Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 5:47 pm  

After a promising start to the season it's sad to see Briscoe is going to be out for 3 months.

Ash Handley did a reasonable job for us last week, but, to my knowledge, he's not a winger. Or is he?

His official Rhinos biog has him down as a scrum half (and suggests he's 6' 3")! Isn't Ashton Golding a better replacement?

Re: Luke Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 5:59 pm  

Are you meaning Tom Briscoe..?

Re: Luke Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:10 pm  

Jamie101 wrote:

Are you meaning Tom Briscoe..?

Yep.

I've no idea where I've got Luke from.

The end of a busy day, I guess.

Tom Briscoe.

Re: Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:17 pm  

Handley can play anywhere in the back line, he even played full back in the U19s a few weeks back but wing is definitely his best position IMO, although he has A LOT of improving to do, particularly with his defence.

Re: Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:18 pm  

Gutted for Tom as he come into this season in some form and more than made up for his error in last years play offs. Hopefully he can come back better and in the meantime it'll be good to see how Ash goes in an extended run the first team. Injuries happen and at Leeds we're just lucky to have other options on the wing.

Re: Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:21 pm  

Charlie Sheen wrote:

Handley can play anywhere in the back line, he even played full back in the U19s a few weeks back but wing is definitely his best position IMO, although he has A LOT of improving to do, particularly with his defence.

I thought he did alright against Wigan. It's a very difficult game for a young lad to come in for.

He got beaten on the outside once IIRC but that's just a difference between U19's and SL that he'll only learn by playing.

Re: Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:29 pm  

Him wrote:

I thought he did alright against Wigan. It's a very difficult game for a young lad to come in for.

He got beaten on the outside once IIRC but that's just a difference between U19's and SL that he'll only learn by playing.

I wasn't too fussed about him getting done on the outside, he's never played a game at that level in his life so fatigue was bound to set in. I'm more worried about his positioning for the Burgess try though, his general positioning in defence doesn't seem great, and it's something I noticed in the pre season games too, now maybe because he's been moved around a little bit in the back line over the last couple of years has meant it's been difficult for him to improve this area of his game but it is something he will need to improve or it'll certainly be a weakness to be exploited.

Re: Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:35 pm  

Yeah his defence will be a worry in the upcoming weeks (next week away to Cas he could be up against Justin Carney.....that's worrying). However hopefully by the end of this 3 month period we've noticed a improvement by the time Briscoe is back.

Also on the absence of Briscoe, it's disappointing IF the plan was to play him at centre when one of the starters was missing (with Handley on the wing). Not particularly fussed about Keinhorst and with us having a few options in the 2nd row (Ward, Delaney, Achurch, Walters, Minchella) then it might have to be that Ablett should once again fill in there at centre if needed.

Re: Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:41 pm  

He looks a good finisher and Watkins should give him plenty on chances to rack up points. But he's obviously not going to give us the tackle busts and quick ptb's that an on-form Briscoe can. A back three of Hardaker/Hall/Briscoe is a *massive* strength in dealing with the oppositions long kicking game and getting us on the front foot. I mean, where do you kick there? It's an easy decision now...

Still, he looks to have a bit about him - his defence should improve with experience and confidence and look forward to seeing how he goes - and it's not like we're in the situation where we have to play Joe Vickery at the hint of a backline injury, so that's good.

Re: Tom Briscoe out for 3 months : Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:29 pm  

Charlie Sheen wrote:

I wasn't too fussed about him getting done on the outside, he's never played a game at that level in his life so fatigue was bound to set in. I'm more worried about his positioning for the Burgess try though, his general positioning in defence doesn't seem great, and it's something I noticed in the pre season games too, now maybe because he's been moved around a little bit in the back line over the last couple of years has meant it's been difficult for him to improve this area of his game but it is something he will need to improve or it'll certainly be a weakness to be exploited.

I'm going to defend him on the Burgess try. The only way he doesn't get beaten there is if he anticipates the kick is coming on what I think was either the third or fourth tackle.

He had to come up and in, because that's what everyone on his inside had done. Otherwise there's a yawning gap for Williams to throw the pass and hit a runner.

Slightly more worrying was the Burgess break where he got beaten on the inside near the end of the game. He'd clocked off a bit mentally there, and that needs to improve.