Ryan Hall

39 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Does he need to be part of the squad to do that? I'm not totally against the move or anything, and it will be an upgrade on the likes of Olpherts.

I'm not surprised fans aren't particularly thrilled with it either though.

Maybe he wants to play for another year so it was either sign him on that basis or not at all

became a running joke he couldn't score a try for the roosters- looked like he had lead in his boots last week - clubs are gonna end up with more backroom staff than decent players at this rate- great bloke and great player a few seasons ago but that was then 

1 hour ago, up the robins said:

Been a Rovers fan it seems strange a truly world class player coming to the end of his career is leaving us for a last payday rather than the other way around, maybe a sign of how far we have come as a club (and maybe where Leeds are now as a club).

He's not coming to Leeds for a payday. 

Very few players come to Leeds for that!

20 minutes ago, M j M said:

He's not coming to Leeds for a payday. 

Very few players come to Leeds for that!

I was on the wind up with the cheeky last bit  

33 minutes ago, M j M said:

He's not coming to Leeds for a payday. 

Very few players come to Leeds for that!

I think it's great opportunity for both him and your club. He is a complete professional who's approach to the game on and off the field is outstanding and will be a asset to any clubs coaching staff. 

He is arguably one of the cleverest people in Rugby and has a lot more to offer the game long after his playing days.

For him it's a opportunity to go back to the club where it all started and help develop the next batch of Leeds legends.

Smart guy, great player. Whatever he goes to next will surely be whatever he thinks is the best option for him which he deserves. If that is more playing and perhaps coaching that can only be good for Rugby League.

12 minutes ago, Hopie said:

Smart guy, great player. Whatever he goes to next will surely be whatever he thinks is the best option for him which he deserves. If that is more playing and perhaps coaching that can only be good for Rugby League.

 

Did you know he plays the piano AND he can solve a Rubik’s cube really quickly?

3 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Did you know he plays the piano AND he can solve a Rubik’s cube really quickly?

just what the long suffering loiners fans have been waiting to hear 

I'd like him to take a leading role at Sky. Barry and Terry need replacing.

1 hour ago, Gomersall said:

Did you know he plays the piano AND he can solve a Rubik’s cube really quickly?

Meh. 

I do know however, when the players recorded individual videos to play on the TV coverage after they scored a try on Sky, he had the best one!

5 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

Maybe he wants to play for another year so it was either sign him on that basis or not at all

Can he really demand that of Leeds Rhinos?

5 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Can he really demand that of Leeds Rhinos?

I don’t particularly mean it was a demand, I probably worded it badly.

I meant if he he wants to play in for another year and leeds didn’t want him to he may have signed for another club so any backroom position may not happen at Leedsz

It really just highlights the lack of quality wingers coming through at the Rhinos. It’s 10 years since Handley came through and no one of note since. The fact we’re using salary cap on him next year is disappointing but merely a reflection of where Leeds are as a club 

Strange ,but I will be very interested to see what job he will bvb e doing in 2026 . What is the main reason the club have brought him back ? To play o e season or to do a valuable job in the commercial dept ? Cards being held close to chest by the Sleeve 

13 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

I don’t particularly mean it was a demand, I probably worded it badly.

I meant if he he wants to play in for another year and leeds didn’t want him to he may have signed for another club so any backroom position may not happen at Leedsz

But surely the backroom position at Leeds is, primarily, to his benefit? Its not like he's a super coach/administrator and holds all the cards, he said himself that he is making the decision because of family reasons with life after rugby.

If it was football and he didn't count towards the cap I could understand it more. 

At this stage Hall is no more than an extra forward playing on the wing so certainly shouldn't be a first choice Leeds winger. Leeds have to be aiming for better than that from a starting winger. I am presuming this is a mutually beneficial deal in that Leeds get a cheap squad backup player and Hall gets to extend his career by another year. Whether Leeds should be aiming for better than that is a different question. I personally think they should be.

He's better than a permanently injured winger or young Roberts but that shouldn't really be the aim for a club like Leeds, to just make do for a season. If HKR are replacing Hall with Davies, they're setting themselves up for the next 5 plus years, while Leeds paper over a crack for 12 months. Leeds should be signing players like Tom Davies but it seems rare that they compete now in that sort of market. Leeds are obviously the biggest club in Yorkshire and possibly in the game in the UK but you see clubs like HKR signing Davies, Huddersfield signing Tom Burgess and Wakey seemingly signing Tom Johnstone and Mike McMeekan and it's confusing. When was the last time Leeds beat a rival club to a signing? I can't think of many in recent times, certainly not in terms of English players. 

