I think you have a very good point ninearches certainly not deluded, you have been constant with your A team campaign and have a valid point, not only are young players being being thrown in at the deep end they are having to do it while carrying knocks or returning from injury, of course this is inevitable with our present injury crisis but having an A team would help with conditioning, confidence, experience and general development.

A team games would be a step forward, looking at someone like kevin penny ,to come in cold and be catching big punts is not easy ,he needs lots of practice in a competiveness game environment

Considering we've been called "Dad's army" in the past, the average age against Leeds rounded up was 25. I do feel a reserve grade is needed as you're expecting players to come in after not playing, or playing 1 game at a lower level like Rhys Evans had.

The team was made up from;

8 players under 22.
6 players 25 - 28
3 over 30.

A young side can learn from the experience, look at what a young England cricket side has now done after being battered previously.

many years ago and i mean many years ago when the a team played on a friday night we were always near the top of the league producing some half decent players..why this was scrapped i1ll never know..the quicker its brought back the better instead of farming out players to swinton or wales or any where else..1 theyll get game time..2 theyll learn..3 itll keep em match fit..

Total lunacy, getting rid of the A-team
A nice freebie for season ticket holders, and a few extra quid for the club, for those paying on the door. The odd 2K+ attendance, too (Bateman's A-team debut being one such example)
A nice start to a Friday night, before hitting Time Square etc (providing it wasn't TOO cold).

Plus, why should young kids @ Swinton/Wales lose out on a place/wages, just because we need a player to get match fit.

Bring back the A-Team (Pat Poasa could've been Mr T........"I AIN'T GOIN' ON NO PITCH, FOOL"icon_wink.gif

Just watched it for the first time (been away) and cannot understand the criticism of certain players. At fullback Ratchford must have made at least five try saving tackles. On the wing Penny looks the only one capable of scoring. Sandow clearly has the kicking game we need.

One player I will pick out for a lack of overall contribution is Ben Currie but he largely escapes criticism on this forum.

Ratchford also got skinned far too easily for a couple and after making a good tackle on watkins in the first half he was far too quick to let him up leading to the try. He also needs to learn that if you're not going to make the tackle then at least make some decent contact to slow the attacker down.

nostalga..bateman pat poasa and time square far better days than now...

True, mark_m, Ratchford DID make some try savers, but he was "turnstile" like for a lot more. I like Ratchford, I just don't think he's a good enough (in terms of consistency) full back.

You're bang on, re Currie. A lad with immense potential, but strewth, he can go missing when he wants to. Did a passable impression of the Invisible Man on Friday.

Penny, Sandow, (and to some extent) Clark were the few to come out of Friday with reputations in tact.

Believe me, next season, Sandow will be superb, and hopefully Clark will be on his shoulder at all times.

As I said a few weeks ago, any wins now, are merely a bonus. I can't wait for Feb. We might not win owt, but we'll be good to watch

Agree with your comments and Currie has been largely anonymous in the last two games. However, he was only 21 last month and he has made good progress this year and is our top try scorer.
It's a bit unfair to expect him to provide what Westwood and Harrison can in such games. I don't recall Sculthorpe carrying our pack either at that age.

To be honest if the FB has to make a tackle it is because our line has been broken so the defensive processes have failed. And that was because we didn't control the ruck and one or two players have the lateral mobility of a wheelie bin.

I agree about Sandow, all the players need to push harder on the space he creates as a ball carrier. And Clark had a good a game as I have seen all season.

I rate Currie and only mentioned his name to question why other players who played well on the night (Penny and Ratchford for instance) are in scapegoat corner yet again.

I do recall Scully carrying our pack in quite a few games though. He was captaining the team from a young age as well.

Gidley scored again yesterday from full back and I am too looking forward to next year even if it is another of our years. I hope the Eastmond rumour is true even if we have to trim our squad further - Gidley + Eastmond + Sandow + Currie + Ratchford should be interesting.
Huddersfield have one of the best defences and Jack Hughes has been a big factor in that.

Oh 49er, Sculthorpe was like Atlas in that 1997 season, even at the tender age of 17/18.
That pack was one of the worse in living memory.
I've just Wiki'd that squad, and have had a nightmare that Stephen King wouldn't wish on someone's psyche

Richie Eyres and Paul Hulme. Wid rejects at the fag end of their careers.
Likewise George Mann.
Tony Tatupu. The size of the fella, he should've been a destroyer. Sadly, only a tad more industrious than the Waste of Skin in the current 15 jersey.
The collossall flop that was Martin Dermott
The (sadly) perma-injured Mark Hilton
Kelly Shelford's powers were on the wain (sadly)
and the less said about the rest, the better.

Sculthorpe DID, but shouldn't have had to, carry that pack. I know we were skint, so he had to be sold, but everyone knew he wasn't going to hang around long, considering the dross he had to play with.

Fair enough but I didn't see many 20 year olds with a handful of first grade experience in that list. Currie's game is nearer to Mark Roberts than Sculthorpe's anyway. They may have been at the end of their careers but most could handle themselves in a scrap - especially Paul Hulme.

Currie didn't train all week I'll. Give lad break hopefully be back on form this week

Ben Currie is going to be a big player for us. He can do things others can't. Ignore the knockers.

Nobody is 'knocking' him but the point was the same suspects come in for criticism even though their contribution levels are higher than others.

This forum is like scapegoat corner and Ratchford appears to be its newest member.

All very exciting, however that and better backlines would struggle behind a pack that's get smashed in defence and attack week in week out

Without some more grunt in the pack, you could have Cronk and Thurston at half and Inglis at FB and they'd struggle

Week in week out ?? Don't recall us being smashed in the other 2 Leeds games - quite the reverse. The fact that other teams' fans are regular visitors to our site when we make signings suggests that there is some concern. Try not to worry Tizzy Lad...Benny Lad is about.

So you're happy to go with this pack of forwards when all fit next season.

Other teams fans come on to a) to take the mickey and b) To see of they can create a stir about possible breach of salary cap.

Just responding to your assessment that we get smashed in the forwards week in week out which is an exaggeration. Asotasi hopefully will go and we will need a minimum of one additional prop. Would be then happy with Westwood to loose forward and Harrison and AN Other as bench replacements. Would you be happy with that TL ?

Some of our fans only come on here to complain/moan as loud as their keyboards allow.


There's 3 people on here that only appear after a bad performance, and impart their views on the board, they're disgusted and outraged but you never heard a dickey bird when things are going ok.
But they ignore the good patches, like they never happened inbeetween their sporadic rants

+1

I'll excuse Ben Currie from looking knackered , he made 42 tackles ,only 2 behind Ashton .. Joel on the other hand made 4 and missed 2 ,in a all hands to the deck defensive performance that seems pretty poor