The piece in the T&A about kickers prompted this poll www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... ord_Bulls/ So, who should be our first choice kicker this year? I'm voting for Patrick Ah Van, he's been impressive so far

The piece in the T&A about kickers prompted this poll www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... ord_Bulls/ So, who should be our first choice kicker this year? I'm voting for Patrick Ah Van, he's been impressive so far

I agree it'll be Ah Van, given he's taken the majority of kicks during pre-season and has a pretty good record in those games.

Well we haven't really seen what Herbert or Briggs can do so far. Bit hard to say but Ah Van has looked pretty reliable so far. It is good to have several options though, no player is safe from being dropped this year.

Got to be Ah Van, Looks impressive with the boot so far but always have replacements if needed which have probably lacked in most seasons !!!

Voted for PAV, But I know Kyle Briggs is an excellent goalkicker so we have a great second choice if Ah Van misses any games or goes off colour with the boot.

I think it must have been one of the Rhinos Trolls who voted for Sykes

Its got yo be Paddy the Transit cool calm and a good go forward.

Ah Van no question.

Which 3 Rhinos fans voted for Paul Sykes?

Dont think there is any doubt who will be kicking,

I think there is.

In both games that Herbert & Ah Van started, Herbert was the goalkicker until he went off the field. That kind of suggested that Herbert was originally first choice, although with Ah Van's success afterwards, he may have taken the spot now.

did herbert go off in langley testimonial? must have done late on when southernwood came on but was under impression him and ah van were the halves partnership at beginning of 2nd half when ah van took over the kicking duties. I'm wondering if one maybe kicks better from one side of the field and the other is stronger from the other side so maybe who kicks could be dependent on where the kick is taken from?

Not sure. He wasn't on long for the second half if he was on at all. Can't remember now. You could be right on the position, but it's rare you find that. I think Herbert was originally planned to be the first choice kicker. Maybe still is, or maybe Ah Van's showings in the friendlies have bumped him up. Either way, I'm just glad it isn't going to be Sykes any more as he's way too inconsistent.

not sure of exact figures but think herberts missed 1 from 3 attempts. ah van has missed 2 from 19?. so at moment ah van has the edge percentage wise. maybe original plan was for herbert to kick but given ah van looks comfortable there potter could have had a rethink and decided to let herbert and briggs concentrate on forming a partnership without either having the added pressure of goalkicking duties.

Here you go



=#FF0000Bradford Bulls 50-8 Halifax RLFC
Herbert 1/2
Ah Van 6/7

=#FF0000Dewsbury Rams 12-46 Bradford Bulls
Ah Van 7/8

=#FF0000Bradford Bulls 40-16 Wakefield Trinity
Herbert 1/1
Briggs 1/1
Ah Van 4/5

Looking at the above you have to say Ah Van should be first choice.

The kick Herbert missed against fax was closer to the corner flag than it was the sticks

cheers mick. so at moment herbert has a 66% (2/3) conversion rate, ah van is 85% (17/20) and briggs tops the bill at 100%(1/1). Imagine herberts figure would go up over a bigger sample and briggs would drop, although maybe not a lot given some of comments from fev fans.

Still think we'll stick with ah van at least initially and let herbert and briggs concentrate on forming a partnership without the added pressure. Certainly an improvement to have 3 good kickers likely to be in the starting 17 every week before we even start thinking about sykes, addy etc. much stronger in kicking department this year than we have been for a few seasons imo.

I think that is why Potter let Ah Van take over, it was a bad miss.

As I've said before, stats can lie. I still think the fact Herbert kicked while Ah Van was on the field is a big indicator. But I also agree that Ah Van has done enough to prove he warrants a chance too, if he wants it.

Just trying to say I don't think it's nearly as cut and dry as people seem to be suggesting.




And yet, for the Wakefield game, Herbert took the only kick he was on the field for, when Ah Van was out there too. Could go either way I think.

Lets not get too concerned about who's kicking. The most important aspect is getting over the line in the first instance.

Agree and I think that with Herbert starting the kicking against Halifax could be a good indicator, but he missed his second which was relatively easy and then Ah Van took over and hasn't look back since.

I guess all of us with Ah Van in our dream team will be praying that he's lining them up on Sunday

goes without saying of course. Would be interesting to see in games which we lost over last couple of seasons by a narrow margin ,where the kicking seems to have been a problem, how many missed conversions we had. Always better to score trys and win by a decent margin. But in those narrow games the conversion success rate can easily mean difference between winning and losing.

Ok here goes for last seasons games where the result between the two sides was six points or less.

=#FF0000Round 9
Leeds Rhinos 20-20 Bradford Bulls
Orford 2/5

=#FF0000Challenge Cup Quarter Finals
Bradford Bulls 22-26 Warrington Wolves
Sykes 3/5

=#FF0000Round 19
Castleford Tigers 28-22 Bradford Bulls
Sykes 3/6

=#FF0000Round 20
Bradford Bulls 22-28 Hull FC
Sykes 3/4

=#FF0000Round 22
Bradford Bulls 26-30 Salford City Reds
Addy 3/5

=#FF0000Round 24
Bradford Bulls 22-24 Catalans Dragons
Sykes 3/4


If all of the above kickers had 100% the results would be:

Leeds 20-26 Bradford = 2 points
Bradford 26-26 Warrington = extra time
Castleford 28-28 Bradford = 1 point
Bradford 24-28 Hull FC = no difference
Bradford 30-30 Salford = 1 point
Bradford 24-24 catalans = 1 point

So we using the above we would four extra points (one from the 20-20 draw has already been counted) and would move up the Super League from 10th (19pts) to 9th (23pts) behind the Crusaders in 8th (24pts).

That saying had Sykes kicked 100% in the Warrington cup game then it would have been extra time and who knows what would/could have happend.

All IF's and Maybes I'm afraid.

I'll do the 2009 and 2008 seasons if you want me to.