Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 8:13 am  

Was Clare who made the break; Trueman was in support but Clare seemingly had his eyes on one thing only as he was on a hatrick... Good to see the young lad there in support though. Clare for me can be a bit greedy from time to time; there were other instances yesterday where I felt he could have played an easy pass out to Caro and left him in but chose instead to have a go.

As for Trueman; whilst he's nowhere near ready, he's a good option as backup if nothing else... I'd gladly see him get a game in the halves infront of Addy, Purtell, Haggerty etc. Though yesterday was the best game i've seen Oscar Thomas have in a bulls shirt. Prior to the (hopeful) arrival of a new 7, i'd be content with him alongside Gaskell in the halves.

Would love to see Ethan and Joe kept in the fold though. Blythe was absolutely woeful and has been for a long time, and OB looks so much better when spelled... Will be interesting to see what Rohan makes of it!

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 8:55 am  

eccleshillbull wrote:

Was Clare who made the break; Trueman was in support but Clare seemingly had his eyes on one thing only as he was on a hatrick... Good to see the young lad there in support though. Clare for me can be a bit greedy from time to time; there were other instances yesterday where I felt he could have played an easy pass out to Caro and left him in but chose instead to have a go.

As for Trueman; whilst he's nowhere near ready, he's a good option as backup if nothing else... I'd gladly see him get a game in the halves infront of Addy, Purtell, Haggerty etc. Though yesterday was the best game i've seen Oscar Thomas have in a bulls shirt. Prior to the (hopeful) arrival of a new 7, i'd be content with him alongside Gaskell in the halves.

Would love to see Ethan and Joe kept in the fold though. Blythe was absolutely woeful and has been for a long time, and OB looks so much better when spelled... Will be interesting to see what Rohan makes of it!

Disagree about Clare, i think it was just a case of him not seeing Trueman, he was looking at the man supporting him on his onside who was covered. On not passing on Caro, the ones i remembered him not passing i agreed with Clare as Caro wouldn't have scored and more likely being bundled into touch. Clare was trying to draw his man in (which is another skill we've been lacking in this year.) Thought this was a skill we looked much better at yesterday.

Agree about Thomas. For me we now go with Clare at FB, Gaskell at 6, Thomas at 7, and Addy at 13 and stick to it until a decent 7 is signed up. We need some consistency of players playing in their positions week in and week out. I'd also make Thomas our goal kicker as Addys conversion rate just isn't good enough and will cost us in tight games. Also thought Thomas's general kicking game was better than Gaskells. Hopefully Smith will be more patient with Thomas than Lowes, He's still raw and will make mistakes, but hopefully Smith will takethose on the chin and playing him more will see Thomas's confidence rise. Unlike Lowes who played him here there and everywhere, then brought him off because he threw an intercept pass. Sure that did his confidence world of good.

Agree about Blythe, but thankfully Smith doesn't and won't have his little group of favourites so Blythe won't be able to get away with that performance for too long

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 9:15 am  

"London giving a trial to a New Zealand born standoff this weekend plus Leigh unveiling Burns. So that's two clubs managed to find a half whilst we're still searching "

We (Leigh) aren't signing burns, but we are talking to an Australian 7, formally of London broncos.

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 11:20 am  

http://www.loverugbyleague.com/news_219 ... water.html

http://www.loverugbyleague.com/news_219 ... water.html

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 11:28 am  

vbfg wrote:

http://www.loverugbyleague.com/news_21996-leigh-sign-drinkwater.html

Clearly Mr Ferres has been working extra hard to find a HB in last 6 months. How long have Leigh needed one? A week?

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 11:36 am  

I feel a little for Ben Reynolds.

He's constantly the "backup" halfback at Leigh, and every time it looks like he might get a chance, they bring someone else in and he goes back to being backup. To make matters worse for him, they brought him back from Dewsbury where he would have had a regular spot all season, when Brierley left and Rangi went on "a break", but now he's stuffed back in the reserves again once Drinkwater gets here.

If I were Reynolds, I'd be asking for a move by now, as they don't seem to want him.

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 11:41 am  

It does make Steve look pretty inept. No mention of any transfer fees or anything of that nature, but I do wonder if cash was (and perhaps still is) our stumbling block in these matters. The bottom line is, Leigh have money and we don't.

From Steve's comments recently about deals that fell through, you could tell he was referring to loan signings rather than permanent ones, which again would suggest to me that we can't afford to be paying any transfer fees.

On Drinkwater, I wasn't impressed by him when he played for London. They finished bottom of SL with him in the halves. But he could have improved since then, and he'll certainly have plenty of time and space on the ball playing behind that big Leigh pack. Will he be good enough to get them into SL? I still have my doubts, only time will tell.

HamsterChops wrote:

I feel a little for Ben Reynolds.

He's constantly the "backup" halfback at Leigh, and every time it looks like he might get a chance, they bring someone else in and he goes back to being backup. To make matters worse for him, they brought him back from Dewsbury where he would have had a regular spot all season, when Brierley left and Rangi went on "a break", but now he's stuffed back in the reserves again once Drinkwater gets here.

If I were Reynolds, I'd be asking for a move by now, as they don't seem to want him.

Leigh don't have a reserve team, remember? All the eggs in the one basket for them this season. If Ben wants game time, he'll need to go out on loan (again).

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 11:44 am  

I don't think its a case of not wanting Reynolds as they handed him a 3 years deal at the end of last year. He is highly thought of but is still very young.

You cant expect to go a full season with 2 halfbacks especially heading towards the middle 8's in a competitive league like this and not expect injuries.

Lets face it Rangi hasn't lived up to the hype.

Riddy & Reynolds where great yesterday but if one gets a knock we are screwed.

We should hopefully see McNally, Barlow, Patterson, Tonga, Beswick, & Dixon back in the next 2-8 weeks and really have a selection headache come the 8's

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 11:51 am  

From what I remember of Drinkwater in SL with London, and what i saw of Reynolds on loan at Dews; i'd sooner have the latter!

Re: Halfback : Mon May 16, 2016 12:11 pm  

Reynolds has played in most games since we brought him back to the club from Dewsbury. He is playing well and getting loads of game time. Not sure why he would be looking to move anywhere when he is only 21 and playing a key role in a team at the top of the table. If he has competition for his spot then he needs to work hard and keep his place. If he plays like he did yesterday he should have no problems doing that.

However last season we learned the hard way that playing the same 2 players in the halves all season can backfire if one gets injured and you end up with an untried combo for the 8's.

This signing does seem to suggest Rangi is a goner so having 3 half backs is vital. Hopefully Jukes will be wiser than Rowley and give all 3 of them game time ahead of the 8's.