Mark Nelson will be a middle for Leeds tho even tho East Leeds play him wider
Id imagine a few players will play different positions for us going forward, im just listing them as where iv mostly seen them play for there community clubs.
On Nelson...He plays much better wider out imo, East leeds, like us, have played him closer to the ruck a few times this season and it dosnt get the best out of him, he's much better wider out for me.
New scholarship intake announced and im very happy with the new u15s we'v managed to land, its a really good group led by an outstanding half prospect from West Bowling called Harry Smith, he's an excellent young player. Harley Thomas from Dewsbury Celtic is another excellent talent at fullback....Wonder if its coincidence the club interviewed these 2 for the launch night video.
George Brown is a quality half, also from Dewsbury Celtic, who, along with Smith, gives us the best half due recruited in one intake, that i can remember.
Lore Jones Buchanan is a tall centre who runs straight and hard but has good footwork and hands when he decides to use them, he's a good player, his younger brother, who's also a centre and will more than likely be in next years intake, is slightly better imo.
Marcus QareQare from Lock Lane is an exciting back with excellent footwork and a gliding style thats good to watch.
There were 4 forwards that i really hoped we'd sign and we got 3...Joe Butterfield from Lock Lane, Presley Cassell from Siddal and Jayemm Oladipupu, who takes some stopping, from west Bowling are all very good, Noah Broadbent from Stanningley was the 4th but he went to Warrington . Jacob Stead from West Bowling is another impressive forward who we signed, he hits hard and plays with plenty of aggression.
Theres other good players aswel, but these are the ones that have really impressed me so far. Really good group imo.
The 16's are much the same group as last year when they were 15's, think one players left and no incomings, this again is a good group.
Players to watch imo are
Kai Taylor Smith at fullback, Bit of a Jack Walker clone, excellent step off both feet.
Lloyd Mcewan Peters at centre, big centre with good hands
Sonny Pattison at centre, the more elegant of a good centre duo
Mark Nelson at backrow, big, fast and powerful, really hard to handle
Mason Corbett at hooker, very intelligent and skillful 9, can run a game with good composure and decision making.
Joe Phillips at prop, plays how id imagine JP would play at 16, he's an enforcer, hits like a tank, plays with a calm confidence, tall and still fairly thin, when he fills out his frame, he'l be some player imo.
These are just some of my thoughts on 2022's scholarship squad, very impressive set of players. Looking forward to seeing them improve even further under Mark Butterill
Bit of positivity among the gloom
Just to add to this post i made when we announced our new u15's intake,after watching a few more players, its an even better group than i initially thought.
2 lads id add to the ones i mentioned are:
Dylan Hutchinson, a 6 from Lock Lane, really silky runner, excellent player, gives us 3 very good halfbacks in this group, though Wouldn't suprise me to see Dylan play a bit of fullback
Callum Webster, a backrow/centre from Oulton, MOM and Hattrick in the recent Leeds district school cup final, powerful runner with excellent agility.
Really is a very good group, hope we get there development right over the next 5/6 years.
Yeah looking forward to it, interesting season, iv mentioned the 15's as being a quality group, the 16's are harder to judge for me, not a very big group in terms of numbers and iv a couple of question marks over how they're developing.
We'v got 5 from Guisley who have barley played a game in 12 month and are terribly coached when they do. They've been hammered in the 2 games they'v played this season, one in the national cup and against east leeds a couple of week ago. Lloyd Mcewan Peters seems to have stagnated a bit, he looked a frightening prospect at one point, hopefully he gets back to that once he gets back into a well coached team, he recently got a call up to the Wales union u18's aswel, which is a worry.
Our best prop, Joe Phillips, hasnt played for Siddal for a few week, not sure how long he's out for.
Looking forward to watching Kai Taylor Smith, exciting player.
We could be relying on a lot of u15's this season, Butterill will have to work his magic if thats the case, the extra year at that age makes a big difference.
Yeah looking forward to it, interesting season, iv mentioned the 15's as being a quality group, the 16's are harder to judge for me, not a very big group in terms of numbers and iv a couple of question marks over how they're developing.
We'v got 5 from Guisley who have barley played a game in 12 month and are terribly coached when they do. They've been hammered in the 2 games they'v played this season, one in the national cup and against east leeds a couple of week ago. Lloyd Mcewan Peters seems to have stagnated a bit, he looked a frightening prospect at one point, hopefully he gets back to that once he gets back into a well coached team, he recently got a call up to the Wales union u18's aswel, which is a worry.
Our best prop, Joe Phillips, hasnt played for Siddal for a few week, not sure how long he's out for.
Looking forward to watching Kai Taylor Smith, exciting player.
We could be relying on a lot of u15's this season, Butterill will have to work his magic if thats the case, the extra year at that age makes a big difference.