That performance was exactly why I don't actually think the new coach has to change that much. Just attack and defend with more intensity and it solves a lot of our issues

We all don’t have to agree on everything, do we?

I didn’t see him at academy level, so wasn’t one of the ones bigging him up. I just like what I see. He’s got talent. A proper 9, but as you rightly question, not sure about attitude, state of mind, personal circumstances etc.

PS it was great to see loads of former players sat together at the back of the Carnegie. Sutty, Singo, Jimmy Kheinhorst etc

Stats tell a story to a point. Mik was visibly frustrated against Hull, hence the errors. Massively less so last night, hence the performance. Superb performance against a Leigh side massively better than Hull. I see what's in front of me.

Everything else aside that was a big 2 points, especially with Holroyd, Bentley, Ackers, Lisone, Newman, Handley all unavailable.

McCormack showed up great and with Simpson and Smith waiting for a chance too. Simpson can’t be too far off now.

So do if he shows the same in the next few games then i hope we try to sign him permanently.Wigan may play ball considering they have plenty of props.

I still think its is was more to do with the occasion. No Walker isn't going to throw Smith under the bus but also if he says he changed nothing then who are we to to say he hasnt.Lets see if they respond the same If Walker is in charge of the next game.

Watched it all last night, fantastic tribute , well done to all involved.

My son sent me a text at HT to say Croft was playing like a man possessed, fantastic to channel the emotion into that display.

Leigh will be a real handful for the rest of the year, with Amone , Edwin and the new guy Pene they have real forward running power and as a team moved the ball well.

Croft’s cover defence and our scrambling just kept them out a few times.

We have found a leader , Croft put his hand up and in some style.

A couple of those Leigh forwards are exactly what we could do with. Big powerful and hard working

Credit to Leeds and Sky Sports for putting on a great tribute to Rob.

Croft was unplayable at times, leading by example and certainly should be considered for captain.

Really impressed with McCormack, should be putting pressure on the other centres going forward.

McCormack looked decent against Warrington as well, I don't quite understand why it took so long to bring him in again given the injury situation.

I'd have McCormack as 3rd choice centre or winger, albeit Max Simpson, Jack Smith and Riley Lumb are also competing for these positions.

I'm a supporter of Newman but McCormack particularly in defence had a very strong game.

We look to have a couple of very talented backs in Lumb and McCormack in particular

Littlewood looks a big lad. I hope he gets a chance against London.

I've given up predicting too much around academy lads but with McCormack, Lumb, Edgell, Smith, Simpson coming through in the backs, and Littlewood, TNW, Oladipupo, Cassell, Lloyd and some others in the pack, we really do have some good prospects.

You watch Leeds in this game and my overriding feeling was that we look like a side which needs evolution rather than revolution again... but let's be honest, Leigh did roll us through a fair bit of the game, and we only won through some superhuman goal line D and individual brilliance from Croft. I reckon we lose that game in a normal league fixture, and that's just where our squad is currently.

I agree. but it was the manner they played. no passive stuff, no miracle plays.
they gave it to the leigh forwards, albeit they ran out of steam, understandably.

They did revert to type at points during that game by letting Leigh run riot and backing off / being too passive but I would hope that was due to fatigue rather than tactics.

Im looking forward to whoever comes in to consign that tactic to the bin first up.

RS was only out the door 48 hours before this performance, and Chev said in the presser they didn't have chance to change much.

They cut out most of the errors which really helped, and they were more direct - one thing I did notice was using the bigger men out of yardage, which has been annoying me for months. Having said that, look at the carries Edgell made.

Our line speed got poor in the second half again I thought and Leigh were rolling us.

I don't think we can use the Leigh game as much evidence of transformation without RS, although I get the agenda on here. We won the game well but we were still far from perfect. I thought the selection was really brave putting McCormack and Edgell together outside Frawley, that could have gone either way but credit to Chev.

