: Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:49 am  

Newcastle Knights had a full back a few years ago called Robbie O'Davies and Phil Gould et al used to say his best quality was that he would eat the easy yards up first. Riley reminded me of him a lot on Friday night in that he would get the ball and run hard and straight as soon as in possession and before the defensive line reached him and then try and beat the man when at the line. In the past a lot of our full backs tend to get possession and crab across the field towards the perceived defensive weak link before straightening up. The former method always seems to yield the better kick return to me. Well done Riley. Keep it up.

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:21 pm  

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:41 pm  

Riley was tremendous on Friday night. Never took a backward step. He can only improve further in the full back position, should Lowes decide to stick wit him there.

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:17 pm  

I hope he can continue to add that attacking dimension like he did when he put Rah in, it's something we have lacked from the full back position which many teams have such as Webb, Wellens and you could say Duggan at Celtic.

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:29 pm  

Could be me but he really seems to have put some size on! Must have worked hard in the off season.
Still think he lacks that cutting edge that someone like Webb or Greenshields has but he's definately impressive.
Funnily enough really didn't rate him a few years ago, thought he'd never make it but just shows, the clubs coaches know best aye

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:11 pm  

Well played Chris, looked a cracking player on Friday. The type of player the club should be building around.

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:22 pm  

Chris Riley to me has always played the game in a way that he is proud to wear the Warrington shirt, from what i have seen of him he always gives 100%. The lad was a credit to his team mates on Friday night, its just a pitty that a few others can`t show the same commitment that Chris Riley shows. Well played and keep up the good work.

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:38 pm  

I'm late to this thread, and haven't bothered reading the first three pages, so apologies to anyone if I'm just repeating what has been said.

When Riley first broke into the team in 2005, he was quickly written off by a few people I spoke to. The usual things "He's not big enough for Super League", "His defence is poor" and "He's not great under a high ball".

IIRC, he was 17 on his debut (Widnes away, was it? Or the week or so before that?), which would be quite frightening if he was the perfect Super League player. Since that time, I think we've seen Riley mature and develop in numerous ways. Certainly after Penny came into the first team, many seemed to think that Riley's future at the club looked doomed, that there was no place for him in the team. However, he has bounced back and was IMO a standout performer last season. His positional play is generally spot on; he is a courageous little so and so and his ball returns are excellent; he is also quite fast, I think people underestimate his speed tbh.
From all accounts, his preferred position is Full Back, and I'd really like to see him given an extended run there. He will almost certainly make some mistakes, which he can put down as experience and learn from. He is still only about 21 years old and has got a lot of development to do yet, which I think can only be promising, as he has all the raw materials to make it in the big time.

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:45 pm  

...and watch most people turn against him as soon as he has a bad match or two.

: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:51 pm  

The All New Chester Wire wrote:

...and watch most people turn against him as soon as he has a bad match or two.

It certainly won`t be from me, i was one of very few who stuck up for him when he made that error away in Catalan where he lost the ball over the line in the act of scoring. Dig up the thread if you like, it should make interesting reading with some peoples views.

I have a lot of time for Chris Riley mainly because of his attitude and his consistency when given a chance, he has made far more progress than Kevin Penny from far less oppertunities.