59 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

But surely the backroom position at Leeds is, primarily, to his benefit? Its not like he's a super coach/administrator and holds all the cards, he said himself that he is making the decision because of family reasons with life after rugby.

If it was football and he didn't count towards the cap I could understand it more. 

We wont know what he will be taking up RE cap space, it could be we’ll pay you x amount as a player for a year then your wage dramatically rises when you take the commercial role up

Just now, Chrispmartha said:

We wont know what he will be taking up RE cap space, it could be we’ll pay you x amount as a player for a year then your wage dramatically rises when you take the commercial role up

I would hope so for the club! He certainly has the 2026 role confirmed by the sounds of it.

21 minutes ago, WN83 said:

He's better than a permanently injured winger or young Roberts but that shouldn't really be the aim for a club like Leeds, to just make do for a season. If HKR are replacing Hall with Davies, they're setting themselves up for the next 5 plus years, while Leeds paper over a crack for 12 months. Leeds should be signing players like Tom Davies but it seems rare that they compete now in that sort of market. Leeds are obviously the biggest club in Yorkshire and possibly in the game in the UK but you see clubs like HKR signing Davies, Huddersfield signing Tom Burgess and Wakey seemingly signing Tom Johnstone and Mike McMeekan and it's confusing. When was the last time Leeds beat a rival club to a signing? I can't think of many in recent times, certainly not in terms of English players. 

Its an interesting point you make, certainly about Leeds beating another side to a player. However I would add this doesn't appear to match a lack of spending. Leeds in the recent spending budget estimates by Sky are up there with the biggest spenders. I think the main reason we don't spend as much as say Wigan is because we don't have as many of the likes of Kallum Watkins or ironically Ryan Hall (there are plenty others) to offset as home grown against the cap.

Leeds have signed players for good money. Croft and Ackers most notably for this year, but Bentley etc before that. What I worry is a consistent trend amongst Leeds' recruitment strategy is that players either leave when they are good (Leeming was in the dream team for example in 2021 and gone 18 months later, or Matt Parcell going to Hull KR) or stay when they aren't because their face fits. Alongside this is a trend that has seen loads of players come to Leeds and get worse - Croft and Ackers have hardly been fantastic so far, the latter following a trend back to Tom Briscoe and Brett Ferres of England internationals signing for Leeds and seeming to go backwards. Is there a culture problem? I could write a much longer list looking at the issues in the "rugby department" at Leeds over the past decade or so, particularly squad management.

I wonder whether Leeds have a reputation amongst players and agents too that isn't forthcoming to those on the outside.

50 odd tries in 80 odd games for KR is right up there with any decent SL winger - even at 36. No brainer for me - he's a better option than Leeds' other wing options currently (aside from Handley obvs) and a final stint at his boyhood club will make sure the fire stays in the belly for him. In future, i'd say he becomes Rhinos Chris Radlinski.

19 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Its an interesting point you make, certainly about Leeds beating another side to a player. However I would add this doesn't appear to match a lack of spending. Leeds in the recent spending budget estimates by Sky are up there with the biggest spenders. I think the main reason we don't spend as much as say Wigan is because we don't have as many of the likes of Kallum Watkins or ironically Ryan Hall (there are plenty others) to offset as home grown against the cap.

Leeds have signed players for good money. Croft and Ackers most notably for this year, but Bentley etc before that. What I worry is a consistent trend amongst Leeds' recruitment strategy is that players either leave when they are good (Leeming was in the dream team for example in 2021 and gone 18 months later, or Matt Parcell going to Hull KR) or stay when they aren't because their face fits. Alongside this is a trend that has seen loads of players come to Leeds and get worse - Croft and Ackers have hardly been fantastic so far, the latter following a trend back to Tom Briscoe and Brett Ferres of England internationals signing for Leeds and seeming to go backwards. Is there a culture problem? I could write a much longer list looking at the issues in the "rugby department" at Leeds over the past decade or so, particularly squad management.

I wonder whether Leeds have a reputation amongst players and agents too that isn't forthcoming to those on the outside.

