i'd see longy given a rest, the wayne bennett plan is what i would follow. eastmond and wheeler could indeed be our 6 and 7 for years so why not try them, we are two games clear of leeds, so use that, if we loose two, so what? but if they gel well together we are safe for halves for 10 yrs!

Agreed.

I'm sure that Potter wants to ease him in gradually rather than have him directing such a successful team around so early in his development. His chance will come sooner rather than later however, lets not forget that its only his second game back from a long lay-off.

But we're only one game clear of Udders. Why is no-one taking any notice of Udders? They could be the Catalans of this season, or even better.

Having said that, I think we should go with the 'Wayne Bennett plan' anyway. We should be doing just as suggested and interchanging or even giving complete rests to our old biddies so as to blood our newbies properly. Maybe that is just what Potter is doing but in Arnold's case he is only just back from injury so will need time to bed back in. It's certainly what Potter [ishould[/i be doing, since that is an important element of his job description.

Potter will know what he is doing it Arnold, he turned Bosc into a top quality half back.

These things take time, but Arnold appears to have all the assets.

Things are looking less bleak when it comes to the transition.

Great little cameo from Eastmond. His pass for Dean's try was top class. He can definitely make a difference for us this year I think, particularly with his support play which was excellent today.

Well aware of them, but we'll see how they stack up more on saturday. No disrespect intended at all to them, but leeds are still our main rivals

Sensational game, sell him to wire, could easily get £75k for the kid which is an amazing figure for a kid so young....

Wish he played for Widnes.


Good kid if he can sort out his bad defensive habits.

Showed great vision for that try, something that cant be coached.

Oooh, like sh*tty old Danny McGuire eh, just a support player?



We'll watch this one with interest I think

Kyle Eastmond threw a great pass for great Saints try today. That is one more great pass than Danny Mcguire as managed in Super League.

No, he has a good kicking game, is a good goalkicker and threw a great long pass out wide for Dean's try.

Kyle is ready for Longys no7.... Longy will always be a legend in my eyes. But Castleford next sun Kyle should start & kick goals, after kicking his 1st 2 goals Longy only got 1/7. This should be Seans last season (before he gets his pension at warrington) at 7. We need to move on with Eastmond. The whole crowd picks up when he comes on & recieves the ball. Give Longy a bit of a rest & play em both this season at 7.

Longy has stated many times that he doesn't like kicking goals, so whilst Eastmond was on the pitch why didn't Longy hand the goal kicking over to him?

But just how reliable a goal kicker is Eastmond? He got 1 out of 2 on Easter Monday. Sure, on Thursday he kicked a blinder from the touchline plus that cracking drop goal. But to be fair to Long, he is just as capable of kicking blinders from the touchline and fantastic drop goals.

Our two stand out goal kickers IMO were Matty Smith and Ste Tyrer and presumably there is young Foster who Potter clearly doesn't think is ready or something for playing at first grade just yet. But when Eastmond was playing in the first team last season, he wasn't as reliable a kicker as Smith and Tyrer seemed to be. That's not a criticism so much as a simple observation.

Personally, I'd like to see as many people as possible kicking, both in field and goals so that no one player is put under all the pressure.

Why won't i be impressed?

Eastmond is playing well, not excellent like people are suggesting but is making some good contributions.

I'd like to see him start and finish a game against a tough opposition. It's all well and good throwing him on when the game is won like he has been but can he control a game? What would he be like in poor weather when he can't really use his speed as much?

There are still questions about that and also his propensity for injuries.

Is it over for Matty to win the number 7 shirt, NO.



Nice to know your thinking of me.

All very valid points, although I suspect the usual suspects will ridicule them somehow.

Kyle needs to be given a run at 7 and stay fit before we start rubber stamping him as the replacement for Long.

Eastmond has shown more in the 2 games this weekend than Smith has shown in his entire Saints career. Not to write Smith off, but Kyle is way ahead of him in the race to no. 7.

Absolutely rubbish.

Smith has helped get us to a grand final.

Eastmond has come on when two games have been won and scored a few points.

It's a pity Smith isn't fit to be able to feature in Celtic's game against Wigan next weekend. I would love to see how he would perform against them at the moment.

I don't agree. I think Eastmond shows lots of talent and some attractive cockiness to go with it, but I think Smith did great for us leading up to the Grand Final in 07 and it was a damn shame Anderson didn't let him play in the final rather than a still injured Long. Smith also seems to have been doing a good job for the Crusaders and I think they've missed his organisation lately.

While I definitely rate Eastmond and hope he continues to develop, he needs more game time against tough opposition in tight matches for us to see whether he really is the right man to carry the baton.

Maybe we're talking about different games, but didn't Kyle come on against Wigan when the scores were level and it was lashing down with rain?

Yep, kicking a 40(ish) metre drop goal to seal a derby game.

LOL

This is quite possibly the most ludicrus claim I have ever heard on here.

What is this w@nk fest with Eastmond????

we were losing at Wigan when he came on (I think - drawing at the very most), and did a superb job. Showed a great diversity in his kicking and organisational game, along with the pace and skills he has showed in other games looks like the real deal (a bit like a young Sean Long).

Smith played in the play off semi final (and probably should have played in the GF), and played well enough, but I cant remember any "outstanding" pieces of play he has done throughout his whole time in the Saints team.

Solid player, and will have a good career, but Eastmond is something special and already has a highlights reel to be proud of.