Leeds Invest in Youth
Leeds have surprised everyone with one of their first major pieces of news this summer being the signing of Christian Lewis-Pratt from Northampton.
Many Leeds fans would have been expecting more high profile and high calibre signings due to the fact they performed somewhat below expectations last season. However, Leeds insist that this is a player who will prosper next year and can develop his game well during his time at the club.
The fly half is a very raw prospect and he will have a lot of work to do at Leeds if he wants to get thrown in at the deep end during games and keep a regular first team place. This raw youth can sometimes work at a club but there are also a few dangers associated with it.
However, Leeds would not have signed Lewis-Pratt if they did not think that he was a player worth taking a chance on. He has a number of attributes, which will make him a key player at the club and it’s important that Leeds fans focus on these as opposed to the nature of the signing.
Player Attributes
The fly half is very quick. This makes him ideal to use in many areas of the field because his pace can help him to exploit gaps and evade tackles. However, at the moment this can be misguided and needs to be utilised into something that Leeds can use to their advantage.
There seems to be a genuine work ethic and desire to succeed with this player. Many youths may have been quite content to stay at a competitive club like Northampton and wait a few years before they got an extended run in the team. Therefore, Leeds have signed someone with a great deal of ambition and this is being displayed in abundance.
There is no ego with this player. Quite often you see young players coming out in the media and making all sorts of comments about the standard they expect from themselves at such an early age. There is none of that with this player and all he seems to want to do is play rugby.
Target
Lewis-Pratt will be a target because of his age and his appearance as a rugby player. Leeds will have to spend a great deal of time with him in training to make sure he gets a little more bulked up. This will mean he can become a little bit stronger, which will work to his advantage.
At the moment he is a very youthful and raw player who will be bullied around the pitch by a lot of times. This can have a big impact on the morale of a player Lewis-Pratt’s age and this is something that Leeds must keep an eye on.
There will also be sides that use gamesmanship as a main part of their manual. They will fly in with tackles on the youth and they will not care if he gets hurt in the process. His pace is frightening and teams will do whatever it takes to stop this.
Advice
See if you can get a special bet set-up by taking your odds to a bookmaker and arguing your case. There is a very slim chance that Lewis-Pratt will take to the field for Leeds’ first game of the new season but don’t be surprised if he does.
Also take a look at the odds for him being highest points scorer at Leeds next year. These may well be huge but you never know and it could be worth a punt, which will leave you laughing if it comes off.
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