Ben Cross has now signed

[bendy hendy 5]

Wow!! Extremely impressed with this guy tonite. Even in the warm up, you could see the enthusiasm and fire in him. The guy hasn played for i dont know how long, and comes on for a 30 minute stint, ran like a frikin train and tackled like a bulldozer!!! And avin said that, he wasnt even blowing!!! looked like he could of played at least another 30. Deffo wud be the first forward on my team sheet for next week. Jus the hard, aggresive forward we need. Looks like he's ready to explode on comand! :eusa2: :eusa2: :eusa2: :eusa2:

[onedego]

I described him as "like a heat seeking missile". I paid him some focus while he was on, and he was totally focused on the ball. Very impressed with his first run out! Very impressed indeed!

[Wandering Warrior]

Now lets see. Wire props Carvell & Morley. Our props Davies & Lima or Cross & Lima, that's a really hard choice!

[TrueBlueWarrior]

I liked him when he played for the Storm in the NRL, another solid player that keeps hold of the ball, not flashy, just gets on with it. All be it alot more agressive than the other pack members at Storm and Newcastle which sometimes got him into bother.

When he came to Leeds he was introduced to there way of playing. Putting an agressive prop in with dirty tactics employed by Leeds what do you expect? he looked like a thug.

Wigan 2011 near the end of the season, we will see a madge coached prop with fire in his belly and a renewed passion for winning because thats what Cross is used too, he wont be as frustrated and we will see a better player than at Leeds.

Im all for the youngsters coming through but you MUST be good enough and Madge doesnt seem to think our young players are ready or not good enough which is fine. Ive never rated Davies because if he was as good as what people say why hasnt he played a first team game or even been in the 22 man squad?

We have plenty of youngsters in the first team PLENTY so why are we moaning?? When a player IMPROVES the squad i dont see what the problem is, even if its short term, nobody would moan if we got Inglis or Cameron Smith untill the end of the season.

Thankyou :eusa2:

[gpartin]

After ploughing through this quotathon and struggling to understand how anyone could criticise our youth policy I've been watching Ben Davies playing for Castleford and although he's scored a try he looks totally unfit and I doubt he'd last 10 minutes at the pace we play the game at. Mick, if Davies had been named in the 19 week after week and showed constant improvement during his time at Widnes and throughout this season then we wouldn't have needed to get Ben Cross. However I don't think this would have done him any good because young props have a tendency to start off well and then suffer from burnout later in their careers and end up as average players. If we want Davies to be a top prop he's better off waiting and being out on loan like Mossop did and then he can play for us when he's ready. Madge has shown time and time again with players like Mossop, Sam, Charnley that he believes in the giving players a chance regardless of their age.

I don't know whether Davies will make it but this ideal about having loads of young players in and no aussies is only any good if you're happy never to win anything. As for the comment you made about if it was a full season signing, its a huge contradiction if you think him being there short term is a barrier for development. I'm sure if I was a young prop I'd love to learn from a prop who's play SOO

[TrueBlueWarrior]

After ploughing through this quotathon and struggling to understand how anyone could criticise our youth policy I've been watching Ben Davies playing for Castleford and although he's scored a try he looks totally unfit and I doubt he'd last 10 minutes at the pace we play the game at. Mick, if Davies had been named in the 19 week after week and showed constant improvement during his time at Widnes and throughout this season then we wouldn't have needed to get Ben Cross. However I don't think this would have done him any good because young props have a tendency to start off well and then suffer from burnout later in their careers and end up as average players. If we want Davies to be a top prop he's better off waiting and being out on loan like Mossop did and then he can play for us when he's ready. Madge has shown time and time again with players like Mossop, Sam, Charnley that he believes in the giving players a chance regardless of their age.

I don't know whether Davies will make it but this ideal about having loads of young players in and no aussies is only any good if you're happy never to win anything. As for the comment you made about if it was a full season signing, its a huge contradiction if you think him being there short term is a barrier for development. I'm sure if I was a young prop I'd love to learn from a prop who's play SOO

Thankyou again :eusa2:

[bourbon_rat]

Nice to see Ben has not suffered any lasting detriment from the nasty tactics used at the Whinos

[ian.birchall]

[quote="Panchitta MarraMy concern is that Stu also tends to have some of his weakest games against warrington, I cant remember him having a real good one against Morley and co in recent seasons.[/quote]

It might not be 'recent' but in his very first match back when we were fighting relegation I remember an absolutely storming MOTM performance from Fielden but putting that slight disagreement aside there can be no way he gets in the side against t'Wire and for me he will be struggling to get in even against Salford.

[the winky one]

Its a pity he wasnt at Bratfurt.
They would have seen more of him naked than scoring
tries.

Here we go again, pulling people apart before they've played a game for us.....Let's give him a chance.
Surely Madge knows what he's doing

Think that one may have went right over your head winky.
It was meant only as a joke.
At bradford, any player failing to score a try has to run round the pitch naked at the end of the season.

Busted...lol

[gpartin]

That's what I go to school for!