Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:16 am  

Appreciate it was only 1 game but thought he looked something special in the defeat to Saints last season, looked extremely confident and comfortable in the first team.

Puts a nice pressure on the more senior players but suspect he could surprise a few people in 2021 if given enough game time.

Thoughts?

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:46 am  

I agree, looking forward to seeing more of him. Think he just needs to bulk up abit (although I said the same about Bateman!)

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:04 am  

Of the younger players working through the system at the moment he is the one who looks to have something different about him (we seem to produce a lot of players of a very similar type at present) - I hope he can go on because he could be a really exciting player in the future. My worry is the expectation on him and the fact that players of that type often stand out at lower levels but never seem to fully make the step up in favour of the steady eddy types.

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:13 am  

He looked OK on debut. I wouldn't go further than that, we have a habit of anointing youngsters as the second coming before they do anything to justify it. I wonder if Hankinson going out on loan and Bibby covering on the wing might see KPP come in to cover any injuries in the centres if they occur. Am I right in thinking he isn't academy-eligible next season? He is 20.in Feb. May need to look at loan options in League 1.

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 1:03 pm  

Needs to go out on loan for a season or two, will come back a stronger player.

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 3:00 pm  

He looked alright. That’s literally about it. I don’t want to sound like I’m doing him a dis service here, by all accounts he has the potential to be a star player for us but let’s just rein it in a little. As others have said he could do with a season on loan in addition to the occasional first team run out. We have an abundance of talent in the back row which gives us the luxury of taking our time in letting KPP develop.

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 3:03 pm  

It’s been a tough year for all the young lads with no rugby to play. It’s tough to pass judgment on many of them and Pearce-Paul is no different. He looked a good prospect against Saints and it would’ve been great to see more of lads like him and Kilner in reserve fixtures. I agree with Grimmy that using him as a back centre option may be a useful way of bedding him in and getting him some minutes. He’s certainly got the athletic capabilities for the position.

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:39 pm  

exiled Warrior wrote:

Of the younger players working through the system at the moment he is the one who looks to have something different about him (we seem to produce a lot of players of a very similar type at present) - I hope he can go on because he could be a really exciting player in the future. My worry is the expectation on him and the fact that players of that type often stand out at lower levels but never seem to fully make the step up in favour of the steady eddy types.

Agree! He really stood out in that match for me and I hope he can get some opportunities this coming season. He was up against very strong opposition in that Saints game but looked physically up to it.

He certainly has some quality around him to learn from in the back row.

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 5:14 pm  

From what limited clips I’ve seen of him I think he looks like an exciting player because he is a bit different to what we currently have, or have had for a while.

He has natural size, hopefully filling out in the gym during the current climate, and is a natural strike runner with an offload.

What I like about him to compliment this is he seems to have a bit of a “bad man attitude”. He had that bit of aggression and nasty attitude which is often needed in the pack if you are going to make it.

I look forward to him picking up a few games next year and I think if he gets an opportunity (probably through injury to others) and can string a run of games together, he may be really pushing for a place in the 17.

Re: Kai Pearce Paul : Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:00 pm  

We do tend to hope that the young lads will go on to be the next big thing but are frequently disappointed. Several of the youngsters did stand up particularly well against Saints and we should not worry about their ability to step up but they really need a bit of time out on loan to toughen them up. I would have Smith out on loan asap followed by all of the youngsters on six months and six months covering the first team.