He needs to learn how to organise and make some better decisions. I don't see him as a 7 but he has played some good games there and I see no reason why he cannot develop his game!

The problem at Saints at half-back isn't Kyle it's Pryce, Kyle is on is own at times because Pryce does nothing apart from his well known ' drop the shoulder and see if anyone falls for it ' routine. The sooner he is moved to the wing, the bench or union the better,then Kyle alongside Wilkin/Wheeler I feel will start to show what he can do.

Long was more of a 6 than a 7 when he joined. He will sink or swim at 7 this season, and it was always going to take time, especially at a time when the team is in transition.

Is Pryce his best partner? Would be interesting to see him pair up with Wheeler, if Pryce continues to struggle to exert his influence at 6.

I,d say leave him at 7 and put Wheeler at 6 as well. We might as well use this season as a transition one, moving Wheeler and Eastmond around is no good for there game. Pryce is not involved enough so he should go full back or centre, Also you would get another 2 good seasons out of Wello moving him to loose forward. Back to Eastmond the more he plays at 7 he will develop there, look at Longy he didn,t look like a scrum half and started at stand off.

Whilst I do tend to agree, Pryce isn't helped at all by the tactics/moves we run. Every player in the league (and his dog) can see when the ball's going to Pryce at second reciever and defences play to counter that.

I'm for the sink or swim tactic with Kyle. He might not be the perfect article yet, but whenever other players try and take responsibility away from him, everything goes tits up. When it comes to the first reciever role, he's the best we've got by a looooong way.

I think its pretty much well known that Schofield and Stephenson are not Saints biggest fans and they only see Eastmond when he is on tv. As we have seen much more of him i think we have seen more of his game and what he is capable of.

With the luxury of hindsight, how bloody stupid were we to let Sean Long go? He's running the show at Hull. He is without doubt a rugby league great. I'll never forget his performance when we beat the Aussies a few years ago, in their own backyard. Not even Masons forearm could stop him.

Kyle has bags of talent. Like Steven Gerrard in football, he can do more than a good job in quite a few positions. He isn't a 'natural' scrum half though. I've wondered how a NRL club would use him to get the full potential out of his talent, and i honestly think he would be used as a fullback over there. Thats what we should do with him.
Potter has to make some tough decisions. Leaving Pryce at stand off is a cop out. To move Eastmond to fullback he'd have to drop/move Wellens.
I'd have loved Saints to have signed Brough but obviously thats not gonna happen,so Potter has to use what he's got. I would use Scott Moore as scrum half, Wheeler at stand off, Eastmond at fullback & move Pryce to centre. And use Soliola (when he's fit) in the second row.

we werent daft at all, we knew he was good and offered him a deal, hull offered a better one. i think we made the right decision

Kyle eastmond IMO isn't a out and out number 7 but it don't mean he can't develop into that. He's 20 years old in a team that's not playing well so anyone in the world would struggle to boss this team around the park.

When longy 1st arrived he's was the same type of player as Kyle. Longy had a great ball player in tommy along side him, Kyle has the invisable pryce who for me is same type of player has Kyle.

I said last year that pryce and Kyle wouldn't work and I still think that now more than ever.

I'm 100% sure Kyle will turn out to be the best 7 in this country for the next 10 years if saints don't ruin him. I'm pretty sure he'd do damage from centre and fullback.

If saints was to bring in a ball playing stand off who can move them round the park I think Kyle would become a better player than longy was for saints.

Watching the Wire/cas game and how clear is it watching Myler flourish with a decent 6 (lee Briers) supporting him? Are you watching Leon/Potter? this is what Kyle needs

Personally thought Myler didnt contribute much to Wires overall play. Granted he scored two trys but they were extremely opportunist. One was from a dropped ball and the other was from improvided play by Briers.
At no point did i see Myler contribute to putting his team mates into space, or put in dangerous attacking kicks.

I would agree. It was Briers in control of that game and he made some crafty plays. Loved that wind up at the end where everyone was anticipating a drop goal but he went for the line. When he decides to play he is good. I think it's going to be hard for Myler to really make an impact at Wire while Briers is still there.

Mind you, Castleford did give the game away in the second half, which was disappointing as I was hoping for 80 minutes of good rugby, not a series of cock ups by Castleford in the final 40.

Having said all of that, Kyle would still benefit from a halfback partner who can actually do the job, which clearly Pryce can't or won't (whichever). I do wish Potter would see the light on this and change things around.

and thats my point, Kyle is much more talented than Myler, IMO, but just wont get the oppertunity to prove it with pryce in this run (6 months+) of form

Lee briers would be the perfect stand off for eastmond. He's very clever player.

Has anyone thought that maybe eastmond is the reason why leon has been rubbish?

Leon needs a long next to him as much as eastmond needs a briers. Maybe they just don't click. If that's the case then potter has to choose who stays in the halfback.

yup, they dont seem to work together, thats why i'd try wheeler at for a few games, see what happens

Not having an on form Long for the last 6 months of the season was the biggest reason for his lack of form IMO.

In that case would we prefer pryce with a good scrumhalf or eastmond with a good stand off?

To be fair on both its early days for them. They may well click in time.

Eastmond at 7 for me.



True enough, a ball handling 13 woukd take some of the pressure off too.

IM told jon wilkin is a ball handling 13.

I think he's shown the ability to do it, but hasn't really been given a run in playing the role or shown a great deal of consistency for me. He's no Scully, but he probably doesn't need to be.

He's had one good game at leeds in the CC. One good game in 3yrs imo is not good enough.

I think you're being a touch harsh on him there.

He's had many a good game, he's just not directed the team around like he did that day, but when you're being played as a running second rower like he has been how can you be expected to?

I am prob being little harsh on wilkin.

To be honest i just don't rate him or like him.

Why can't Eastmond make a great scrum half? Comparing him at his age now to Lance Todd Legend at the same point in his career and it's Eastmond all the way for me. His kicking and passing game is superior to Long at the same stage and although he is a way from being the directing scrum half he has less to go than Lance Todd Legend did. In fact when Long first arrived and probably for the first four years or so the major criticism of him was in inability to manage a game and Saints around the field.

When Millward arrived it was noticeable how much Lance Todd Legend's game improved. With good coaching (and there's no reason to doubt Potter given what he did with Bosc and the Catalans half back's games) Eastmond will grow into the role. It's easier coaching that side of the game than it is improving passing, kicking and attacking the line. Certainly in the latter aspect Eastmond has that in buckets and you can't coach speed like Eastmond's either.

Eastmond and Tomkins at GB half backs for the next seven or eight years? Could be the best pairing we've seen in the modern era and will certainly be the best since Lance Todd Legend and Tommy God.

You have to give Kyle and the other young players time to develop their games.

Even the likes of Andrew Johns werent legends at 20 years old. Infact Johns was 21 before he started to get any sort of recognition. He was helped of course in developing his game by his half back partner and older brother Mathew Johns. Infact Andrew Johns was around 24-25 before he started picking up the major player awards in Australia eg "Dally M"