Quality with ball in hand however his catching is very disappointing and needs major work. Numerous times today it sounded as if we were in big trouble because of it and there was numerous times against Hull KR when he let the ball bounce, he's becoming a major liability in this department.

I recall only once today, yes still needs some work, but he is only 18 and even the experienced Mckinnon made plenty of mistakes.

Going to be one hell of a player.

It sounded like at the end they got the penalty because he dropped the ball and a Hull player picked it up. Also in the second half when he let it bounce and Turner came to rescue him.

He had a couple of errors, but he is a young player and will learn. He was one of the few players actually showing any enthusiasm today.

Only remember the Turner one, hard to tell at the end with all that was going on.

Positioning is still poor and he doesn't look comfortable playing as that extra pivot. He's an enthusiastic and elusive runner but the other qualities required of a modern fullback don't appear to be there.

Quick off the mark but not flat out fast. Elusive but erratic. Not sure he will end up at FB. Possible hooker depending on his distribution?
He's our best FB option ATM though

Carried on from where he left off last week. Doesn't look like someone who has played FB for very long to me. Positioning was very poor and he was nowhere near their 2 kicks at teh end. Cost us 2 points today. Both times he was only about 5 metres behind our defensive line on the last tackle rather tahn dropping back and giving himself some time

Looks nervous under the high ball and saints targetted him towards the end,ended up getting a point for them by not commiting himself and letting it bounce

Was comfortably our best player for me, even taking into account his positional blips. Did far more in attack than anyone else and we should have scored more than we did, so I think it's harsh to hold him responsible for the dropped point. We should have been home and dry by then, and if more players had played like him in possession we would have been.

My motm .

It's not rocket science is it. Play Horne at the back when we are defending and bring him back to 6 when we have the ball! It's were he's going to be playing next years by all accounts. Can't believe Gentle has not done this already to be honest. Russell is class with ball in hand but he's very poor under the high ball. Every time the ball went up today I got flashbacks to Motu Tony!

I called this today, Matty Russel is dynamic with ball in hand but very naive in defence. Polar opposite to Richard Horne.

Far from responsible for a dropped point - the whole team will take that responsibility. Looks great with ball in hand and will be a good SL player. I'm not convinced that will be at FB though - the main thing I think that might prevent that is his lack of height. He isn't a high ball taker and if he wants to be a FB he'll have to get off the ground and challenge and make the ball his. Better than anything we have at that age in that position though it seems.

"he seemed a lot taller"on radio...... why do people slag players off when they havent watched them we all know blunderside is not the most accurate commentary

He's going to be the new Tomkins. The talent is for all to see, sort out his positioning and he's a brilliant player.

joel maybe but nowhere near as good as sam

He will be good but not that good.

No criticism of the young man from me, he's just 18, he's on loan, and one of our senior players should have been telling to drop back on the fifth tackle after he let the first bomb bounce.

I'm probably in a better position to comment (although obviously not on todays game) on the Russell v Tomkins debate, having watched them both from their U18/U20 days.

Russell is ahead of Sam at their same age. However, will he develop further? I don't know, Sam actually grew a few inches (bollo to those centimetre thingys) and has become the world class player that he is today.

Will Russell follow suit or became a Shaun Ainscough? Let's wait and see.

Tomkins is pure quality, but I do believe Russell has the X Factor to be a top player too. He is so confident with his ability at such a young age, I can only see bright things for his future.

russel will be a fullback! I always laugh on here how everyone is a positioning expert! The 1st bomb was an awful one to take and could see his thinking it would bounce dead. 2nd was similar but a straight fumble could of cost a try and was damage limitation,cos was almost untakable due to the bodies around,both saints and hull! The fault lies purley with lack of kick pressure. Had the time to spiral end over end em put em were they want! It was bugging me long before them errors!

Wtf?

I'm afraid I've had to kidnap him. He's ensconced in my spare room with steak and salad. Sorry, Wigan.

I see his future in the number 6 shirt. Granted I've only seen him twice mind.