I thought Rankin looked very comfortable when attacking down the left edge. Much more comfortable than he does on the right edge. Is he having to play on the right to accommodate Brough? He doesnt look comfortable making a left to right pass and regularly dummies and steps when hes on that right edge. He put on two awesome passes vs Cas for both Innes Seniors tries.

If we are going to insist to play Brough on the left which I presume we will, could Rankin become a ball playing full back? Something we've not had since Brett Hodgson..

Rankin doesn't look like a player who suits a structured attack, full back would give him that chance to roam freely. I also believe the Hull fans were saying he's a better fullback than half back when we signed him.

might see him at full back very soon if brough is fit this sunday

gaskell and brough seem to be thormans preferred half back combo

rankin went ok at full back last season, till mamo is back ofcourse!

Much better at fullback from what i have seen. I cannot understand why Turner was not given another run at halfback seen as in Chris Thormans own words 'he was the best player on the pitch' in the first half against leeds. The problem for me is gaskell, they are accomodating him at halfback cos he aint that great at centre, but guess what he aint that great at half back either! Would be better with Turner at half back, Rankin at fullback once everyone is back fit. Ship gaskell out asap and find another half to replace Brough when he eventually retires and then you need a good centre to play along with Cudjoe.

I must be watching different games to the rest of you. I saw little evidence of Rankin as a ball playing fullback for all those games he played at fullback last year- But yes he seemed more comfortable on that edge and set up some beauties. But I also thought Gaskell had a very good game against cas- and did his job as a ball distributor very well- hence us actually managing to score a good few points for a change!
Perhaps it’s brough we will actually be accommodating.

I 100% that Rankin didn't show much at FB previously. But I'd argue that he's starting to look more settled and confident now. It could be a good time to try him there again.
Also agree 're gaskell . Looked comfortable vs Cas. There's a lot if players who have really stepped up in the last few weeks. Smith is another as is Murphy. And the young lads have had a real dig and can be proud of their efforts.

Got to give thorman a mention too. I'd be really happy for him to get the job.

A bit early to be confirming Thorman in the job for me, It takes a bit longer than a draw and two loses, I know where you are coming from because the style of play for me is more important than the loses and they are definitely looking better than they did under Stone.
He deserves a proper chance to prove himself for me, i don't see any need to rush into anything, he has made a good start and when ( if ) we get some players back we can see how he goes with a reasonable squad.
There have been far too many hasty signing in the recent past for me, There does seem to be a much better attitude about the players but It's early days, I will be interested to see how he manages Danny Brough but i wish him luck.

Im pretty confident in my assessment of Gaskell , he added a few drops of his own and some hospital passes to others that resulted in dropped ball too. The truth is all our halves are well below par for this level, Brough has only his kicking game left, great decision by 'the management team' to give him another year, isn't this something you do for old players when they are still producing results and have swapped a yard of pace for experience and guile? Losing your rag and getting sent off a few times a year hardly suffices. Rankin is a barely adequate fullback, and for me , as stated previously Gaskell is not good enough at stand off or centre and needs replacing asap.

Thorman sounds intelligent and articulate in interviews, but he also comes across as someone who is very happy with what goes on behind the scenes at the giants. Time to wake up and smell the coffee. Get someone in who will shake the foundations of the club or get ready for the lower divisions!

A modern day Alex Murphy would fit the bill, Oh hang on they sacked him when he got us to the brink of S league, maybe not then.

Rankin at full back again to me didnt add to our attack. Looks like he will be hack in the halves for a while thanks to Danny Brough!

thorman is happy with what goes on behind the scenes, gets on great with thewlis.

the half back problem was supposed to be solved when we signed brierley... that didnt work... neither has gaskell/rankin... but one thing thats constant is brough... 2020 we might see change.

said before the club needs a clearout from the top down starting with thewlis

Yup, really didn't offer anything at all. We didn't have great field position to be fair.

Really dissapointing yesterday. Ball movement was limited compared to what we've seen since thorman took over. Not sure if it was fatigue from Easter, a controlled game from Salford or we seem to play with shackles on when Brough is in the team.

Need to give a shout out to Aaron Murphy who has been awesome the last few games. He isn't a fancy player, but if everyone played like him we would be in a better place than we are right now.

Matty English is one of the best props I have ever seen at 20 years old, if he was at a 'bigger' club he would he getting tipped as a future England International. Every time Mikolaj Oledzki comes on for Leeds all I hear is how he will be an England International... all I've seen from him is that he's a big kid. Would be nice for the media to look at young players from all clubs.

..........if they did Chetnik that would probably mean we`d lose another promising lad to rivals ! I`d rather we keep the lads that come through our system with ability than feed other clubs bargain talent for the future ...but hey thats life!
But Yes -the lad plays with some fire and guts!! Good un !

Ive been saying this all season. The club is a joke and 2nd best is good enough, even for a lot of fans. Nothing personal to him but too many fans like Giant Daz and others on Facebook/Twitter who simply just think all the players are worthy of a spot because they are "dependable" "steady" "good servant" and just happy with anything that the club says and does and cant cope with any form on criticism of the club.

Well the reality check is we have way too many of these players and not enough quality and even the "reliable" players are becoming unreliable. Wakey, Wire, Cas, Hull, Wigan, St Helens have all recruited well. Our recruitment has been an utter disgrace for 2 - 3 years and hence why we are in the position we are in now and its not going to change anytime soon.

I see us been nothing more than a bottom 4 club for the next 2/3 years which the players we have signed up long term in key positions.

murphy is leaving end of season i believe

but he has stood up this season for us and never let us down ever to be honest

media talk about giants?!

sky sports/?

Agreed. It would be nice for the media to recognise him. I'm sure for Matty personally that would build confidence. Although, journalist Gareth Walker did a great article on the Senior twins. I believe it has been posted in the forum.

So Murphy is leaving- and decided to uk his game.... hmmmm. Funny that.

Well at least he has been able to up his game a bit, which is more than most of them are capable of.

Danril called it absolutely cock on, they were mostly too busy running around high fiving each other while Salford were sticking 30 points on them.

Murphy upping his game?
I'm not one to defend players all the time but are you suggesting he's putting in more effort for because he's leaving.
Being an outside back at the Giants is near enough impossible to get on a roll.. and has been a couple of seasons, yet in my opinion Murphy has always thrown himself into tackles and always put his hand up for the ball to take it up to help out.
He's been one of our best players consistantly for years, wether he's been drafted in at centre or wing.

You can't criticise a player for playing well... surely?

Maybe he knows that he's one of the most experienced players in the team now and has stepped up to help the young lads.

To imply that he's playing well because he is off contract is harsh. He's been a rock in attack and defence in that left centre position.

Totally agree mate, Murphy has been getting some stick for some time with people calling for him to be moved on, and yet he tackles harder and runs harder than most, It must be his fault we are such a S*** side.

I would think Murphy has been consistently average over the last few seasons. It's just everyone else's levels have dropped below Murphy's to make him look a lot better than most.

agree, murphy always put his body on the line for this club

He hasn't just looked better than most, he has been better than most, not that that would take much.

You can't have a team full of Aaron Murphy's. But when a team is struggling and has young players in it, you need players who you can rely on and are prepared to put there body on the line for the team. During a tough period, this is exactly what he's done. Give the man some credit.

The sad thing is that four years ago Murphy was one of the worst players in the team compared to the rest.

He's still the same solid hard working player yet now he is one of the best players in the team.

He has remained consistent while the team have moved backwards.