But that doesn't make him our best attacking weapon surely, we've scored 90 odd points in two games, one bloke has 6 tries and your saying our best attacking weapon is in the reserves, Riley isn't that far behind Penny on speed.

Maybe Scott Donald, I love the "all he has is pace" line, the change of direction at such speed and his finishing ability is outstanding and his confidence is great.

Shaun Ainscough, Peter Fox and Scott Donald.

as a father myself, i can pretty much guarantee that Penny wont be 100% focused on RL at the moment.

having a baby is a massive lifestyle change and he will need some time to adapt.

i think it could be a good move to leave him out of the first team frame for a while. And no, i dont think he should go out on loan either.

dont forget Penny is only a young man and there is alot going on in his young life at the moment.

1 out of 3 ain't bad. Although I think Ainscough is a great talent quite a few of his tries have been Ade Gardner types.

Was it Matt Gidley he made to look like a chump once? Gidley is one of my favourite players - to make him look anything other than great is hard to do.

I'm a fan of his too. Him and Cunningham I have a great deal of respect for, even though they play for saints.

On the penny front, a loan could work out for him (as it worked out for Halley at Bradford). At the moment though i'd rather have him on the wing ahead of Johnson.

You can't help but admire Gidley can you. He is consistently excellent, tough as well as skilful and never does anything to make you dislike him. What a signing he was - and to replace Lyon too! Who replaced Gleeson! Makes you sick doesn't it...

It does. However as an organisation, on the playing side, Saints really are a cut above. For me, replicating that is TS's biggest challenge and that's why people are really positive about what he is doing rather than 'getting carried away after 1 or 2 results'. We are hopeful that he is putting in that sort of culture at Warrington.

On a slightly wider point, I have respect for (almost) all Rugby League players. To quote Rob Smyth, RL is a 'daft game' and (almost) anyone who can play it to any standard demands respect. What seperates the likes of Gidley from the others is his utter class as a player and a person - the way he conducts himself is an absolute credit to the people who have worked with him as well as Gidley.

Gidley is also a wonderful example that-

- being late 20s/early 30s; and
- being Australian

Does NOT mean that the player is 'an Aussie here for a holiday' or 'past it'. When we announce whatever signing we are waiting to announce, people should remember that, although rare, the likes of Matt Gidley are still about.

Penny is a rare talent, I just hope he doesn't have to prove this at another club.

Indeed it does make me sick. Even Puletua a player who wasn't exactly a big name, but they have managed to get some real impressive performances out him, their recruiment policy is great as they keep the nucleus of the team (wellens ,cunninghams, longs) together with odd addition each season, therefore making it easier to be successful as they have already a settled squad and are used to playing with eachother.

It's like a building block, they keep adding and taking away from it, but the solid infustracture was built many moons ago. It's something I'm hopeful Smith can bring to us.

To say the Reserve competition is way below Super League level is way off the mark. A great deal of the SL players come through the Reserve game process. I take it you have never played in the Academy or Reserve set up yourself, so have no personal experience of how tough it is. Some of the best up and coming players, play in the competition and the ones I have spoken to have said how tough it is. Ainscough, TOmkins, Myler, Burrorws, Maguire, Sinfield, there are too many to mention, so I think it is wrong to suggest that competition is way off SL standard. THere is a step up of course but not a massive one for good players.

Riley was caught by the Celtic Crusaders number 8 with open field in front of him ....
Penny goosed Gidley Wellens Gardner also Lee Smith and Francis meli on 3 wonderful try scoring occasions that will be remembered long after Penny hangs his boots up....

long long ago I came to the conclusion you have no idea about

A) the game of Rugby League

and

B) how to stop making yourself look stupid.....



I now must go back to the drawing board and start over again as I have been reeled in by your *wearysome Drivel

*(word courtesy of Fucitolbladderrack)

And you know this for fact, do you?

Come of it, Wellens, Gidley, Gardener and Meli are as slow as treacle. Ill give you Lee Smith and that's it, penny was caught twice last year by Peter Fox.

Only because of his slyness

I think going to somewhere like widnes or leigh would be a greatmove for him, as it's a much better level than reserve standard. I've got the feeling that the club are allowing him to develop naturally and put on more muscle mass in the gym before they throw him back into the rigours of Super League. Shaun Ainscough is a cracking winger but is a lot more physically developed than young kevin. If Kev has some time away works on his game build ups, plays the odd game then really hits the ground running next year it could prove a masterstroke.
Good things come to those who wait!

No, no and no again.

regarding the talk about Gidley before, he's one of my favourite all time players as well, if Saints win at Old Trafford this year then Gidley will be the only player in history to have won all of these:

- Super League
- NRL
- Challenge Cup
- World Club Challenge
- State of Origin
- Tri Nations
- Ashes
- World Cup

was thinking about him as a months loan my self but,
1. would he what to come at a club where he had trouble with the latu incident
and 2. once we gave him the confidence to score tries like halley did, would he want to leave

tricky one that
let him stop in the reserves with you

Yes it is tough and even tougher to make your name and get out of that level and up to SL as a regular. That is why so few do.