There is no cover because there is no speed in the back line. Castleford exposed that weakness very well on Friday. The responsibility for this lack lands directly on the desk of TS and before anyone jumps in no I don't want him out, I want him to address the weakness of the team he has built. We have a one trick game which bulldozes the opposition and we score over the top of them and nothing else?

Quote ="sally cinnamon"Riley's best seasons for us were 2010 (29 tries in 34 games); 2012 (29 in 35) and 2013 (19 in 33). Martin Gleeson left in 2009, Matt King left at the end of 2011, so the only one of those seasons that had either Gleeson or King in the team was 2010. Generally Riley and Atkins were on the left hand side and King and Hicks were on the right, but King played a fair few games on the wing as well (Riley played fullback sometimes). Also Atkins and King were only in the same team in 2010 and 2011. In both years, Atkins got more try assists (13 and 12) than King (12 and 7). (www.rugby-league.com/superleague ... ayer_stats). Another point to remember about Riley is he wasn't getting tries laid on by Briers kicks as much as the other side of the field, where Hicks, King and later Joel Monaghan were. So whilst Riley benefited from being in a very successful side as did the rest of the three quarters, his try record needs to be seen in the context of being on the less glamorous side of our attack.'" Good stats and I enjoyed your opinion of them. However... 2012 was a year of exception. Near perfect attacking completion and little defence. Richie Myler serviced Atkins and Riley very well on the back of that excellent completion.

Quote ="sally cinnamon"Riley's best seasons for us were 2010 (29 tries in 34 games); 2012 (29 in 35) and 2013 (19 in 33). Martin Gleeson left in 2009, Matt King left at the end of 2011, so the only one of those seasons that had either Gleeson or King in the team was 2010. Generally Riley and Atkins were on the left hand side and King and Hicks were on the right, but King played a fair few games on the wing as well (Riley played fullback sometimes). Also Atkins and King were only in the same team in 2010 and 2011. In both years, Atkins got more try assists (13 and 12) than King (12 and 7). (www.rugby-league.com/superleague ... ayer_stats). Another point to remember about Riley is he wasn't getting tries laid on by Briers kicks as much as the other side of the field, where Hicks, King and later Joel Monaghan were. So whilst Riley benefited from being in a very successful side as did the rest of the three quarters, his try record needs to be seen in the context of being on the less glamorous side of our attack.'" Good stats and I enjoyed your opinion of them. However... 2012 was a year of exception. Near perfect attacking completion and little defence. Richie Myler serviced Atkins and Riley very well on the back of that excellent completion.

Correct, and for the money Atkins is on you could bring in a world class centre who can create space and actually pass a ball. Get rid of Russell and Evans and we could bring in a world class Winger.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that believes Riley was regularly left stranded by his centre...as was Penny...I suspect Rileys height was the real issue although that doesn't stop a current winger from being selected (his inability to catch a high ball is another issue).

Riley was not up to the standard, that's why when he left he ended up in the lower divisions. Which is exactly what will happen to Evans.

Every time a thread about our centres ends up on here I turn into an apologist for Rhys Evans. Once again he has another halfback and second rower to get used to.
We finished last season with Gidley on the right and Patron on the left. Now it is patton on the right and Brown on the left. Until Currie's injury Hughes was on the right and towards the end of the year it was Sam wilde and now it is sevelio. And from what I recall Lineham was right winger last year and now he has switched to left wing.
I do wonder why we have moved Hughes over to left second row and swapped left and right wingers. It can't help combinations. Because when Currie is back Hughes will move back to right second row. Better to just put Sevelio at left SR.

I think Riley did a great job for us and although I think we could have had another year or two from him I understand why we let him go.
But actually I'm not certain we've really got anyone who's better at the moment.
Potenially we could have but how long until they develop?

If only things were that simple, eh? And Atinks, you mean one of the best centres in the league last season?

Ah yes the SuperLeague dream team. Well then I take it all back. Atkins is obviously a brilliant Centre who create oodles of room for his winger before delivering a pinpoint pass.

