My overriding memory of Charnley, with always be the water bath win at Castleford, where he water glided about 15ft.

Good finisher, good pace, does all the defensive and returning the ball parts of his role to an 8/10 level.

He doesn't really create any tries of his own though; meanwhile we currently have two wingers who can do that, so I don't necessarily miss him.

Currently topping SL meters gained chart at 745m and a try a game. I liked him. Completely wasted under Price. https://www.superleague.co.uk/stats/player-stats

Currently topping SL meters gained chart at 745m and a try a game. I liked him. Completely wasted under Price. https://www.superleague.co.uk/stats/player-stats

Quote ="Wires71"Currently topping SL meters gained chart at 745m and a try a game. I liked him. Completely wasted under Price. https://www.superleague.co.uk/stats/player-stats'" At the end of his Wire tenure we didn't just waste him in attack, we looked like we were avoiding him

Quote ="Wires71"Currently topping SL meters gained chart at 745m and a try a game. I liked him. Completely wasted under Price. https://www.superleague.co.uk/stats/player-stats'" At the end of his Wire tenure we didn't just waste him in attack, we looked like we were avoiding him

He was a great signing for us IMO, his strike rate, especially early on, was brilliant. His strike rate through his superleague career is fantastic, nevermind just with us. Its a shame how it finished but it seems both we as a club and charnley as a player are in a better place. Good luck to him hunting down the all time top try scorer numbers. He's got a decent chance in this leopards side, but I hope he doesn't add any this Friday.

Wonder if Powell will target him as a weak link on Friday like he did when he was Castlefords coach...

I think with Leigh we just only need to run them up the middle.
They’ll need to slide the edges in to try and stop our middle go forward, and force them thin at the edges. Not specifically Charnley.
Leigh will come here with the mind set to do some spoiling tactics as rather than trying to win the game…coming to have a party almost and perhaps try some things they might not in a game they have a decent chance of winning.

Saints have a good pack and leifh handled them just fine. They're a dangerous side with the added motivation that a fair few were here only last season and deemed surplus to requirements. I really don't think this is a foregone conclusion at all.

they had both second rowers banned, and are playing crap at the moment, post WCC, its not a fair reflection.

I remember the Charnley chants when he was a fan favourite and scoring tries for fun in his first couple of years. Very accomplished winger. Still is.
For whatever reasons it then went downhill, and it's good for both him and us that he moved on. Looks like he's had a new lease of life this season.
Very dangerous player and likely to have a stormer on Friday.
I agree about the milking penalties thing - really frustrated me when he did that playing for us.

They didn’t have a good enough pack on Friday. Half of it was suspended and Warmsley was cut in half for the rest of it.
Hence I went for a Leigh win.

Always thought he was overrated, he's a good winger and has scored some superb tries. BUT the vast majority of his tries are from the work of the guys outside him that most wingers could have scored, including Minikin and that's not an over exaggeration. Was happy when we signed him but wasn't bothered when he left.

He looked like he had lost the confidence to back himself by the time he left and repeatedly cut in when he should have just gone for the line. Clearly badly affected by the behind the scenes shenanigans. Very good winger throughout his career and his try count backs that up.

Watching the other night, he certainly seems to be taking out his frustration at how his wire days ended on his former team mates. Great winger, but could be even better if he cut out the gobby stuff. I enjoy watching him finish off a try though, preferably not when it’s against us of course.

I also think it’s a great fit for Leigh. They’ve come to SL with a mindset to play some expansive stuff, and Charnley looks good on the end of it.

Not saying that Charnley isn't a good solid winger, but I thought Lineham was the better of the two when we had them both, but his disciplinary record tipped the balance the other way. Lineham's not pulled up any trees since he has left us, giving weight to the decision to let him go when we did being a good one.

Currently, Ashton is better than either of them, whereas I'm not sure Thewlis is best suited on the wing. I'd expect us to recruit another winger, should we be unable to bring one through from our academy, once Dufty's time is finished with us.

I think we’re trying to fit Thewlis in because he’s an outstanding full back who needs first team exposure, even if it means playing out of place. Saints did it with Welsby over a couple of seasons and it paid off. I fully expect Duffy to go back to the NRL.

Agree about Ashton. Got to be one of the top 5 wingers in SL already and plenty more to come you feel.

Am I right I thinking that Wrench appeared to be preferred on the wing to Thewlis when both were available last year? It may be that Powell splits that right wing spot between them both when Wrench is back.

I can’t help but think Wrench’s footwork and creativity is wasted on the wing. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mata’utia shifting to second row occasionally to accommodate Wrench. Ratchford may be a bit on the slow side but he’s still full of creativity. I’ve enjoyed his footwork and passing.

Ratchford's defence both structured and scrambling has been top notch.

Charnley got caught out on the first try I think - impressed with Josh Drinkwaters speed - but took his try very well.
Couldn't see if Minikin was a meter or so out of position. Either way, a good finish.

I think the friction between him and Drinkwater goes back a couple of seasons.
Didnt see him trying to milk too many pens on Friday thankfully.

Charnley always struck me as just a souped-up version of Henry Fa'filli.

On which note, if he'd had a 10-15 year SL career, how many tries do you think Henry would have racked up?

He was definitely limited, but he knew his way to the try-line and with some of the centres we had after he left, he'd have had been well provided for.

Certainly more than he notched up in his union career: 5 tries in 89 games.

His record at Warrington was certainly decent but it is hard to imagine a better side for him to have been in than one where he played outside Gleeson and enjoyed being on the end of kicks from Briers. And his replacement was Hicks, the best Wire winger of my lifetime.

I agree with all of that. It was more an observation that try totals can be a bit deceptive with regards to being a gauge of a player's overall ability - Henry (& Charnley) have very good strike rates, but I don't think either would be any Wire fan's top 3 wingers of all time?

Hicks is my favourite Wire winger but also liked Monas, Dessie, John Bevan and Mark Forster.

Can't remember how good Bevan was or if he had any particular weaknesses. Hicks didn't.

Always thought Fozzie was underrated.
Dessie was a fans favourite but IIRC couldn't pass. Hard as nails, and that Widnes game......

Charnley has been a top winger wherever he’s played but still can’t figure out this hitching your shorts up into almost Speedo’s thing