DoubleD

Owen Trout makes his debut for Leeds. Him and Sam Walters excelled for England Academy vs the Aussies in December and will be the future for Leeds in the second row

That’s the problem though, it’s Australians we are talking about

Those who might have wanted to attend the opening game at the stadium might care

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So it wasn’t sold out then? Why announce it then in advance as surely that would’ve put off some people who may have wanted to go. Looks a really good mid level stadium, fills a nice niche

That is true, the current academy is the best in 20 years but barring the odd gem it’s not been great and underperformed for a lot of that period

Wow this is a surprise. Australia bothering to play international footy. What’s in it for them?

They don’t reckon it’s anything serious. Amazingly they reckon Davies will only be out for 3 months. Broken and dislocated ankle

Can’t see Danny Richardson keeping his place after that performance. Seemed like the pressure got to him. Lomax is looking very impressive this year, playing his best footy currently and more leadership which no doubt comes with age and experience in the England setup. Also helps with having Coote taking some of the pressure off, particularly on those last tackle plays/kicks

Can’t say I do. I actually think he’s overrated but perhaps on the back of his recent performances he’s now justifying his rating. I still think there are half a dozen better wingers than him but a lot of them are sadly injured now

Straight swap for Merrin

Big result there for Aris away at Dorcol, impressive

It could spell the end of Greenberg’s time, depends how many friends in high places he has still

I have some sympathy for Greenberg. The NRL off season was a clusterfcuk and he needed to make a stand as the players were dragging the game through the mud. However it’s never good to have a knee jerk reaction

Didn't the clubs vote Batley Boys in though?

Australia have lost the power battle so have spat their dummy out..............very predictable. Good to see the Sydney press picking up on it and actually shaming them. That's a nice refreshing change

I bet they had to beat those NRL clubs off with a stick

I was very ambivalent about him when he came over, under a cloud for abusing a junior referee in Australia. That said, he’s shown his true colours over here and put that misdemeanour behind him. A true credit to Trinity and Super League, good to see him stay

Sutton was very good yesterday, apart from a missed tackle towards the end which almost resulted in an Eels try. He ran hard and made a lot of metres. Seems a bit of a surprise package, perhaps other clubs/players are underestimating him too. Whitehead was excellent. Hodgson was good, controlling the ruck and leading the team around the pitch as usual. However he does have a tendency of playing to the forwards too much instead of finding his halves and outside backs and Canberra really should’ve put more points on the board in the first half given their dominance. Perhaps he doesn’t have much faith in his halves of Williams and Wighton. Bateman was rather subdued, not sure if he was suffering from blisters or discomfort in his boots as he changed them midway through the first half. He didn’t look his dynamic self but was solid enough

Their crowds seem pretty stable but I’m curious whether there’s any potential for significant increase in them? The union side still pull more in I think?

Very sad news. Best athlete I’ve seen play the game. Have never seen as devastating centre as him. Didn’t actually realise he was as old as 32 but still feel it’s a sad and premature end.

Phenomenal record and even more so for a hooker who gets so much traffic. I was trying to think of other great hookers who were goal kickers but struggled.............anyone?