I reckon we wouldn't have improved McMeeken the way Cas have done, for me late 2015 to early 2017 was our de-skilling years so that we could play to the "grind game plan". Vea looked promising at first then he got worse and worse, he probably improved very slightly when he went to Leigh.
While I broadly agree about the 'de-skilling' effect of the KC years, I think the reality with Vea was that he had one unusually good season at London - including a standout performance against us - and we signed him off the back of that and got his usual standard. Looking at Leigh's fans comments on him recently I don't think he improved after moving to them.
LMS is without a doubt the most passionate and charismatic player in the squad. Always in the mix, doing the hard yards. Thumping his chest and roaring like the lion he is. In my view he is a credit to our club and should be captain.
I stopped smoking and my brother called me a quitter
He'd be a pretty decent player if he could pass. Unfortunately he can't which means he has to play through the middle where his pace is wasted.
It's funny how no one seems to realise or are upset that his 190m metres the other day would take him 4 games in a Saints jersey.
His average of 68m per game is bordering on pathetic for a big man and some saints fans are easily pleased
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[QUOTE=ep1987;718771]He'd be a pretty decent player if he could pass. Unfortunately he can't which means he has to play through the middle where his pace is wasted.[/QUOTE
He played out wide for Ireland, though he did give a forward pass with a clear run in, I just wonder whether an International call up has boosted his confidence, he was touted as an International when with London, we shall see in the next few games.
To be honest thats not part of his game and thats why he is useless on that right hand edge, he's more for running direct at the opposition getting his arm free and offloading, but under KC the support play to take advantage has not been at the best. Its one of the reasons he doesn't makes an enormous amount of metres, I bet if you look at his stats for the last 5 years or more he will be probably be in the clubs top 3 for offloads every season. There is a good pass in him, he created that long cut out pass to get Percival away for the last second win against Wakey at there place.
I reckon Holbrook has seen the pro's and con's of LMS and got him to play to his strengths and thats probably why we have seen some improvement in his play.
[QUOTE=Tallaght Tiger;718777]From the footage I've seen, he looks liked he's trimmed down a bit and looks fitter for it- he showed a good turn of pace for the interception and made good metres overall. The new hair cut will have certainly made him more aerodynamic!
Kyle Amor showed some power too, for his try and he needs to ensure he brings that with him on the plane back to St Helens for next season.
Regards,
STEVO
Think you have this about right. You won't get 17 players of Roby's standard in any one squad.....he's not my favourite player but he certainly is good enough to be a squad player and I have changed my opinion of him recently as he improved back end of last season.
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I find it difficult to watch him if I'm honest and feel like he should be better than he is. He's a big bloke who has a decent amount of pace but doesn't make the most of it. Every time he has the ball in big games I'm on edge because of the way he carries it. He leads the kick chase and kick pressure which is good but I do feel like he's capable of being more than that. I don't like his off-ball antics either to be honest, I know some people like his enthusiasm but it'd wind me up if I was his team mate tbh.
Sometimes I just wish he'd run hard, often and play-the-ball as quick as he can. Leave the other stuff.
Steve Prescott MBE (1973-2013)
V
I completely agree with you Tez.
Has some commendable attributes but spends his time trying to be
a Gordon Tallis Jason Hooper wanabee.
He is only still here because he keeps being given extensions so the club need
to shoulder some blame.
Not big enough or tough enough for a top end prop , his duff left elbow
means he does not possess the handling skills to be a wide running second row.
Add to that he is a bit of a kn0b which makes him hard to warm to as an individual
or a Saints player.
Just a flat track bully, who only turns up when contract talks time comes along.
LMS is one of the reasons we have been in the state we have been for the last few years
St Helens Openwater Swimming Society
Looking out from the top of Table Mountain
Regarding his metres, the fact that he was playing on the left edge meant that he was able to make a couple of clean breaks that he wouldn't be able to make if he was playing in the middle, so I reckon about 80-100 metres will have come from that.
Incidentally, I noticed that when playing on the left he didn't seem at all inclined to cut infield as he always seemed to be when playing on the right for us - he was running good, direct lines and their edge defence struggled to cope with it.