I think our pack will dominate and does so. He has been good, just surprised that we seem to be happy with him but not with whitehaven's winger who was playing the same but couldn't back it up like Sam could!

We bullied their pack today and Sam was the leader. Like it or not, but to be successful this year we will have to have a pack that is tough. Seems we have that and Sam is the leader of the pack. By the end of the season he will be the best 13 in the league if he's not already. Well done Sam keep it up!

Sam has been outstanding in the first three games Runs the ball well ,great at unloading in the tackle ,aggressive in the tackle ,and a real threat great to see him in a Centurions shirt

I thought he had an excellent game , as did everyone. Not a facet of a Leigh team generally but our defence on our own line was superb.
Liam Kay must be up for Try of the day.

Double post

I had the Privilige of sitting on Tony Cottrells table in the Touchdown Club this afternoon , and he spoke so well , but told a few stories of his exploits , especially the Steve Halliwell incident at Saints , very amusing , Sam is just a big no nonsense Enforcer nobody will boss our pack , I know PR rates him very highly .

Also as Allan Rowley said it was like a Pennington School reunion today "Who said Pennington couldn't play "?



That was our team song , happy days great memories , good to see you again Tony .He even remembered the Boxing match in the Hall





.

When he sticks to rugby he is excellent. Strong tackler, runs in well, not a massive metre maker, but similar to Ricky bibey in that he usually get a quick play the ball setting up the next play the ball, good pair of hands, and can pick a pass. He seems a natural 13. Just think that when he decides to be a thug, he ruins it.

If you are the team's enforcer you will occasionally attract the wrath of the referee but that is part of the job, what it doesn't usually attract is the wrath of your own supporters.
Most fans get a lift when their pack is following the enforcer's lead and it certainly adds to the atmosphere. I think Barlow's detractors would be happier staying at home knitting or reading.

Completely agree Neil. Sam has been fantastic and I was just saying how good he had been again when he clumped the lad on the floor. Silly and I hope it doesn't become a regular thing with him because he is a better player than that. We will be without him now for a game and if I were him I would take it and not go down the early plea route. I would save it in case it happens again and we need him for a more important game.

I thought the whole pack was outstanding.

Wish we'd kept him all those years ago.
He's superb, tackles everything, hard.
Doesn't let our players get bullied.
So what, he might give some penalties away, but ask any of our players if they would want him with us or against us.
Best signing we've made since Kes.

Totally agree and he will get better with every game. I thought Sam, Tom and Jake really softened their pack up with Oli and Kurt and Aspi adding to their pain. Then comes Tommy G and Matty. For their sizes they are amazing. Tommy looks in the best shape I have ever seen him in and Matty is a machine. Something made the bloke next to me a bit queezy. AJ came off with his little finger bent back 180 degrees to his other fingers and the trainer just pulled it and popped it back. I love this sport for exactly those types of situations. Nice to see you back on here anyway Nik.

Mate mate mate thanks appreciate it! Looking forward to this season more than ever! The hunger is back! Come on Leythers!!!!

Highlight for me today was AJ's spot tackle on their No3. We were ruthless.

I will make what I am saying clear. I expect flare ups and aggression etc etc. the difference is he tries his best on every occasion he can to create it and to start it. When he sticks to playing rugby he is one of our best players. Just wish he would play the game. If he needs to get stuck in fine, but otherwise cut it out.

Or the intercept from McNally when they would've gone under the posts.

Few runners for that tho! Liam's try and Toms monster tackles on their number 30! Poor lad must have upset him at some point! Best prop outside Championship by a country mile.

Plenty runt in that pack isn't there.

Sam is Sam, what you see is what you get.
I was very sorry to see him go, a very good player who will do well for you.
With respect he does sometimes cause a little trouble within the club, and I hope for once he can settle down.
He is a very nice bloke of the pitch.
When he left us for Fev he was very silly on twitter, or is it twa2ter, or is it facebook, I don't know one from the other (like Charlie Carolli) and that left a bitter taste in a number of Fax fans.
I spoke to him the other day in Asda, yes, superstars do shop in Asda, (I mean halifaxjohn not Sam) and he had nothing but good words about Fax.
Good luck to Sam and Leigh.
p's go back a few pages on this thread and you will see my mate Charlie name dropping again, he doesn't mean sat at the table he means serving the table.

Good luck Leigh

I don't think that they would have scored Bart. Tom Armstrong and AJ were well on their way across. I'm still buzzing thinking about todays performance. That is the first time they have started to show what they are capable of. It all clicked. The mouth watering part of it all is, they are going to get better than that.

Sam was MOM for me in the first 40 mins, 4 offloads 4 tries, nice to see an aggressive forward with a step and an offload. First sign of Shithousing Hindsford Leyther was with Whitehaven, Sam was awesome today, best game yet.

Whitehaven did a lot of it too. He more than held his own. With his actual rugby I agree he was very good.

Barlow did nothing wrong, Whitehaven just wanted to fight knowing they'd been outplayed in every department, Barlow was awesome, and Higson was awesome again!

Admittedly my eyes may have been a little tired as I was still in Gibraltar at 11am this morning only arriving at LSV with minutes to spare but I thought Sam Barlow was outstanding yet again. He is the player we have been missing in our pack since the day Streety retired. We made a lot of valuable metres on the back of his off loads and drives. He also worked tirelessly in defence all afternoon.

The guy at the side of me was referring to his reputation preceding him so when the hooter went I made it my business to watch him closely and quite frankly you are talking utter and complete tosh.

He walked back on to the field, patted the referee on his back, spoke to a few opposition players like the rest of our team did, shaked everyone's hand ( even Haven's number 30) then joined the rest of our team in the huddle.

What did you see that was untoward after the match?

That incident was after the Batley match. Instead of shaking hands with the opposition he grabbed one by the throat and gave him an earbashing jabbing his finger in his face for about 30 seconds.