Can anyone please tell me why on earth he doesnt play for us every week??? he dunked morley and kept him very quiet with superb tackling... yet macca seems to choose worrincy (who has got to be the worst tackler in sl) instead. if langley returns for hull he must play donno instead of worrincy. Fantastic talent and one we need to keep hold of. Whitehead also impressed me aswell.

The same has been said on the Worrincy thread. He is a great prospect and probably will be played next week ahead of Worrincy

he has really impressed me and also relieves forwards of work with his fantastic tackling abilities. Not many players can do such a good job on morley as he did on saturday night. lets hope he plays at hull instead of worrincy who in my opinion must be loaned out until his tackling improves

Loan him back to harlequins.

I believe that Macca is trying to protect the lad from burn out. Don't want another Fielden on our hands, worn out by 26

I agree. But I'd rather he rotate him with Olbison if that's the plan.

Yes I spotted that, think he made or contributed to another 2 tackles in that set as well. I think the need to replace Worrincy know outweighs the protection to Donaldson from burning out (not a theory I completely subscribe to). Something I've said before but his tackling is that good, leg tackling Feka x3 on his debut is not what you'd expect from a debutant.

Whitehead continues to impress with me too. Looks to have good hands, maybe a LF in the future?

I'd like to see Olbison again soon, in his brief SL stint

, he looked useful enough. I'd like to see Tate given a go against Dewsbury aswell.

I think Whitehead may have made his claim for a spot in the 17 every week now, he has given McNamara no reason at all to drop him.

Donaldson will be our 80 minute LF in the future, plus I don't think Whitehead is creative enough, but he does have a cracking pass & offload for a second rower.

Forgot about him for a minute there

Agreed. Donaldson has good hands and has played a bit of stand off, so he's a perfect loose forward. Whitehead may not be creative, but he is a 150% workhorse kind of player that everybody loves to have in the side.

They are both without a doubt great prospects, and they have both impressed me with their defence for young lads aswell.

If they carry on with the progress they've made so far, you'd have to say they'd be regulars in the 17 before long.

I think Whitehead has cemented his spot in the 17 on recent performances. Donaldson is younger though, and hopefully he'll be playing next week aswell.

People might also want to give some thought to possible terms in contracts - for example, player gets X salary but this rises to y salary or he gets z bonus after playing more than n number of games. Sometimes this can have a bearing on how many games a youngster gets in a season, especially if you anticipate the player being needed more as the season progresses.

Good point.

Well made.

Hadn't considered that angle.
In fact the more you think about it, the more sense the selection of Worrincy makes.

The young lads are almost being punished for doing well and trying to break into the team though.

Does not necessarily follow, but things like this CAN often be a reason for selection policy. There is a section in the Salary Cap Operational Rules that deals with how conditional and bonus payments are handled under the live cap, and that is worth a read too.

That is spot on, I remember in the later Premiership days of City, they left a player out because they'd have had to pay an extra fee to the club that had sold him if he played so many games. In fact, I don't think he played again after that as the club couldn't afford the extra transfer fee.

That of course was purely monetary reasons. In Super League, it's monetary AND Salary Cap.

Part of me hopes that it is the case to be honest. At least then, we can see a reason why Worrincy is getting picked so much, other than just because McNamara sees something in him that nobody else does.

It's about time Donaldson was given a shot starting at Loose. He obviously is good enough and is awesome in defense, as he showed against Warrington when dumping Morley and when he dumped Palea'asina last year against Wigan at home, not many at his age have his defensive qualities. I would definatly start with a back row of Whitehead, Langley and Donaldson.

Ah yes, not considered that

Maybe we should have another whip round ?

He should be playing every week instead of that catastrophe Worrincy, he's gonna be class and he is pretty good now.

Hang on. Adey are you really suggesting that one reason for Worrincy's continued selection could be down to us not wanting to trigger increased salary for Donaldson?

We're surely not that bloody short of cash are we? If so things are in a really sorry state.

Maybe it's more the going over the salary cap, rather than not wanting to pay him more?

Whatever the reason, I hope Macca is managing Donaldson's expectations. The last thing we want him to do is become hacked off and bail out.

Salary cap?