: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:22 am  

BTW, I'm still trying to work out how calling for caution can be interpreted as putting a downer on a player.

Surely a bigger downer would be to build a player's confidence up to unfeasible heights and then watch him self-destruct when he can't live up to insane expectations.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:23 am  

The Original Moaner wrote:

You got a good view from that sofa, mate?

Yes, I had a good view of him making an booty of himself against Huddersfield.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:29 am  

Mugwump wrote:

Yes, I had a good view of him making an booty of himself against Huddersfield.

One mistake...? (Although admittedly, I am still yet to see the second half.)

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:31 am  

The Original Moaner wrote:

One mistake...? (Although admittedly, I am still yet to see the second half.)

Come back to me when you have.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:44 am  

Mugwump wrote:

Come back to me when you have.

That will be a long, long time!

Seriously though, from what I have seen (Probably about as much as you!) Gardner is having a very good season and is one of the form wingers in SL.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:46 am  

All these people saying "hes got pace and thats it"...

no $hit sherlock, do you want a cookie for being so clever? Hes only been playing the game 5 minutes. What he does have is something that cant be taught. Raw pace, raw skills and an eye for the line.

Id have him at saints in a flash

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:48 pm  

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.

Oh dear.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:49 pm  

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.

He plays on the opposite side to Talau and Meli.

: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:07 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

BTW, I'm still trying to work out how calling for caution can be interpreted as putting a downer on a player.

Surely a bigger downer would be to build a player's confidence up to unfeasible heights and then watch him self-destruct when he can't live up to insane expectations.

Correct.

Penny does look like he has got more about him than a lot of other young players who have emerged, he is fast and fearless and has a natural ability to beat people - so the raw talent is there.

Whether or not he goes on to make it depends on a number of factors, eg his own attitude, whether he has weaknesses which will get exploited when other teams start studying video footage of him. He may go on to make it, he may not, but to talk about him as a player in the Offiah mould is crazy because Offiah was a one off. I remember a 17 year old Chev Walker coming into the Leeds team and Ray French saying he was reminiscent of a young Mal Meninga.

: Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:08 am  

Exciting prospect, hence the 8 pages of replies.

Raw - Yes
Finished article - No

Don't be obsessed with the ' is he better than................' he can't do................

Just pleased he plays for Warrington.