redjonn

the arm wrestle also includes aspects of Sumo wrestling, that is putting an opponent on his back thus helping to slow the PTB... or is it just the team I watch more, Leeds. I'm not one for just seeing a game of five drives and a high kick... as for me it often means run out of idea's how to attack and so a high kick creates opportunities of luck...

thought the sl clubs in the main work hard to maintain or increase their attendances, keep the stadiums maintained, develop pathways within their local area's, have academies putting in that hard work to develop players be as successful as possible within their means.... etc etc etc etc etc... the etc also covering the hard work of employee's of the clubs... with regard to imports specifically.... yep it could be a decision to use the salaries on home grown/pathways, although wherever the player comes from they need paying whether an import or not... the again it could be to make the team better to attract fans...or at least to get the balance right...

Leigh seemed to be making big inroads on that side, especially first half. They made quite a few opportunities but had handling error at key line break moments, which on another day they would have got more try's... was wondering what Leeds issue was on that side, thought it may have been Hall being a bit ponderous but I guess you see McDonnell as the main culprit... whatever it was it certainly needs fixing.

just with regard to your paragraph on loss of funding and the bigger clubs stepping into gap in London. I remember at the time that the loss of the funding impacted Leeds and having to lose a number of the staff that focused on the community clubs and pathways. In fact Gary H did a fund raising from sponsors/hospitality groups to match the short fall. I was one of very many that provided extra funding over a number of years to keep those staff employed. Subsequently a larger sponsor picked up the whole funding after the 3 years. I only mention this as I can see your point regards supporting the pathways in London but lest we forget it had a big impact on all clubs having to lose community/pathway staff. So I'm not so sure the funds were available to divert. I guess what Gary H did could have been replicated by the RFL.

he is a good experienced player not spectacular, strengths and weakness like all players and as you say much maligned. He was certainly not the reason why Leeds at times were poor but he was a scapegoat, which most teams fans need when their team is not doing well as distinct from identifying often the multitude of issues as to a teams poor performances... much easier to lay all the blame on one..

yep, then again coaches and players & commentators tell us how crucial defence is to being a successful team/winning silverware plus how important the spine is..... As a typical ball watching fan I don't always see the intricacies of the game plus organising aspects of defence thus will tend to vote for the players using the ball most, e,g, the halfbacks, etc.... I imagine the panel are not like me the typical ball watching fan and in my case missing most of the complexity of whats happening out there.

Maybe but my immediate reaction was the right decision and was shouting at the commentators they were wrong. Good to see differing opinions... Hope you enjoyed Magic... no matter what ref/VR decisions.

I would have thought given that it hard to get tickets for the soccer their musts be loads of locals keen to attend the stadium... great for taking the kids even if not soccer. Maybe an additional marketing message.

At the Leeds & Hull KR game both CEO spoke about Vegas and how keen both clubs were, but just awaiting confirmation from RFL following talks with NRL. They both gave very very strong hints they expected this to happen with very cheesy grins...

accidents happen for sure, but some are more likely to happen than others, especial if going in with a reckless disregard and hitting a player about a 3 feet beyond from where the ball was coming down. Of course he didn't mean to hit the player with his leading knee,,, anyway that was a different match...

both

Huddersfield unlucky with that VR decision, when they showed another angle it looked like the Hull player pulled ball... although the VR only looked at one view and didn't ask for any other, which if he saw the other he may not have overruled ref.. nowt can do now

yep, the other aspect if people watch is that Murphy had to reach quite a bit back to reach the ball... so to me I don't think he was aiming for the ball or at least was not aware where the ball was more focused on a reckless leap to where the opposing player was...

Thought the skill levels from Leeds were OK and quite good in parts. They lost composure when they had the opportunities, rushing the play or lacking the patience to build at times. They are constantly saying they need to be patient and build yet never change.

Well it is at least a penalty as it was dangerous with no concern for other player given the leap leading with knee and his studs high... if he hadn't hit the head who know where the studs landed... Problem for me is some of the commentators didn't think it should have been a penalty... I think they have been listening to the fuss in the nrl and wanting to mimic it here but for me chosen the wrong incident to push as nowt to see and games making wrong decisions.

yep that's true, the consolation being they would be relegated and another club have a chance of fielding a better team the next season... I guess one could argue the same club, in this case Huddersfield, could have the chance to build a better team with IMG. At least with P/R they couldn't sit back and not worry too much. Not saying P/R is the best approach just that their is a down side without P/R which seems to be playing out over the last couple of seasons...

thought it was amusing when the ref had to go all the way to the other end of the pitch to watch the big screen before his decision... and to add... even then he got the decision wrong.... according to some fans.... chuckle

Yep I think you are right... but to add their was a lot of frustration on the pitch coming through. On top of the arms waving their was a lot of players being pushed or tying to push or cause a stumble over when the ball was further along, saw it quite a lot on the side I was standing - obviously to create gaps in the defensive line. Maybe its normal but I haven't noticed it so much much before.

not sure I agree, Handley was not using his arm high and if he bent his back his head would have hit the opposition player given the height difference. I think the problem was more Handley pulling up his tackle as he wasn't really wrapping his arms anymore and more collided with the other player and that players head hit his chest area as Handley was more or less standing.... if he had bent his back their would have been the danger of hitting heads. Maybe Handley could have not been attempting any tackle at all... for me it was down to the impact of a much taller player and a little one colliding as he pulled out of the tackle... Did he have time to avoid the impact all together I didn't think so but officials thought otherwise. Anyway the ref made his judgement and that's that

I thought Ash actually pulled out of the tackle so i don't what else he could have done...

Would not say a shambles .... a couple of mistakes gave field position plus KR pinned Leeds back and hence kicking from deep and KR starting set from a good position... Plus I think the interchange with Litton or is it Litten (or whatever his name is) coming off KR seemed to open up and went wide... Litton had a reasonable game but his replacement seemed to add extra energy and guile...

I think so, yes. Just guessing that the club wanted to demonstrate they had done all they could to keep him including a good monetary offer. As often recently the criticism has been that the club have not done enough particularly around GH not being prepared to pay more. Not saying it's right just trying to decipher some of words in the PR and where they may be aimed. Given the injury profile of Gannon, namely regular and sufficiently poor concussion to keep him from playing for an extremely long period, I entirely understand his desire to go now to test himself in NRL. As he has been susceptible to concussion more than most players and hence who knows how long his playing career will be, Hopefully well into his thirties but the concussion aspects if it was me I would think best go sooner than later to fulfill an ambition.

It seemed OK to me, I would suggest one aspect was aimed at the fans as of criticism previously when up and coming players left. Of course if nit picking I can read it another way but even then unless looking for reasons to criticise the club I didn't think it was catty to quote an earlier comment. Of course they could have done another bland press release as per normal.

Listening to a NRL review programme the other day they were saying that Dom Young form has been poor so far this year, specifically his ability with the high ball... I personally have no idea but the 4 panelists all agreed and that maybe he would be dropped to improve the defensiveness of the team... I mention this as looking over the squad suggestions here they all have Dom Young in... maybe wait to see if he improves but I guess we have alternatives.

Itis/was the lack of Decisive Leadership... On your comment Blame & Punishment... isn't that what a lessons learned review is doing anyway, identifying the failure and why. In many cases that reason as to why is failure at the top. Often at end of report heads roll, just draws out the consequences. Plus punishment takes account of mitigation and hence doesn't mean harsh punishment.