That's exactly the point though, sport isn't comparable to normal business but you somehow wanted it to be.

Of course sport is business, there's an entire industry built around sport business. You can take a degree in it, there are recruitment companies that specialise in sport business placements.

It is as much a 'normal' business as any other section of the entertainment industry; film, theatre, music, etc. you pay your money and you expect to be entertained. In exactly the same way as if a band turned up on stage and had forgotten how to play their instruments or an opera singer who'd lost their voice, I'd want to know why I'd just shelled out my hard earned to be let down.

What I wouldn't want to hear is "Plácido wasn't as good as he'd hoped to be tonight, but if you come back next week, pay for another ticket, I'm sure he'll be fine".

To be constantly served the same extremely poor performances week in, week out and be told that everything is hunky dory and we shouldn't worry is simply unacceptable to those of us that have more than an ounce of common sense. To believe the BS that is being churned out of HQ right now makes you simply naïve.

I think The Printer is right in that you cannot compare a sport with normal business in that there can be no guarantees that a game will produce excitement, quality play, or favourable results. However unhappy customers can make the same choices as normal business and that is take their custom somewhere else.

Supporters are understandably looking for a silver bullet or magic fix and as usual call for the head of the coach. However if you stand back and look for what is different between last season and this there are some clues that do not need Sherlock Holmes to spot.

1. The coaching staff is the same as last season when we won the historic treble.

2. But playing squad has changed - we have lost 3 long term key players

3. The replacements for these three retiring players are not of the same quality and crucially we have lost out 2 key leaders on the field.

4. Although we had our share of injuries last season, this season is worse with regularly missing half of the squad including our new captain and on field organiser.

5. Unlike last season our preseason was affected (to what extent can be argued about) by floods destroying our training facilities. More than halfway through the season the replacement facility is still not ready.

6. Some senior players have mysteriously lost form (although there were some signs of this just after last years Cup final)

7. Our results and performances have been woeful and we have dropped form 1st place to last place in the table.


A. So the clues say that the previously very successful coaching set up has not changed and it is inconceivable that they are not doing the same things in training or are unaware of the teams faults and failing to try and correct them.

B. The clues also say we have not recruited well enough especially in the key on field leadership area where we have a serious problem

C. The clues say we have had two further outside factors (lack of adequate training facilities and a worse injury situation)

Now it could be that there is nothing more than the above set of circumstances exacerbated by the club failing to quickly sort out the training problem and they also failed to sign some loan/short term contract players as Cas and others have done.

Or it could be there is some missing factor that we don't know about, like for instance: players discontent with their pay. maybe faloon and co are on much better money! Maybe an un-kept promise or they have lost the faith because the club has been slow to sort out the training facilities. Or in the wake of the chase for Sam Burgess and the rumours of offering Watkins to Bath as part of the deal that the squad has become disenchanted.

There are many conspiracy theories but one that I do not believe is that performances are down because Mac has lost the dressing room. If this were so it would have to go back to our poor start on Boxing Day. So if this were the case why has GH and the directors allowed this to continue for more than half a season?

It would be interesting to hear all of the other conspiracy theories?

I didn't say it wasn't a business. I said it wasn't a normal business. If you order something online and it gets delivered broken that's a completely different thing to a sports team not playing well.

Well of course it's completely different, one's your mail order life size, deluxe, self inflating Vinyl Vera (with real hair) that deflates every 12 minutes and the other is a Championship, League and Cup winning professional sports team that can't do the basics that are mastered by your average U10's team.

But, the basic principals of customer service still apply.

It's simple business ethics 101 - pi[size=100ss[/size off your customers enough and sooner rather than later you wont need to.

TBH it doesn't matter what the cause is right now. The issue is what can/should be done about it.

Obviously if BM were a brand new coach he would have been fired by now. He isn't, and has a lot of credit in the bank. However, GH will be looking at the fact that from a competitive viewpoint the season is over, and the possibility of a relegation battle in the Middle 8s is more likely than scraping into the top 8.

If performances continue to be dire in the run-up to the Middle 8s I just can't see how GH could risk BM suddenly being able to turn things around when every game counts. If we start to improve and be competitive he'll be given to the end of the year, but even then the question needs to be asked as to whether BM ought to be given responsibility to rebuild further when the team has collapsed so spectacularly on his watch.

I think you are wrong here - Leeds is a business just like M&S its major objective is to generate enough cash flow to survive. Its customer profile and its higher level aims maybe be different but the basic objective is no different.

As I see it Leeds have three distinct customer groups:
1. Loyal supporters who will turn up and spend money regardless - on their own they don't generate sufficient cash flow to keep the club afloat.

