pass & link part Delaney has never done that also wrt can he take the punishment he's hardly built like Calderwood either.

Why should Hall learn to be a second rower whilst he's a very good winger? The way he plays based on size and strength rather than speed, he should be able to remain one of the most effective wingers around for years.

I'm suggesting that at 30 plus, he won't be able to learn enough to be anywhere near as effective in the SR as he is on the wing. I don't think he could take the extra work and still be effective, while he's got the frame, what you put yourself through in the pack is very different to the wing.

Delaney can link. Not as well as Ablett, Ferres or Ward, but he can do it.

The only reason he would move to the pack is because he would be more effective there than his current position. Let me ask you, what about Ryans game, apart from his size and ball carrying, makes you think he'd be more effective in the second row than on the wing?

Decent 2nd rowers are ten a penny, it's one position the game seems to produce plenty of. I don't see us ever being so short that we have to use Hall there. Ironically, the one type of 2nd rower that we don't produce many of is the pacey ball handling variety - a role that Hall is probably less suited to than the more conventional model. And points about his tackling are valid - we simply don't know. Fortunately for him, he's a pretty good winger.