I must've imagined watching him run in straight lines and passing into row Z for the past 5 seasons.

Richie Myler was another player who a lot of our fans slagged off on here and said he wasn't creative enough, all he could do was support plays and finish off tries like a poor man's Danny McGuire.

During the past few years when we have been consistently successful there has been a lot of criticism of players in our back line. Richie Mathers divided opinion, Matt King was slagged off for his first year and a half in fact he was blamed for Penny being released. Then one year we lost a playoff and people were having a go at Joel Monaghan saying he was the slowest winger in the league (I think he'd been chased down by a forward).

To take this off a bit of a tangent, but following from the back line theme, how many players would you take from the DVDV era over our current backs:

Toa
Hunte
Kidwell
Smyth
Briers
Langer

And also playing for a new contract.

Whole back 5 are an issue. But Evans and Russell are that most pressing to address and then Atkins

Completely agree. The stick that Atkins gets is totally out of proportion when compared to the golden boy Evans.

In 2016 Atkins posted 16 tries to Evans 6. 27 missed tackles to Evans 46. 6 assists to Evans 4. 61 Tackle busts to Evans 41. 413 tackles to Evans 375 and average gain of 8.81 to Evans 7.73.

atkins is not our big problem I'm confidant that his extension would have seen a drop in his wages so just replacing him won't mean we can get a world class centre. he hits the line hard and scores trys. with lineman on his wing we have power and size on that wing and both are capable of catching his crossfield kicks and both atkins and line ham are very hard to stop from close range. the problem is the other side is not complimenting that with speed and skill to break from deep.

now with wingers and centres being expected to do a lot more than stand on the edges and score having to take first few drives to give the forwards a break has the requirements for modern wingers changed where size and power are chosen over pure speed , something coaches have accepted but we as fans seem to not accept ???


and sally theres only smyth n hunt I would not have in my team

Gidley does no justify the huge salary he is on, doesn't have the pace, power or decision making near the opposition try line to be a quality fullback or half... very overrated player.

We could replace him with a very good fullback and winger, would be a much more balanced backline, and have change left over... but Smith obviously disagrees so we're stuck with a slow backline with little imagination in the team outside of Brown.

No, instead he just has:

- Positioning.
- Safe hands.
- Defence.
- Correct link play.
- Leadership.
- Ability to organise the defence.
- Communication
- Experience.

Jesus wept. Did you even watch him play full back against Brisbane? The man was a machine. It Was Gidley's decision making and hands that assisted Russell for his Try.

Lots of intangibles... I didn't really notice this great leadership, experience and communication in our big games last season.

I am basing my opinion off watching him in the NRL, and since he came to us... not one friendly games where he quickly passed to Russell because he was about to get smashed as soon as he caught it... schoolboys can have that type of "decision making".

We will see this year if he stays at fullback, but I am stating I don't think he has the legs, strength or decision making to be a top player there, which he would need to be to justify his big wages.

Ron must be on coke!!



Seriously he was just what we needed in a fullback. He was telling the defensive line exactly what to do against Brisbane (very vocal very demonstrable). It's something we've missed since Hodgeson left us.

I look for a little more from my fullback than having a big gob, what can I say... he is like a poor mans Brett Hodgson at fullback.

As you are in the know. Just how much is Gidley on?

Too much

Tell me Ron. Are you any relation to Frankie Abbott?

.....or Frankie Pickering!!!

When he keeps the ball in his own hands he can be quite devastating, his passing to the winger can be terrible or just non-existent.

Evans is of the same mould but nit devastating with ball in hand

He's in the squad again I see. Undroppable.

I suppose if the whole squad were fit, my 1-7 would be....

1. Gidley (Johnson's time will come)
2. Lineham
3. Currie (back row would be Hughes, Savelio, Westerman)
4. Atkins
5. Penny
6. Ratchford (if fit, he has to play)
7. Brown