I think where I'm at is that Leeds should be a top-6 side this season with the team we have, but we have been misfiring. Changing the coach, if we bring the right one in, could improve our performances but we'll need better luck with injuries too. I don't think this squad is good enough to take the title no matter who coaches us.

We need both a better coach AND a few top quality new signings to bridge that gap between us and the top of the table. Hopefully we will do both.

A fair summing up there.

A game to truly build upon.

Where I'm also at is that although I am Mr Ultimate Patience, I'm running out of it with Leeds' decisions which have been so hit and miss for nearly a decade now. We won the 2017 title in a miracle year really as so many Goldens signed off, and we rode our luck with Hardaker screwing up at Cas too. We were bad in 2016 though. We jagged a CC win against.. Salford in a weird year.

Other than that it has been a very long time between drinks, some daft decisions on coaches and even dafter decisions on some players. We've either signed crap project players who just haven't worked out, or we've spaffed it on big name players bang out of form and not the right fit for what we needed in the team. For ten years nearly. Meanwhile we've failed to develop enough good young players.

I don't want to be Captain Hindsight but to me the appointment of a Blease is well overdue at Leeds.

As like the project signings and coaching staff, only time will tell really whether his appointment was a good one or not.

I do love GH for all he's done at Leeds, and nights like the Rob Burrow tribute remind us all what a wonderful club he has had a huge part in building.

We used to sign players like Senior, Ellis, Peacock, Harris, Briscoe, McDermott etc. and every one of them you knew was a real player. Somewhere along the line we've lost the judgement and/or the ambition, and I just think it was high time for someone else to take over the direction of the rugby side.

Agree with all that, unfortunately several clubs will be also embarking on a major recruitment campaign. So finding decent players will be difficult. Unfortunately our recruitment needs to be on a major scale. As I have stated many times Smiths recruitment and management has set us back months.

Who would you replace / which positions?

As you say Jim, it can be a guessing game with whether young players come through and if they do , are they average or better.

I agree with your list of the three quarters and I think both Lumb and Ned Mc will make it. Simpson has a lot of potential, can he come back from the injury, who knows. I also think Jack Smith has a chance.

I think Littlewood looks like a proper RL player and I’ll stick my neck out and say he will also make it. I like TNW but think he I simply too small for prop in the modern game. The other 3 you mention are very young and have a way to go before can play SL

In terms of the pack, I think the 3 key ones in the next year or so are Ruan, Hudson and Warren. Ruan is a big, strong unit but I’ve not seen much to suggest he is a natural player, hope I am wrong.

I have no clue about Hudson and Warren, I’ve not seen them live.

We’ve invested a bit in recent years in these 3 plus of course Walters , if none of them come through it will be quite a let down in our recruitment.
Eseh looks much further down the track as Wigan’s 9/10th choice.

I’m sure Blease gets all this as he mentioned the Graham Murray pack in the first press conference. I think he knew where we need to go from the outside.

The other 2 are
Of course Fergus Mc and Sinfield, I can see Sinfield being a Harry Smith type. Fergus has a bit going on and a real chance as well.

It would be great for a bucket load of them to all make it.

Agree. I really want TNW to make it because he's a cracking lad and captain material IMO, but he reminds me of Louie McConnell (I think he now plays for Doncaster). He might make a better 13 but there is more competition there than prop.

Sinfield would be in first grade already I reckon except for his D. If he can nail that, he is definitely a chance.

Said it before but I actually think there's a player in Hudson. It's a shame he came to the game so late; it doesn't look like his body can take it. Hopefully he can get and stay fit and we can have a proper look at him.

Want us to sign Eseh; I did before he went to Wigan and I do even more now I've seen him on the field together with Mik. We look very mobile up front with those two on, they complement each other really well.

We'll see if a new coach can drag this squad into better performances this year: but IF we can get the next 2-3 first grade signings right, and our young lads develop, I could see us being up there next year.