The signing of Liam Watts would have been such a super acquisition. I can’t for the life of me think why we didn’t sign him. Finances are a clear non issue

no he wouldnt

And He wasn't

There's no way Hanley would be a loose forward in the modern game.

"With the evolution of the full back role"

In what way has it evolved since the day when Martin Ryan introduced running with the ball instead of just kicking it downfield?

Leeds struggling to run over Hull’s much bigger pack



I do wonder if stacking the team with back rowers and more “mobile props” (I hate that term) is just a massive overreaction to the set restart rule.

Cup final next week

Those 'kicking duels' were diabolical . They were still doing them in RU in the 70's when I was playing RU in the Army. Hated it so much, I refused to play RU anymore. You had to run backwards and forwards in the middle of the field without touching the ball at all for ages.

My old dad was a schoolmate of Martin Ryan at St Josephs. Ryan revolutionised Rugby league, being the first ever full back to link up with the threequarter line.

He's told you, the full back is now often an extra pivot.

Wasting your time

May have spoken too soon there pal

It won't sink in.

they still didn’t get destroyed as badly as us. Certainly didn’t get beaten up in the forwards.

Think Leeds would look a completely different side without Gale. Shows what a top kicker can do for you.

Definitely. It's a shame there's no internationals this year, I think he would have been worth a spot

Way before my time but I believe that Ryan also became the extra man in the line. It maybe called a pivot today but fundamentally the same.

It wasn’t used by most teams due probably lack of similar players to Ryan and that the game in general still thought that the fullback role was principally a defensive role.

"The full back is a extra pivot"

Unbelievable!

I was under the impression that his role was just the same as it has always been since Martin Ryan revolutionise the position.

Evidently not, according to the new definition by the new "experts" on the role of a full back"

Ryan was famed as being one of, if not the first, running full back.
Rather than engage in kicking duels he would return the ball by running it.

He didnt play like a half back.

Yes he could

At times when you see a half back like Gale and Sneyd control games with kicking out of hand behind a dominant pack it seems so simple and it emphasises that we haven’t had a combination like that for years. They can at times though certainly Sneyd be a bit clueless in attack closer to the line and you need someone with more creativity and pace like Hastings or Williams.
I bet at times Leeds fans have wished they had someone like Hastings or Williams over Gale as certain games and situations lend themselves to one or the others strong point and Saturday certainly played into Gales. You ideally want a half that can do both (not sure there has been one in the Superleague for a while?) or 2 halves that compliment each other. I think both Hastings and Williams previously would have benefited massively from having someone like this, Williams was imo at his best for us when he played alongside Smith who’s long kicking game isn’t a patch on the 2 previously mentioned but is a lot better than Tommy’s.

And if the internet had been around then I'm sure there would have been experts like you who would have said that Martin Ryan hadnt done anything different than the previous person who revolutioned the full back role.

The full back role has constantly changed, even in the 80s there were defensive full backs, more attacking running types, full backs who were good under the high ball and full backs who could hardly run but could kick a ball 70 yards or were very good place kickers.

But the use of a Full Back as the predominant attacking threat wasnt widely used if at all until the mid 2000s.

Anyway, back o to middles
It's up to coaches and teams to utilise players in positions to the best of their abilities to achieve the best ""Team" result they can.
Prop forwards used to handle/ball play a lot more than theyve donei since 90s, loose forwards used to be predominantly ball players, the trend as gone for them to be used more as a 3rd prop.

End of the day, coaches can coach how they want. They can pick and choose how the game is played by their team and they will live or die by those decisions.

But it's as simple as this, we havent had 2 consistent Top props for best part of 10 years.
Weve had "Good" props and turned them over every 3 years or so,
Prescott
Mossop
Flower
Taylor
Dodson
Crosby
FPN
Sutton

other players whove contributed in
Lauaki
Clubb
Tautai
Navarette

And whole host more that have been bit part
Bretherton
Pettybourne
Powell
And a lot of the younger lads who then move on.

Wane found a way to ge the best out of them "Collectively".

Lam needs to get the best out of them collectively,
But remember there are names in there such as mossop, Dodson, sutton that very vociferous fans coulsnt wait to get rid of.

I'd give my right arm for any of those 3 now

Do you think that Fren

Do you think that French plays like a half back??

Not as such, I think he plays like a running half back.
But currently hes our best FB option when everyone available as he offers a Threat, something Hardaker wasnt doing last year (even though I thought he had a good year).
Maybe (and I do believe this myself) that Hardakers threat from FB comes in very organised, well.coached and structured teams. I dont believe weve got one of them.

Strangely enough, theres a 3rd type of FB around, when Sarge signed for Salford I was telling Salford fans I k ow that hed end up st FB, when they signed escare I told em Sarge will play more FB in my opinion than him.

He chews yards up and gets teams going forward, Hardkaer isnt bad at that, but Sarge is great and one of the reason I was disappointed we lost him.

Agree on French. He hasn't got the rugby brain of Sam Tomkins at FB but it's fantastic watching him linking into the line. A player who you can visibly see that he enjoys playing the game.

I was a critic of Sarginson at centre but fully agree that he is an effective FB for making lots of yards from in his own half.

Sarginson has been fantastic for Salford this year. I was sad to see him go because I think he’s the type of guy that is that competitive, it rubs off on others and I think we’ve missed him. I always thought it was pretty clear Fullback was his best position. His energy and fitness levels are unbelievable.