: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:42 am  

RL scouts.

Yes, I remember meeting a ton of those. I particularly remember one of the 80s Saints scouts who when I asked whether the rumours of Saints proposed move for England RU winger Chris Oti were true he replied:

"Who's he?"

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:43 am  

The Original Moaner wrote:

Clearly you hold your players to lower standards than us

no, long's kicking in that game is of a lower standard,

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:21 am  

is Penny really that much faster than Nicky Royle....when he came through he was supposed to be the new Offiah as well, scored a few tries in 2004 for Widnes

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:32 am  

McClennan wrote:

I don't recall anyone outside of their respective clubs getting that excited about either of those two.

So what's changed?

Penny is a well documented youngster. If Huddersfield had been on the telly as much a few years ago, there would have been similar hype about Paul White and look at him now. In fact I'd say White was showing more 'potential' than Penny at this stage in his career.

Penny might develop into a good player, but no world beater.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:36 am  

Alonso Jackson wrote:

So what's changed?

Penny is a well documented youngster. If Huddersfield had been on the telly as much a few years ago, there would have been similar hype about Paul White and look at him now. In fact I'd say White was showing more 'potential' than Penny at this stage in his career.

Penny might develop into a good player, but no world beater.

The thing is Penny has scored 6 times in his first 5 games.
He has managed this whilst playing outside Paul Johnson he very rarely gives him good ball.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:42 am  

Plus he may play outside King next year, King will bust tackles for fun and if he passes to Penny in open space I'll be very confident that he won't be caught.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:45 am  

Neither Royle nor White have the natural attacking attributes of Penny. I don't mean pace. I mean balance, timing and a good body swerve.

That said, the above isn't worth much if he's a colander in defence. The days of teams being able to "carry" a defensive liability (or - the 80s) are long gone. Over the last five years we've seen clubs increasingly pressurise defensively weak players with an array of kicks, plays and running angles.

Let's see what Penny's like when he's got Willie Talau and Francis Meli steaming into him whilst he's looking to take a Sean Long bomb.

If he passes that test (and various others) we may well have a very good prospect on our hands.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:08 am  

Mugwump wrote:

Neither Royle nor White have the natural attacking attributes of Penny. I don't mean pace. I mean balance, timing and a good body swerve.

That said, the above isn't worth much if he's a colander in defence. The days of teams being able to "carry" a defensive liability (or - the 80s) are long gone. Over the last five years we've seen clubs increasingly pressurise defensively weak players with an array of kicks, plays and running angles.

Let's see what Penny's like when he's got Willie Talau and Francis Meli steaming into him whilst he's looking to take a Sean Long bomb.

If he passes that test (and various others) we may well have a very good prospect on our hands.

Gardner was no great shakes in defence, it has taken him a while to develop that side of his game. As you mentioned earlier, it is how the team defends as a unit, if a centre provides cover as per his job he should be able to develop his one-on-one defence.

Threads like this do tickle me. One of the most exciting prospects I have witnessed for a good while, yet people want to seize the opportunity to knock before he has been given the opportunity to prove himself at all.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:15 am  

getdownmonkeyman wrote:

Gardner was no great shakes in defence, it has taken him a while to develop that side of his game.

He still isn't. It's the reason I wouldn't be too bothered if we got rid.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:21 am  

Mugwump wrote:

He still isn't. It's the reason I wouldn't be too bothered if we got rid.

You got a good view from that sofa, mate?

Ade Gardner over the past two years has been one of Super League's Most Improved players.

He does have a long way to go admittedly, but he has the potential to become an excellent winger.