I was thinking the other day about FA saying our best signing was Sam Burgess re-signing but for mine he has been poor this season overall and is a shadow of the bloke who was b1tch-slapping those Kiwi Big Units for GB. Interesting stats here www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Very close except Sam seems to be doing a hell of a lot more work. The errors and missed tackles are a worry. Looks to me like Macca is making Sam do too much. I know somone has to pull their finger out but will Burgess follow in the footsteps of James Graham or will he just end up like Fielden but earlier in his life Looks like we got the rough end of the deal here too www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009

I was thinking the other day about FA saying our best signing was Sam Burgess re-signing but for mine he has been poor this season overall and is a shadow of the bloke who was b1tch-slapping those Kiwi Big Units for GB. Interesting stats here www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Very close except Sam seems to be doing a hell of a lot more work. The errors and missed tackles are a worry. Looks to me like Macca is making Sam do too much. I know somone has to pull their finger out but will Burgess follow in the footsteps of James Graham or will he just end up like Fielden but earlier in his life Looks like we got the rough end of the deal here too www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009

Quote ="Ancient Provocateur" Looks like we got the rough end of the deal here too www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009'" Not sure about that one, Scruton is settling into his new club, yet still has stats close to those of Luke Burgess. Burgess has played 10 this season, Scruton has 9 under his belt. 1 game isn't alot of difference, but it still adds to the stats. Once Scruton gets settled I wouldn't say we got the rough end. As much as I'd love to see Sam and Luke playing for us, I think Scrutes will be a worthwile signing.

Quote ="Ancient Provocateur" Looks like we got the rough end of the deal here too www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009'" Not sure about that one, Scruton is settling into his new club, yet still has stats close to those of Luke Burgess. Burgess has played 10 this season, Scruton has 9 under his belt. 1 game isn't alot of difference, but it still adds to the stats. Once Scruton gets settled I wouldn't say we got the rough end. As much as I'd love to see Sam and Luke playing for us, I think Scrutes will be a worthwile signing.

Quote ="Ancient Provocateur"I was thinking the other day about FA saying our best signing was Sam Burgess re-signing but for mine he has been poor this season overall and is a shadow of the bloke who was b1tch-slapping those Kiwi Big Units for GB. Interesting stats here www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 '" How can you call that very close? Sam's played 1 game less and he has plenty more metres than Luke, more carries, tackles and offloads. Miles ahead in defence and more threatening in attack. I'd pick Sam over Luke any day, younger, more potential and already a miles better player. As for the "Fielden theory" that's utter tripe, Sam may have had a few off games but he's far, far from that route.

Quote ="Ancient Provocateur"I was thinking the other day about FA saying our best signing was Sam Burgess re-signing but for mine he has been poor this season overall and is a shadow of the bloke who was b1tch-slapping those Kiwi Big Units for GB. Interesting stats here www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 '" How can you call that very close? Sam's played 1 game less and he has plenty more metres than Luke, more carries, tackles and offloads. Miles ahead in defence and more threatening in attack. I'd pick Sam over Luke any day, younger, more potential and already a miles better player. As for the "Fielden theory" that's utter tripe, Sam may have had a few off games but he's far, far from that route.

As a Leeds fan I'd say Sam is the pick of those 3 at the moment by some distance. He does seem to be shouldering a lot of responsibility at the moment, and is likely to need a break at some point though. Scrutes is a good player, and still developing. Could be a GB/England regular at some point down the line. Luke has a lot of potential, but still looks very raw to me. It remains to be seen how well he polishes up. So to speak.

Yeah but I reckon he spends more time on the field as Luke is an impact prop. They both made the same breaks and Sam has made more than double the errors

[urlhttp://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php?hs1=2008&hp1=2183&hs2=2008&hp2=2424&stat=tries&season=2009[/url
Just take a look at that one to compare between the Burgesses. Luke is playing in a far better team, so is obviously going to look a good prospect. Step back and take a look -at the games and the stats- Sam is the obvious choice.

Something to do with the lack of confidence in the Bradford team? As I said, playing in a better team, you will make less errors.

Thas last year stop living in the past

My point is this year Sam is not performing as Macca is overworking him

So if Michael Platt played for the Kangeroos he would stop having brain explosions? Amazing

Yes, he would

My point is that he's still only young, once Morro s back and there's more rotation we'll see better performances from him. Also remember that Lynch is not 100%, so Sam has to do even more work. As for Langley, never hearsd of an offload. I'm really disappointed in the way that Langley has -or hasn't- come on. Looked like he could have been a real attacking forward, real hot prospect. Injuries have plagued him, now he's just a workhorse. Although he is reliable, doesn't knock on or try anything stupid too often.

Good points. I still reckon we're a prop short - Solomona has the size?

Hmmm, but he showed that he is useful as second row with his handling. As long as he stops the ridiculous offloads (we'll keep the magic ones) he's useful in the SR. But I think a bit of rotation would come in Useful.


SR - Morro
SR - Beaver
FR - Langley
FR - Lynch
LF - Burgess

Scrutes and Sol on bench. Burgess and Langers to swap about during subs etc. When fully fit we have choice in forrards as I think morro can play LF aswell.

I think I'd rather see Kopzcak in the front row than Langley.

Totally forgot about Koppy

. I agree actually.


SR - Morro
SR - Beaver
FR - Lynch
FR - Koppy
LF - Burgess

Subs: Sol, Langers, Scrutes. Doesn't look too bad to me. Cook we've got aswell whilst there's injuries, seems to be coming on a bit more.

sam has loads more game time than luke so sams stats ant that great

Regardless of stats I tend to agree with the comment that Sam Burgess is overworked at the moment. He's coming back from (maybe still recovering) from shoulder surgery and whilst Lynch is not 100%, Morrison is injured and Menzies isn't playing in the forwards young Burgess has alot of weight on his shoulders. He certainly hasn't hit the form that earned him his reputation and with Bradford not playing too well I would have thought he'd have stood out more this season. He is always willling to run it in however, and there is no doubt of his commitment (Not that thats been suggested) In comparison to Luke he's a much more rounded and experienced player. Luke has tremendous potential however he sometimes seems too stationary and flat footed in defence. There is no doubt that Sam is brother number 1 at the moment in regards to there rugby, but Luke certainly has the potential to compete with him.

Back to my original point though. Sam's overworked in my opinion. Steve Mac has 17 men in his squad. Recently some of these 17 have been getting 10 mins on the field and against Leeds only 16 players got on the field. (Platt just warmed the bench) This for me is one criticism of Macca's coaching and in the long run burnout is a real possibility. For me you have to do whatever you can to avoid it and using all your available squad (17) is sensible. (then again I realise Im no Coach)

Scruton has been shocking so far a real disappointment.