Re: Eastmond & Gaskell : Thu Jun 02, 2011 12:38 pm  

No1 Saint wrote:

Thing is if you ever want to be a truely world class player you need mental toughness and a professional attitude. I think Eastmond maybe lacking in those departments. The fact that Eastmond became first choice for England is just a poor reflection on the other available options at the time.

You really do. The last year of the Eastmond story is a bad relection on that side of him as a player.

Lomax is a much tougher lad - The way he likes to play close to the line with little regard for the forwards gunning for him, the way he banjoed the full back last week when he caught him in possession...
Eastmond doesn't have that, but there have been times where he has done outrageously cool things on a rubgy pitch. Its a real shame that he's going and I too belive he'll be back sooner rather than later, much to the detriment of his career imo.

Re: Eastmond & Gaskell : Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:32 pm  

Eastmond has all the talent, but has question marks over attitude and mental toughness. The potential is there however, and as has been said it's a shame we won't see if he can become really top class at the club.

Gaskell is growing into the game every week he plays. He's had much more pressure on him than Eastmond did at the same stage in his first team development, being forced to be a key half back rather than having time spent at full back and at centre. His running game is not as good, but looks to be developing, but his kicking game is better, especially his long kicking game. Gaskell's kicking game is also exponentially better than Lomax's.

Re: Eastmond & Gaskell : Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:20 pm  

Billinge_Lump wrote:

Gaskell is growing into the game every week he plays. He's had much more pressure on him than Eastmond did at the same stage in his first team development, being forced to be a key half back rather than having time spent at full back and at centre. His running game is not as good, but looks to be developing, but his kicking game is better, especially his long kicking game. Gaskell's kicking game is also exponentially better than Lomax's.

I said it earlier in the season, even though he doesn't have the gas as Gaskell gets used to the pace of Superleague, I reckon you'll start to see him ghosting through the line. He got over the try line twice on Friday in the centre of the park, even though he had limited minutes at half back.

He'll also turn into a pretty strong lad if he gets a bit of meat on those bones. The frame's certainly there.

Re: Eastmond & Gaskell : Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:29 pm  

A player can have all the ability in the world. But without the correct mindset and attitude, they'll always struggle. Just look at Karl Pryce. His physical ability with and without the ball can't be questioned. When on form and correctly motivated he's a superb player. But he undoubtedly suffers from a mental state that stops him being the great players he could be. Whether that's laziness, a lack of mental strength or that he just simply doesn't enjoy playing the game.

I think Simon Haughton is the best example I've seen of a player who had all the skill and ability in the world, that many others would kill to have. Yet he had little to no interest in playing Rugby. There's quote in Radlinki's book that pretty much sums up Simon's attitude towards the game, finding it was something he just happened to be good at, yet had no care for.

Whether Eastmond falls into the category's from above remains to be seen. I personally don't think he's anywhere near as bad as the two above. But he certainly isn't anywhere near level of Sam Tomkins, and the mental toughness and will to win that Sam's displays each and every time he takes to the pitch.

Re: Eastmond & Gaskell : Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:36 pm  

LovesToSpooge wrote:

Whether Eastmond falls into the category's from above remains to be seen. I personally don't think he's anywhere near as bad as the two above. But he certainly isn't anywhere near level of Sam Tomkins, and the mental toughness and will to win that Sam's displays each and every time he takes to the pitch.

No, I don't think he's as bad as the examples.
He's not physically tough like, for example, Tomkins, and we've seen that occasionally exploited but we have seen him show will to win - coming up with big plays late in the game, kicking pressure conversions or chasing back to save trys.
I just think the last year has got him mixed up and mentally fatiged and its really impacted on his ability to do the stuff on the pitch. Hopefully he's through that and we'll see some more Kyle magic before he moves on.