Doubt he'd get a modelling job, it takes him too long to do his hair

Bit harsh, just because all in Cas look uncanny alike

good looking kid when donned up, that means nice clothes and all that

Serious question mate, which Wakey forum experts criticised the club when Tom's contract extension was announced because it wasn't what I remembered. So I went & read the thread back when it was announced & there was nothing but positive noises. Unless there's another thread I missed.

Read for yourself. [urlhttp://viewtopic.php?f=33&t=590348&start=140[/url

This at the time from jonh

=#BF0080"Personally I don't see it. I hope I am wrong but I have seen many better prospects come and go without making an impact.
For me he is decent at most facets of the game, but I don't see anything that sets him apart as special.
Comparing him with Ellis is ridiculous. I think it is more an indication of how poor the pathways at Trinity have been for a long time that gets fans so excited about this deal.
Hopefully however he proves me wrong."

But then he's a Wigoon fan lol.

He's a decent looking lad is our Tom. Half the young lasses in the East stand start drooling when he appears that's
for sure!

Tom has come on leaps and bounds since that point so I wonder if Jonh still has the same opinion now???

To be fair jonh has held his hands up and admitted he got it wrong. It could all still go pear shaped for the lad but its looking good for him to realise his potential. This does show that kids need the exposure of top flight SL to go on and take the step up to that next level. If they're held back they lose valuable development time they never get back. Same can be said for Jowitt.

to me jowitt has been a revelation since he came into the team the most naturally gifted fullback we have had in years showing maturity way above his age

TJ is a fair bit further down the line than MJ and is pretty much the finished article as a winger. However he's played many more games in a slightly less technical position so fairs fair. He lacks the natural pace of TJ but then most do.

Funny thing is they both share/shared the same relative weakness as each other in their early games. TJ struggled to tackle his man on the outside for much of last season, an issue he has now sorted and vital for an ouside back. Jowitt's only weakness for me is that he doesn't always make much of an attempt to tackle players crashing over the line. A few times he's pulled away from tackling the big lads running through. Now don't get me wrong I'm not doubting his bravery, from expeience I can tell you it's the hardest thing a FB has to do. There is also a fine line between brave and suicidel on these tackles and it takes far more experience than MJ has at the moment to call it right. It's not vital as 90 times out of a hundred they fail but just occasionally they dislodge the ball or stop the grounding and that's part of the fine line between good and great. I'm really being pedantic here but no 18 year old was ever perfect. At 18 and 20 respectively this is in no way a criticism and I wouldn't expect Max to be even close to the finished article just yet, though he's doing his best to get there ASAP.

Mathers spent his entire career never having mastered that particular aspect of the fb role...

Very few do, personally think it's the ultimate speciality of a FB, it's a mixture of supreme courage and brilliant technique. Matty Holland was really good at it as was Andrew Leeds. I can't think of a current English FB who does it particularily well, if Max masters that one his international future is assured.

Hardaker ??

He's a decent F/B but nothing special as shown in the NZ test series.

I'd say he mastered the skill perfectly in terms of making the decision of whether to tackle or not.
Pure coincidence that it happened to be the negative every time

Denny Solomona, now thats a good looking winger (according to my grandaughter)

Seriously I'd like to see TJ and Denny in a footrace, I think it would be close.

Going back many years I'm sure I can remember an occasion when each team put forward their fastest player for a one off race. I think it was either before or at half time during a final or a test match. Any oldies on here remember?

I'm not that old

but I also recall these 'races'. In the deep dark past at BV, they held sprint challenges on match days and I think invited non rl sprinters. I seem to recall 'powderhall' sprinters (whatever/whoever they were/are) also being included and they ran diagonally corner to corner. Not sure but Ernie Holmes seems to ring a bell as a contender, perhaps Keith Slater?

Didn't they used to do Super League's fastest man at the 9's competitions a few years ago?

Aye the did bring it back for the 9's. Remember Broughton and Caro winning it a couple of the years and that young Leeds lad Jamel Chisholm won it twice who now plays for Oldham.

I think Berwyn Jones used to enter the Powderhall Sprint competition before he signed for us.

He did indeed and according to old work mates was incredibly quick. Then again, keep it quiet or Betts will want him retrospectively drugs tested!

Powderhall rings a bell. I think it allowed professionals to compete when athletics was still amateur. Think Berwyn held the British record for 100 yards or metres at one time.

Berwyn was incredibly quick with that gym shoe on my rear end when he was P.E. Teacher at Snapethorpe.

You may have to explain what a gym shoe is to some of the younger posters on here as the Saville inquiry is still ongoing.

By the way what is a gym shoe?

I don't think the word or the footware "trainers" had been invented then. Maybe pumps or plimsolls??

We also had another powderhall sprinter sign for us Eddie McDonagh a scottish wing man in the middle late sixties