No, I mean the best FB in the competition Zak Harder who got a ban for using homophobic language. That does not make him a proven homophobe, no matter which way you try to spin it.

I wonder if it will become a witch hunt because fans from other clubs disagree with the fact Leeds are massively over represented in that team.



No matter what "could" of been, what happened is they had a poor finish to an ultimately mediocre season for them in the league.

Escare over Hardaker
J Monaghan over Hall
(Moon over Watkins)
at least.

After everything surrounding Hardaker this year (ooooh witch hunt!) it doesn't seem right for him to be in that squad. Escare has been a cut and above.

Have you only been watching the game since August? Leeds have blown it the last few weeks after winning the Challenge Cup. The top of the league is so tight that a few losses will inevitably throw you down the table.

no, he is a homophobe, and he's a bit of a plonker too.

A+ Post. Thanks for contributing.

Wow, the fountain of all knowledge has spoken. My apologies. Do you know this week's lottery numbers?

The Dream Team is (theoretically) awarded for performances in all 27 rounds*. If 5 players are so good they are judged to be the best players in their positions across the whole league over the course of the whole season, you wouldn't generally expect their team to lose more than 1 third of their matches over the course of the whole season.


*although not sure how they can judge it fairly, seeing as though voting must have taken place before the last round of matches at least.

I don't care how many players Leeds have in. What I want to know is how the f*** Sean O'Loughlin is in the dream team.

Rubbish
Escaré is as outstanding a talent as I have ever seen at the Dragons - constantly breaking the line, always supporting when others make the break, his tries and stats speak for themselves. And his off the cuff talents are amazing, see his try in the corner vs Cas at the weekend, or the try he scored vs Wire at the Halliwell Jones. Amongst endless others
And a great role model to boot.....

When was the last time the Dream team contained no overseas players?

If that's really the case then I'd struggle to believe that any team in the league had anything above a mediocre season. Despite the inexplicable weakened team losses to Bradford and London and the unfortunate single point defeat to a Saints team we dominated for an hour, Leeds only finished six points off the top. What the end result of a league table has to do with the individual performances of certain players I have no idea, but you introduced it, so there you are.

As for having anybody other than Hardaker at fullback? Not a chance.

The SL Dream team is like a vote for mediocrity. If Leeds can get that many players in it says a lot about the current state of SL.

I have just compared Sean O'Loughlin's stats to Joe Westermans - and he doesn't even come close.

And he can't tackle for toffee, which is an important element for the last line of defence. Do you understand the game at all?

Urban myth

so you're defending him, fair enough, the reason why myself and most of SL hate Leeds with a passion.

Bailey beating people up
Hardaker being a vile human being

Saints, Wigan, Huddersfield, Warrington and Castleford have had better, less mediocre league seasons than Leeds - 6/14 is pretty much half way - ergo mediocre.

5 dream team players implies a level of dominance over the league nobody has achieved this year. 3 from each at most.

On a personal level, I could understand Walsh not because he didnt play enough, but if SOL gets in (playing 1 more game than him) how doesnt Walsh?

Sorry didn't realise you knew Zak personally.

Edit: Ah I see you're posting this on the Rhinos board too. Monday afternoon trolling session I see!

No, being honest, the guy is as much of a disgrace (if not more) than Bailey.

Last year wasn't it?

In one!!

Morgan Escare

Appearances - 27
Tackles - 151
Missed- 45

Zak Hardaker

Appearances - 21
Tackles- 134
Missed -27

So Escare has missed only 18 more tackles than Hardaker, despite playing 6 more games than him. It's a myth Escare can't tackle. He's not as good as Hardaker who's an outstanding all round full bak. But I think some traditionalists can't take the fact we have found an outstanding player outside the heartlands and keep rolling out the "he can't tackle" line.

Or another way of looking at it is that he makes fewer tackles per game (ME 5.6, ZH 6.4) and misses more of them (ME 29.8%, ZH 20.1%) than Zak. I wouldn't go with the line that he can't defend for toffee, but missing nearly a third of all your tackles is not a good stat for any player.

I'd like to add that I think Escare is a cracking player, and I hope France produce a lot more like him, but Hardaker is thoroughly deserving of his spot in the dream team.

Only? Only? He misses 23% of the attempts he makes. That is big.

Your damn right he is not as good as Hardaker.

And nobody argued he wasn't a good player. It was only you who originally tried to make out he was the best.