2. Away supporters - not much GH can do about encouraging them other than provide them with comfortable facilities/attractive pricing to watch the game



3. Floating/corporate - this is the group that act like customers in normal businesses. This group makes the difference between surplus or deficit at the end of the year. These customers are looking for value for money, why spend >£25 on a game to watch what Leeds have been serving up this year or if you are a corporate several thousand pounds. No wonder GH looked concerned on Thursday. This group have choices where they spend their money - if they buy a bad product they think twice about returning. If you have a bad meal how often do you return to the restaurant?

Some thing are certain - Leeds will sell less season tickets next season, crowds overall will be down, corporate will be less lucrative. In all businesses standards have to be maintained, that doesn't mean Leeds have to win the treble every year but the quality of the offering should be comparable. It is no surprise Wigan focus on winning at home - it isn't just about the two points it is about so much more.

Paramount do acknowledge they get wrong - the star who is supposed to carry the film - isn't a star anymore and cannot command the fees he/she once could - pretty brutal. Michael Caine made the following comment "A good actor looks at a script to see they he can add the film, a star looks at the script to see what it can add to them".

sorry double post

The only thing the same is that M&S sell pants and Leeds Rhinos are pants!

Nonsense, history is littered with big name movie stars appearing in flop films and still being a big star regardless.

That's true, but that isn't the area I'm saying that sports club aren't like normal businesses.

Understand Burrow may be out. Thinking of a loan signing - is vinyl Vera a hooker?

in every area sport is like a normal business. Because they are businesses.

People for some reason pretend Sport is some whole new thing because they can't draw direct parallels between an RL club and a supermarket and that becomes a catch all excuse.

But its ridiculous, a sports club is no more different from a supermarket than film studio is. an RL club is no more different from an investment bank than a fishing vessel is and Leeds Rhinos are no less similar to a lumberyard as Google is. All are businesses, all operate under the same basic principles, and all are comparable to each other on a fundamental level even though superficially they are vastly vastly different.

It is like everything on here you can't tell him - he simply is so set in his mind that he is always right even when he is quite clearly wrong. Its hopeless he needs his own board when he can argue with himself.

If you can quote me where I said it wasn't a business then have a field day.

How am I wrong? Because you think so? Your opinion is no more right than mine on this subject.

Sport is like other businesses in attempting to make a profit. It is completely different from most 'normal' businesses in that very few professional sporting teams actually do make a profit. Pro RL would have ceased to exist decades ago if it was a 'normal' business.

I’ve had a record number of emails following last week’s game at Castleford and since they all follow a similar theme I’m writing to share my thoughts with all our fans rather than replying separately to each correspondence.

Our performance at Castleford was very poor from start to finish. Our opponents were just the opposite! They were exceptional on the night. The result was significant. Our heaviest defeat for over 20 years. This raises two questions. Firstly, how would we have fared if our team had included Rob Burrow, Keith Galloway, Mitch Garbutt, Jamie Jones Buchanan, Carl Ablett, Brett Ferres and Stevie Ward? And secondly was this one of those 'one off' results which occasionally occur in Super League? Last season for example Wigan conceded over 60 points at Wakefield Trinity, but recovered and went on to win the title!

These are the type of judgement calls that have to be made by senior management in all sports organisations all of the time and results like the one last week heighten the need to scrutinise. We found ourselves in this position last season and at the time, we were in no doubt our best policy was no change because we believed the team would show its true colours once the group of senior players returned from injury. We made a judgement call which I believe was the right one but we are not stubborn enough to believe no change is always the best option. But equally we don’t make knee jerk decisions and any actions have to be carefully thought out with the only consideration of “what’s in the best interests of the club now and in the future”.

With regard to our playing squad we are in a period of transition and the team that played at Castleford included 6 young players who have fairly recently graduated from our Academy and they are all learning and playing in a high-pressure environment.

This month is an important one with games against Catalans Dragons, Wakefield Trinity, Huddersfield Giants and Wigan Warriors and at its end we will be in a much better position to make an accurate judgement on the performance of all our players, coaching staff and senior management including myself.

In the meantime, let this be a time when we all continue to give as much vocal support as possible to the team who I know are desperately disappointed and determined to respond in the best possible way.

Very best wishes

Gary Hetherington
Chief Executive

So 4 more weeks for mc dermott to turn it around. Personally like the majority it's a mistake to wait that long.

You could have sent it to our personal emails Gary. Internet forum? Thanks for the personal touch!

He did.

Ten games was always the judgement then. Needed to win 40% to stay in a job, as per his new contract. Four wins from 10. So he has to beat Catalans and Wakefield to acheive that IMO, as he will be losing a few after that. Hetherington is not doing what is best for the club and the future, he is in cloud cukoo land if he thinks that. You don't persist with a clear problem.

In 10 games it will be season over for us.

Maybe, maybe not.

If we do lose a few and GH makes changes it could also be the start of 2018's pre-season and a new era for the club.