Re: Wilkin Return : Mon Apr 07, 2014 8:48 pm  

St pete wrote:

Nobody saying he's the next James Graham but he's a good squad player. Its impossible to have 24 mam squad of superstars in a salary cap sport.

And again that's exactly my point. Play him in a dead rubber such as Castleford on Friday but to go with him in a knock out situation against a massive pack was a huge brain fart by Brown. LMS and Laffranchi where both fit from what i understand.

Re: Wilkin Return : Mon Apr 07, 2014 8:50 pm  

LFC Saint wrote:

And again that's exactly my point. Play him in a dead rubber such as Castleford on Friday but to go with him in a knock out situation against a massive pack was a huge brain fart by Brown. LMS and Laffranchi where both fit from what i understand.

Lms had a knock.

Re: Wilkin Return : Tue Apr 08, 2014 6:51 am  

LFC Saint wrote:

Read my post again, i never wrote Greenwood off. I'd just prefer the more experianced players for the big games. If people thought Clough wasent good enough then people wont be happy with this lad Walker. Watched him from u18's and dont forget he is 23/24 now, he isent no rookie.

Walker isn't as good as Cough, neither's Richards at this point.
Clough is pretty good, but he seems to have hit his level and stayed there and that standard has been viewed as below what we need. Its probably been decided that for what you lose giving a shirt to Walker, Richards or Thompson, you will gain in developing a potentially top class forward(s). Its a decent logic, although I always liked Clough.

Walker is a tackling machine, but his go forward is not as good, much like Boof. Its worth noting that he is 22 now, so a little bit older than the other "kids". He's certainly got the weight behind him - his legs are like tree trunks, so he needs to start giving us a bit more with ball in hand or he wont make the grade.

Re: Wilkin Return : Tue Apr 08, 2014 7:25 pm  

Tez the Saint wrote:

Disagree with your first point. If he had played at 7, it was about as poor a performance as you would see in that position. He kicked the ball twice and didn't do any organising for starters. What he produced was a good performance in the role he was asked to play that night. Defended brilliantly and made a try. If he had 'actually been playing at scrum-half' we wouldn't be saying that.

In response to another poster, had Greenwood made that break of course he would have been praised for it to the same level. 3/4 Leeds defenders couldn't stop him when he set up Makinson's try. Don't care who it was from, it was a brilliant piece of play and one that any player would get praise for. Yesterday he flew out of the line to deny them a drop goal late on in the game. The way Wellens, Walmsley and another defender (not sure who) got off the line late on was superb. Match winning plays ultimately from those 3 players. What was it, 29 tackles as well? Didn't he make the final pass for Makinson's try when he ran the line out the back? Forgive me if I'm wrong there in advance because I'm not sure on that.

One thing he does give this team is leadership. He's a true competitor who speaks his mind on and off the field. If things aren't going to plan he'll tell them what he thinks. You need players like that. He's the sort of player who will never shirk anything or leave anything out on the field. You know full well that when he steps out on that field he will give absolutely everything he has in whatever role he is asked to fill. Don't care what anyone says, that means something to me. He's still making big plays as well. Sometimes you need a bit of experience in games.


We're 8 from 8 with him in the team. Will he remain in the team when we have a full squad to pick from? I don't know. Would I pick him in my 17? Probably not. But he's not doing as badly as people would like to think. We aren't doing too badly.

Anyway, that's my opinion. I respect those with alternative views and I can even see why they think it, but that's me.

Fair points but you'd be surprised how many people *cough* Dad's Army 76*cough* think he actually played as a 7. Well

Re: Wilkin Return : Wed Apr 09, 2014 7:34 am  

Apart from the whole thing being way off topic. LMS was injured and so one of Walker and Greenwood had to play. Also Amor was injured during the match, reducing his impact meaning there was more needed from the young lads.

The question about Laffranchi is one that can be asked, but that's 100% easy using hindsight. There is also the question about whether Walker and Greenwood earned their spot against Leeds. As you say the coaching staff know best and if they are saying players earn the spot until injured or until they lose it then it's no good putting players in the side based on a name alone.

Walker and Greenwood earned their call up from the Leeds game, as did Lance over Wheeler, As did Wellens. You can't unwrap all that saying they all play well against Leeds yet one should be kept one should be dropped. Given the performance I would had replaced Lance with Wheeler, but I would not have said it pre match as Lance earned the shirt from his previous performance.

There is a lot of duplicity on this thread using one theory to pick one player, but a different rule to drop another.