Sat 29 Oct: RLWC: England v Greece KO 14:30

[bratman]

6 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Hopefully,isn’t it a mandatory 11 day stand down for concussion ?

Think so, not seen any news about how bad it was though.

[Davo5]

2 minutes ago, bratman said:

Think so, not seen any news about how bad it was though.

Yeah he didn’t look too clever after the knock & it is a position we don’t have a lot of cover for with Welsby the only real quality option we have in the squad.

[Saint Toppy]

On 29/10/2022 at 21:11, Davo5 said:

Really,I thought he got leathered by the Samoans.

Lees isn't your typical big meter making front rower like a Burgess, Walmsley or Hill but there's a reason coaches rate him so highly, its all the other little effort areas that make him stand out (the 1% efforts that Jammer constantly refers to).

When you get tiring forward hookers look to try and exploit the ruck catching out the bigger & less mobile, similarly on kick returns FB & Wingers will look for the staggered defensive line with a tiring forward who can't get up there. These are the area where Lees excels, leading the defensive line, working really hard from marker. Bringing on a prop like him means there's still that high intensity from the front men.

Over the last few years Kristian Woolf commented several times that the teams Saints play against "may have bigger forwards, faster backs or even better individuals, but they'll never out-work us" and players like Lees, Knowles & Batchelor typify this.

[Davo5]

1 hour ago, Saint Toppy said:

Lees isn't your typical big meter making front rower like a Burgess, Walmsley or Hill but there's a reason coaches rate him so highly, its all the other little effort areas that make him stand out (the 1% efforts that Jammer constantly refers to).

When you get tiring forward hookers look to try and exploit the ruck catching out the bigger & less mobile, similarly on kick returns FB & Wingers will look for the staggered defensive line with a tiring forward who can't get up there. These are the area where Lees excels, leading the defensive line, working really hard from marker. Bringing on a prop like him means there's still that high intensity from the front men.

Over the last few years Kristian Woolf commented several times that the teams Saints play against "may have bigger forwards, faster backs or even better individuals, but they'll never out-work us" and players like Lees, Knowles & Batchelor typify this.

Now I know you don’t react well to the smallest criticism of anything Saints related but he still got leathered by the Samoans when he came off the bench & our intensity dropped noticeably when Hill & Burgess went off.

Lees has plenty of qualities & improvement in him but for me he’s not  an impact player off the bench at the highest level.

[Szymala]

21 hours ago, Davo5 said:

Now I know you don’t react well to the smallest criticism of anything Saints related but he still got leathered by the Samoans when he came off the bench & our intensity dropped noticeably when Hill & Burgess went off.

Lees has plenty of qualities & improvement in him but for me he’s not  an impact player off the bench at the highest level.

Yeah, the Samoans leathered him in their 6-60 defeat....all about perception.

[Davo5]

13 minutes ago, Szymala said:

Yeah, the Samoans leathered him in their 6-60 defeat....all about perception.

What has the score got to do with Lees getting knocked about & lacking the physicality to make any real impact.

[GeordieSaint]

On 31/10/2022 at 11:35, Davo5 said:

Now I know you don’t react well to the smallest criticism of anything Saints related but he still got leathered by the Samoans when he came off the bench & our intensity dropped noticeably when Hill & Burgess went off.

Lees has plenty of qualities & improvement in him but for me he’s not  an impact player off the bench at the highest level.

I actually agree. Lees is an excellent SL player. I don’t think he has the size for prop against some of the monsters at international level. The loss of impact is why I’d start Hill and Thompson in the QF with Burgess and probably Cooper on the bench (I’d exchange have Walmsley coming off the bench if he was fit). 

Edited November 1, 2022 by GeordieSaint