One issue I'd have around Leeds recruitment is what seems to be a lack of long term planning in it. They got Ackers and Croft and on the face of it, they looked good signings but they were opportunities that unexpectedly opened up because of Salfords financial problems. Who were the alternative options? Did they want a hooker? They had O'Connor and Johnson. Who was going to be Austins replacement if Croft hadn't become available? Last year they had Austin in the halves alongside Sezer and they signed Frawley and eventually they got in Croft but I'd have expected moves to replace both would've been done well in advance of the end of the season, yet Croft was done post season. They signed Fusitua up for another year and that has gone as everyone would've expected I guess. The moves to hoover up a number of players from the Championship/League One before 2023 like Hooley, Roberts, Ruan etc also confused me. It just felt like they were throwing a few darts and hoping one hit the bull. 

It all just feels a bit scatter gun to me and a bit like they're just keeping their fingers crossed at times that something will crop up. To me Leeds are that big a club, that if they spend the same on players as clubs like HKR, Huddersfield, Wakefield etc, they should still have the better squad because if they offer a certain player a similar wage to that offered by one of those other clubs, I'd expect they'd choose Leeds because of their standing in the game but they just don't seem to be in for anyone where there may be competition. 

10 minutes ago, WN83 said:

One issue I'd have around Leeds recruitment is what seems to be a lack of long term planning in it. They got Ackers and Croft and on the face of it, they looked good signings but they were opportunities that unexpectedly opened up because of Salfords financial problems. Who were the alternative options? Did they want a hooker? They had O'Connor and Johnson. Who was going to be Austins replacement if Croft hadn't become available? Last year they had Austin in the halves alongside Sezer and they signed Frawley and eventually they got in Croft but I'd have expected moves to replace both would've been done well in advance of the end of the season, yet Croft was done post season. They signed Fusitua up for another year and that has gone as everyone would've expected I guess. The moves to hoover up a number of players from the Championship/League One before 2023 like Hooley, Roberts, Ruan etc also confused me. It just felt like they were throwing a few darts and hoping one hit the bull. 

It all just feels a bit scatter gun to me and a bit like they're just keeping their fingers crossed at times that something will crop up. To me Leeds are that big a club, that if they spend the same on players as clubs like HKR, Huddersfield, Wakefield etc, they should still have the better squad because if they offer a certain player a similar wage to that offered by one of those other clubs, I'd expect they'd choose Leeds because of their standing in the game but they just don't seem to be in for anyone where there may be competition. 

Leeds gave a very good crop of youngsters coming through who just aren’t quite ready yet.

All being well, Sinfield replaces Frawley, Fergus McCormack will replace Croft, we've some good outside backs in Smith, Ned McCormack, Riley Lumb and Alfie Edgell at full back.

Plus some decent prospects in the forwards.

Hopefully the club are looking a bit more to the future which is what brought them success last time around.

21 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Leeds gave a very good crop of youngsters coming through who just aren’t quite ready yet.

All being well, Sinfield replaces Frawley, Fergus McCormack will replace Croft, we've some good outside backs in Smith, Ned McCormack, Riley Lumb and Alfie Edgell at full back.

Plus some decent prospects in the forwards.

Hopefully the club are looking a bit more to the future which is what brought them success last time around.

Fingers crossed it works out. The game needs a strong Leeds. If a strategy of going with youth is followed through on, they'll need leaders and experience to help them along and that is something Hall can certainly bring. The issue is that it will probably be for just 12 months.  In the longer term, they could do with a Sinfield figure emerging, who will be there for multiple years alongside them and who will lead them. I've not seen a lad of his lad but he doesn't quite look in that mould from what I have seen. 

1 minute ago, WN83 said:

Fingers crossed it works out. The game needs a strong Leeds. If a strategy of going with youth is followed through on, they'll need leaders and experience to help them along and that is something Hall can certainly bring. The issue is that it will probably be for just 12 months.  In the longer term, they could do with a Sinfield figure emerging, who will be there for multiple years alongside them and who will lead them. I've not seen a lad of his lad but he doesn't quite look in that mould from what I have seen. 

Jacks nothing like his dad in that regard.

Players like Kevin Sinfield are unfortunately a very very rare breed.

Cameron Smith is still relatively young and should grow as a captain.