With that pack you'd want a stellar spine to be right up there. As it is we look to have average forwards, an untried/high risk spine and very good threequarters. Its hard to see anything other than a rocks or diamonds season. Personally I think unless we get some kind of alternative hooker we're in for an almighty slog just to make the top 8, never mind top 4. I would love to be wrong.

Exactly how i feel. Saving grace is that SL at the top end is not as strong as it was..can you imagine our squad now up against the Wigan, Saints and Bulls squads of early to mid 2000s!? On the flip side the mid to lower teams have got stronger so to make the 8, like you say, won't be cut and dry.

This current Leeds squad with those pack options and that spine should to be nowhere near the Top 8. Fortunately for them, the rest of the SL competition ain't up to much.

The days of GH announcing [i'Leeds best ever squad assembled'[/i are over, surely?

Amazingly there are still posters on here who think this squad is a match for any team in SL - bizarre

Only because the other sides are poor as well.
WE, so you expect GH to admit we've got a poor or at best average squad?
I'm sure you don't & fully expect lots of inflated puffery in the new year.

GH will come out with we have completed our recruitment - we believe this squad is competitive with lots of exciting youngsters on the threshold of greatness.

A repeat of what he said last year - another year like this year will test the commercial team!!

Mc.D already confirmed the 2 "Project signings" will start at Fev & interestingly says "Everyone will be ready but maybe not fully fit" to face ST's in Feb.

Over the last few years I've felt that McDermott got a lot of unfair stick from some of our fans. His use of substitutes is baffling and we always lost out on a few easy 2 pointers by underestimating teams in the lower half of the league but the amount of trophy wins speak for themselves.

However a statement like that clearly proves that his time as the Leeds head coach is up. A month ago he was claiming he learnt his lesson on playing unfit and injured players and more time should have been spent getting those players up to speed and now he is stating that injured players will be played on the opening week! I admit he has been dealt a rough hand as Sinfield and Peacock are irreplaceable and thanks to the RFL Super League is too weak to attract any genuine stars from abroad but he seems to be refusing to acknowledge the mistakes that were made last season and we seem to be heading down the same path that landed us in the middle 8s.

That does seem to be a bizarre statement to make.
Clearly, Galloway will not be fit, are there any other players who went under the knife in the off season or who were injured at the end of last season & who are still in recovery?

Amazingly they were posters on here before the 2015 season saying we had no chance of being top 4 as we wouldn't beat the top teams in the league.

Has he actually said injured players will play that game? I doubt he's already decided his 17 for the game. More a case he means some players may not have got as much pre-season fitness/games under their belts, happens every year that you usually get a couple who don't feature much if at all in pre-season because they've had operations. Sutcliffe an example last year. Every team will have a player or two in their opening day 17 who won't have got any preseason games under their belts.

Suttcliffe who he nearly ruined?
Re-hab during the week jabbed up then rolled out on match day up until May & was slated by many?
His man management is sh#* proved time & time again.

You still had Sinfield and Peacock and McGuire, Burrow, JJB, Ablett were two years younger so there was always a chance they could so something.

That looks a pretty weak pack unless something has changed over the winter - Ferres hardly pulled up any trees last year either with him Ablett/JJB/Delaney as the main stay of the back row doesn't look great?

Add to that no hooker, no half backs and rookie full back - season looks full of promise

Yet even armed with that information with regards to squad lineup/age some people still said they had NO chance of doing anything. It's only now retrospectively that those people are saying we always had a chance with Sinfield & Peacock still here......those two were being written off just as much as any others by some on here that only saw a bleak 2015 in store.

Most folks view on 2015 was coloured by the meek exit from the playoffs after an admittedly emotionally draining CC assault.

Nearly ruined? Nice exaggeration. I forgot that every other coach only ever sends out 17 players who are fully fit and fresh as daisies every week.

Man management so sh#*e that he's managed to get the team off the floor three times at various stages of the 2011/2012/2015 seasons to win a GF. Let me guess it was all Sinfield that.

Nearly ruined is a bit OTT.
I reckon JP must have been ruined by about 2010 if so. Mind you, he'd probably agree

He said that some blokes will not be fully fit but will be ready to play. That is a bit of a vague statement and could mean that some players wont have done much during preseason or it could mean some will be carrying minor injuries that could be played through. The problem I have with his statement is that in the YEP in October McDermott identified one of our biggest problems this year was bringing players back before they were ready. Now they may not be 100% conflicting statements his previous record in regards to flogging players does make me worry that a one legged Delaney will be hopping out on to the Totally Wicked pitch on the 9th February.

If any of our players are hopping out onto the pitch on one leg for the first game then our conditioning team need sacking.

Quite honestly if they can get one of Delaney's legs working for February they deserve knighting!

It will be the former. It's not like the game is a week or two away. I doubt that with over 8 weeks to go until that first game he can be certain that someone will still have a minor injury and will be playing that game.

Basically what he should've said is that everyone looks like they'll be fine for the start of the season* but some won't have had as much preseason as others as they've been recovering from injuries during the offseason.

*I'd guess he forgot about Galloway who it was already well known wouldn't be ready for the start of the season.

A clear-cut contender for the earliest excuse of the year award. In this regard at least we are one step ahead of the opposition

Yes nearly ruined by playing him on 1 decent leg in a struggling team & dont give it was a worthwhile gamble the kid was getting slated on here & at games.
His man management is that great he repeatedly picks players injured & not replaces them during games asap ,only using 16 players in games & ignoring others who are fit and playing well on dual reg.
In terms of having 17 fully fit players he had plenty of chances to rest injured players & ignored it.
As for our success is it purely down to him or as by his own admittence on numerous occassions just as much the influence JP & Sinfied had in that team lets be straight he (Mc.D) has hardly inspired since their departure.
But then again kiwi game floods injuries etc etc although we did improve beating a Wigan team missing 9/10 players Hull FC who btw weren't all that when we played em then we have the middle 8's against 3 poor SL teams 1 of which beat us & 4 Championship clubs hardly inspires going forward.
The only bright spots were Segeyaro( now gone) & Youngsters getting enforced gametime but personally i dont trust him to develop them.
Hopefully we win summat & have a great season either way i hope he's gone at the end of the year.

You can hardly compare anyone with a player who lets be honest is a 1 of a kind in that regard.

Fair point though Sutty isn't the first to have played injured and jabbed. As a player he strikes me as being extremely tough mentally, not the kind to wilt because the fans get on his back. Under the circs, I'd probably agree that playing him wasn't the wisest; then again, if we'd won another treble I wouldn't have given it a thought. Just glad I don't have to make that call tbh.