I was always pretty sure what he was going to do: dummy left and then drop the shoulder.

Well old glue hands was certainly not going to pass it.

Nat Wood didn't pass much and didn't have much of a kicking game, he was a running halfback who didn't have express pace, but.....he did make an impact on games and he could change the momentum back in our favour. He did make breaks and beat people, because he was physically strong and had good footwork. You never saw him hiding in a game.

If we're honest, what halfbacks have we had since Nat Wood, other than Briers who was already there playing with him, who were better? Sandow for about 2 months. Austin for about 2 months. Myler was faster and scored more tries, running off the holes set up to him from a good team, but I doubt Myler would have done as much in the teams Nat Wood played in.

I would have rather had Nat Wood.

I’d argue Myler was better. Significantly so.

His assist stats were actually quite posit for a guy who got a lot of criticism for that part of his game. And it’s not like he had superstars outside of him, it was mainly Atkins and Riley. Plus he scored a decent amount. And all told, he was a good defender and put a lot of kick pressure in (to our detriment in 2011 prelim, he was penalised for the charge down on the drip kick if I remember correctly).

Never been favoured, but was an important part of the Catalan team and has forced his way back into the Leeds team despite big money going at Lui and Gale.

Wood was courageous. He was all effort. And that is commendable, but you need a little more than that to be a top half. He was great for us, in that time, but as the club grew I think we put grew him. If we had picked up the right halfback after him he wouldn’t be held is such high regard in my opinion, it’s just that we messed around with Bridge, Sullivan and Monaghan before finding a decent replacement.

I think this pretty much sums it up - you have to look at it in the context of when he played for us. Wood was great for Warrington and a hero because he stood out as the one player who gave his all when we were consistently disappointing as a team. He didn't come here as a star with a big reputation or expectations etc but he gave us exactly what fans wanted at that time. Underdog player for underdog club.

Put him in the 2011 team and he'd still be a fans favourite, just maybe not able to offer quite as much as Myler did for that period and squad.

===

Anyway, back to Lineham. A very good all-round winger, who is starting to depreciate on the value-for-money stakes due to repeated brain farts. I've always been a big fan of his (see 2018 play-off semi) but I'm now wondering if we'd be better off with someone a bit steadier on the left wing. If Powell can get Ashton or Thewlis producing the goods there on a lower salary I'd be quite happy. And I get the feeling Ashton and Thewlis will find it easier to follow Powell's guidance and stay on the right side of him.

Lineham's major problem now is he's losing his biggest supporter at the end of the season

But I think most would say Lineham is a decent winger even though he seems to be going dafter with age.

Price or Briers?

What I can't work out is why we have seen so many players grabbing other players knackers. It was unheard of.

According to MEN Lineham won't be offered a new deal with us and other SL clubs have been advised of his availability for next year. Good player but as we know, plenty of baggage.

Shame as if he could cut out the stupid crap he does he's a brilliant Winger. It'll be interesting to see what wingers we will be looking to sign or whether Ashton will move to the wing full time?

He be a great asset if he wasn't serving so many bans.get shut..

The THREE match ban he got for gently shoving someone out of his way who was obstructing him against swinton was the biggest joke the disciplinary committee have come up with this season,................and its had some stiff competition.

Shame as he ran the ball hard as the forwards against Stains but liability so get rid.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... lk_WMmUR4I Not sure who'd have him.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... lk_WMmUR4I Not sure who'd have him.

Good winger, a few teams will be looking I’m sure. He contributes a lot bringing the ball out but his stupidity has led to him not being kept on I’m sure. On the pitch he offers more than Charnley so will we be looking for 2 wingers?

Personally think it will be a mistake if we allow Lineham to leave without a replacement in line. Already looking like we will be losing Mamo to Cas, who can cover the wing spot well.

A few question marks remain over Ashton as he tends to struggle with his injuries (think I’ve counted 3 separate stints out since he signed). And Thewlis is only 19 years old & has some improvements to make before being selected week in week out from what I’ve seen. Although I think the both of them would make better full backs in the long run rather than on the wing.

Think Thewlis will be Ratchford’s replacement at some point.

And no idea who is coming through the academy that is going to be a standout super league winger, need Walter Wizard to update us on that.

With Lineham you get the good and the bad as others have said.

95% is good - and with the way SP expects the all wingers to play, he carries the ball extremely well off our line.

5% is totally stupid, but equates for him missing 20% of the games. The 'grab' incident now means he's a marked man as far as disciplinary issues are concerned, so whilst the 'shove' didnt warrant a 3 game ban in my view, it was perfectly understandable.

So I suppose the 2 questions are -
1. Is he worth keeping if he only plays 80% of the games? I'm torn here.
2. Do we have a ready replacement ? Different type of player but Ashton is a good replacement (especially if the club is grooming Thewlis as full back).

It depends on how Powell wants us to play.

I suppose it depends a bit on how much he is on. He can be very useful at times as most big lads with pace are.

I think Lineham overall did better than people expected when he joined, he went through spells where he got written off and he consistently scored tries and he played well in some big games so he deserves respect.

He seemed to take steps forward under Price's coaching and become a better player.

Like a lot of our players, he's one of the better players in the league in his position but he's short of the top category, for reasons people have discussed on here. When you have a team full of that sort of player, its no surprise we ended up as one of the better teams in the league but short of the top category who win the Grand Finals.

Overall he might be a bit underrated in the rugby league media/community, and replacing him won't be straightforward, we could easily be in a situation where we end up with a downgrade.

Yes, that's the issue in a nutshell. It's easy to drop him, not so easy to replace his quality. Perhaps Powell sees Ashton as a replacement ? But unless they have someone in mind I wouldn't be in favour of ditching him.

Runs it in better than most forwards.

Big game player.

Good finisher.

Despite the disciplinary issues, I'd have kept him. As SC said, he's no superstar but I think he's underrated outside Warrington.

a year or 2 ago, he was first name on the team sheet for me, price seemed to love him, despite the brain farts.