Appologies if there is already a thread on this.

however

I believe we need to be playing Shaul at the moment.

McDonnell cant pass a ball to save his life. he panic throws it to nowhere with no pace or accuracy. hes done it several times throughout the season that would have been tries if he could have passed. Yeh hes good under the ball but he made some silly errors v wigan

I believe Shaul is gonna be class when he matures and gets some first team games under his belt.

Thoughts?

McDonnell's been better than I thought he would but he's injury prone and when you see what Tomkins offers wigan in attack you realise he isn't that great, although looked better when holdsworth played.

Too early to be bigging shaul up too much IMO

Hes good under the high ball and rarely makes breaks but in defence he's poor. he cant pass, cant tackle and rarely makes any yards on kick returns. Especially v Tomkins, Kearney, Lomax (at FB) and even Hanbury.

Don't agree with your last point. he regularly beats the 1st man and has made quite a few breaks already this season

You missed McDonals pass to Briscoe for his try the other week?
You missed his pass against us at magic weekend?
How many times you seen shaul pass in high pressure games?? ~ none is the answer. You also haven't seen him tackle in big games or anything else in big games. This kid looks good but the bigging up of him is ridiculous. Hope he has the attitude to handle all hype been placed on him.

Can't compare them because haven't seen Shaul against a decent team. McDonnell hasn't done too much wrong to be fair so I'm not surprised and happy he is out first choice fullback.

Agree. Beats first man majority of times and gains us some decent yardage.

Shaul is nowhere near as good a player as McDonnell, but he probably will be in the next 18 months.
If he gets ideas above his station and thinks he can command a starting spot elsewhere in that time, he's seriously deluded.
He should learn his trade and be ready to take over from Shannon in 2015.

He's broken numerous times. Even the other night out of absolutely nothing. His tacking has been a surprise to me. Against cas he brought down carney after a break, Carney off loaded in the process and Shannon tackled that man too-don't actually know how he did it.
Yards are ok if not spectacular. Fullbacks come in different styles but because 1doesn't run like a tank doesn't make him rubbish

McDonnell has been excellent for us this season and hasn't really put a foot wrong. Shaul is an exciting talent but nothing more at this stage. We need to get him some game time at another club and see how he goes but in the mean time we've got a proper no1 who has settled in very well. Any criticism is unfair and unjustified.

In the super league stats McDonnell is in the top six for players making breaks so I don't know what some of your fans are watching

McDonnell has been pretty solid for us so far and there's more to come. i also think its a bit unfair to compare players to tomkins - the guy is a bit of a one off in attack

To me McDonnell has been great better then i expected to be honest he is good under the high ball and makes some decent yards and i am happy he is our full back at the moment. Shaul you cant say how good he is has he has not played any of the big teams yet and you dont know how he would cope under the pressure in the big games, make no mistake though he has got talent and will probably be our full back in around 18 months time when he gets more experience under his belt.

All this clamour for Shaul is a bit silly for me. He played very well against Wakey and then again against a lower ranked team. However McDonnell until his injury was excellent and one of our better players this season.

Shaul should be learning as much as he can and make the spot his own when Shannon's contract is up.

Neither do i! Some still stuck on that he used to play for kr!

Where a few people drinking yesterday, first Horne and now this?

Mcdonnell has been very good for us, even a Rovers fan has said so.

For me he is the best all around FB we have had since Prescott (although I really rated Mckinnon) The only issue I have with him is the niggle injuries he seems to pick up.

Shaul looks a good prosepct, but as Paul M says, he has only played two games and has yet to play against a top side.

McDonnell has been very good so far this season and derseves his spot. Shaul looks a fine prospect but is not ready to be a first choice full back yet. We sould be pleased that we have a good back up player there at last, though.

The number of people at the stadium on Friday moaning that Shaul had been dropped for McDonnell was ridiculous. Yes - he's a very good prospect (who we need to get tied up) but he's way off the finished article.

Mcdonnel had an outstanding start and is my number 2 in best performers so far. Shaul will struggle to get a look in this season unless McD is injured or deemed to require a rest.

Shaul is an exciting prospect who had a great SL debut against Wakey, I hope we can hold on to him, but unless the RL change the rules next season then this ridiculous position of not being able to give him any game time could see him leave, especially if true that another SL team are interested in him.

Best option I can see is get him on a contract to include next year on a season long loan to a Championship club (with recall clause), but whether that is doable or would suit Shaul is unknown.

Do sum on here go to matches ? mcdonnell been one of our best players and signings,shaul hopefully will sign up with us and could be a very good player,but atm no contest,

I’m astounded that this is has become an issue for some. We have a very good/solid full back in McDonnell and what appears to a cracking prospect in Shaul (based upon his brief flirtation with 1st team rugby so far). What on earth is there to be concerned about? (other than getting a contract for Shaul sorted). For me McDonnell has done nothing to merit being replaced as the current No1, however should he lose form or be injured then we have a superb back up, it’s the ideal situation in terms of positional strength.

Shaul is lerkle, McDonnell is not lerkle & used to play for rervers.

Thats the OP's problem innit.

This.