Player by Player from Saints game : Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:22 am
1. Webb - understandably lacking match fitness but what a superb pass for Hall's try - personally I would have moved him to 7 when Burrow went off - on the whole a good all round performance.
2. Donald - not much opportunity in the game all the attack as the majority of the play went down the left - quiet game in what has been a quiet season.
3. Smith - 100% for effort was always willing to take the ball up and made a pretty good job of a new position to him. Unlucky in the Gilmour incident where it Gilmour was pulling his hair - Lee never seem to get the rub of the green in these cases
4. Senior - solid performance took his tries well and still looks as good as any centre in the competition going forward - caught out on a couple of ocassions in defence
5. Hall - as good a player as Leeds had on the field tonight - willing worker lost count of the number of times he took the ball up - would just like to see him run through the line when he has the ball rather than stop when he gets there.
6. McGuire - continued his good form - lovely run around for Senior's first try and better kicking from hand - his defence was also pretty good - now starting to look the organiser the team needs.
7. Burrow - concerns must be there as to the number of times he is getting knocked out - needs to be looked at before he sustains a really serious injury - whilst he came back on he was nothing more than a passenger - his missed tackle that led to the last try an indication of his state.
8. Kylie - good performance when on the field he really takes it in and his defence has improved significantly this season - I would like to see him have more game time - perhaps in shorter bursts
9. Diskin - injury has reduced Matt from an outstanding player to bog standard SL player - he lateral movement is non-existent and that leads to miss tackles not something you need from a defender in the middle - his forward pass to Ablett changed the momentum of the game - hopefully Buderus will be back soon to give Matt some much needed support
10. Peacock - bet he was unhappy sat on the bench when things kicked off
a typical Peacock performance ran himself to a standstill in both attack and defence - unlucky to be penalised for a show of frustration in a tight game
11. JJB - played the whole game I think? which in a game of such intensity should be admired - would like to see him get of the tackled player a bit quicker he runs a very fine line which gets penalised too often these days
12. Ablett - not sure what to stay - not his finest hour - at fault with Sinfield for the Pryce try and offered little going forward - he is a loose forward with skill who plays in every other position - perhaps a run in the second row will build his confidence.
13. Sinfield - as with Ablett not his finest hour - a couple of poor defensive decisions cost two tries in the last 5 minutes of the first half. Seemed to incapable of controlling his and his team's emotions on the night - the game was there for the taking at 18-12 the calmer more methodical performance sadly they/him let Saints run away with it through a combination of needless penalties/poor ref decisions.
14. Allan - looked out of depth both physically and skill wise - not sure he is the answer as the deputy half back
15. Gibson - excellent game filled in at hooker and out performed his more senior team mate - perhaps this could be his best position in the modern game - he passes well and runs well in a position that requires guile rather than blistering pace.
16. Burgess - one dropped ball apart one of best performance - in a white hot environment he really stood up to be counted - he made some real yards ball in hand and put himself about in the tackle.
17. Bailey - what can you say - he is really coming of age - the hit on the lazy Samoan was a beauty he is just the type of player Leeds need right he intimidates opponents and does the unheralded stuff on the floor in the tackle - the fact that Graham got so irrate shows Bailey's new found status.
What a spectacle of a game - Saints deserved to win on the balance of the game - we made far too many simple errors - having said that it is only two points and there will not be many sides that beat Saints at KR. I didn't think they would win both this and the CC game. Of the two sides Leeds have the most improving let's hope they have learned some lesson to take into the game in two weeks time.
) but with forwards missing we didn't have the impact. I thooght JJB and Ablett looked tired 4th quarter as a result.
