i nearly did a post on this following last week, but ended up pulling a roy and couldn't be d.

Leikvoll, well, after a bit of a slow start he became something of a cult hero to many and i would say we got value for money out of him in terms of tackling and offloads(eventually) i was sad to see him go.

Rauhihi though, well, i'm surprised his name hasn't cropped up more since the start of last season as you would think he's a bloody parallel to asotasi in terms of kiwi prop, early 30's, flattered to deceive.

Crazily by the time he had his last season here in 2009(yes he was here for 4 seasons believe it or not) i think a lot of people had come to lower their expectation which matched his less than expected output(but still included his own brand of chuck it ing anywhere offloads).

Its very disapointing, strangely he's not really had any exposure to fans as i know, no fans forums, i dont know if he's attended the two quizzes and i dont think he's been on the press duty pre match very much, so other than what you've seen on the pitch you've got zero else to endear him to the public.

He's a big bloke on big money with a big reputation who's come over and showed a low work rate, playing low minutes, and it kind of hurts to type that, cos i've wanted him to come over and be a success, i wanted him to come lead the pack and get the crowd behind him, it would be quite hard to even say he's phoning it in lately.

Apologies again for the uncoordinated rant, i'm just finishing off my saturday night whiskey and pot noodle.

I totally agree, I thought he would come over and be a leader. Put in the hard yards like Morley and make our pack a mobile unit of destruction, but instead we have 2 consistent props in hill and sims then have to constantly rotate other props to see who is putting effort in. I thought England had a solid game and was much better then Asotasi has been, so he could be the answer to fill in our prop dilemma. I think people have erased Rauhihi from their memories which is why I think he never gets brought up ha ha

I liked leikvoll and I think he ended up being a good prop, but yeah it took awhile for him to settle in.

Rauhihi was a bigger disappointment than Roy for me. He was probably better than Roy but the expectation was bigger. Also, I find it hard to believe that an ageing prop is our highest earner? Surely Joel, Hill, Westwood are all on more?

In 2009 Tony Smith was asked how are things progressing with the squad, replying all was fine with one exception one forward who either can't or won't do as I want him to, I as usual guessed wrong, I assume it must of been Rauhihi as he seemed to be phased out and not making the Wembley Squad so possibly a bit of both, in Roy's case for whatever reason I feel he just Can't do it any more.

Thinking back to Rauhihi and Leikvoll they were not overly consistent but on their day would take some stopping and could offload.

Didn't Rauhihi come over here as a top NRL offloader ? The main problem that came about with his game was that, apart from Michael Sullivan ,nobody ever supported him when he made a break so the speculative pass from him didn't work. You would have thought that would have been corrected on the training field though.
As for Leikvol ,he only came as the quality of import we could attract or afford at the time & although his talent was limited at least he put the effort in. I remember a cup match at Leigh where the Leigh player broke a couple of ribs just by running into Big Chris.

I had no real problem with either Leikvoll or Rauhihi. I don't think either of them shirked their responsibities, they just didn't hit the heights they were expected to. It happens.
Leikvoll was built like the proverbial brick "pooh" house. He just didn't use his size accordingly. Shame, as he didn't lack effort. As duckie would say about Sims not being big enough, maybe Leikvoll was a little TOO big.

Rauhihi was a strange fish. He was signed by Cullen when =#0040FFquote from club official at the time =#FF0000"It's easier to say what's right (physically) with him, than to tell you his injuries". When he [ieventually[/i got anywhere near full fitness, imo he wasn't a bad prop at all, and I still don't get the stick he got/still gets. Yes, he could've gone better (couldn't every player), but didn't. Cullen's signing of a crock, must be a major factor. You couldn't expect Rauhihi to say "No, Cull. Don't sign me. I'm goosed". He was a pro, and he needed wages.

Asotasi is a wage thief, plain and simple. He's barely been injured, yet has had precious few minutes on the pitch, and when he's been on, he's done the square root of ####all. The sooner he goes home, the happier I'll be. I'm no expert on how to make pancakes, but I know a t0$$er when I see one.