It's a fool's errand trying to understand what Smith is doing.

It certainly did not look as though we were a stone heavier per man , so you probably have a good point

Get what you’re saying - Sangare would be in the 17. I don’t think we were completely dominated down the middle; various players made errors throughout the game which lost us possession and position, that was a far bigger problem.

Wire gang tackled very well and that is a technique issue.

When we did get into good ball we either fluffed a set move or ended the set really weakly. Warrington forced 4-5 drop outs by comparison. Again you could argue the coaching and intent is lacking there.

I agree regarding the turnovers and poor completion rate but not withstanding that Wire dominated. Their starting pack made 559m in the game compared to 298m from ours. I know we lost Holroyd early but if you add in the subs the picture doesnt change as Bullock and Wrench collectively made more metres than Lisone Goudemand and O conner. Only Oledski over 100m for Leeds and 33 tackles.Our 2nd rows played the whole game pretty much and Martin 5 carries for 45m and Mcdonnell 4 for 23m.
Fitzgibbon Crowther Bullock and Harrison all over 100m. Williams was over 100m which show how much time he was given. We made more tackles and thats part of the issue as players are worn out defending and then dont contribute offensively.

We actively do not use the forwards to drive the ball in. This is why they have only a few runs and hardly any metres. The backs do the ball work under Smith, and then they are also expected to score the points on miracle plays, whilst the forwards are passive in defence inviting the opposition to make metres at will. Our forwards are simply not performing and the game plan is nonsense.

I wonder if the forwards are performing, just how Smith wants. One of his big brain ideas does seem to be "energy conservation". Last year it was taking the first 20 minutes off, this year its the passive defence. As a coach smith has always shied away from the arm wrestle side of the game . It wouldn't surprise me if the forwards are instructed to just go through the motions in attack to preserve energy for defence or the last 20 minutes, or some reason only known to Rohan, as the forwards we have are better than they are showing.

We were poor , Mik ran hard but didn’t break the line ,Lisone ok but in very short doses, the hardest running forward who pushed the line was OConner !
The backs should have been good , Miller is a bit headless but is 100%.
Frawley has shown very little all season.
Croft has gone backwards, Newman doesn’t get the ball and is predictable, Momorovski so far has been very disappointing.
But what really es me off is , why pick a centre on the bench and when an injury occurs you don’t use him ?

Great post. Tells us all we need to know.

Quote ="batleyrhino"We actively do not use the forwards to drive the ball in. This is why they have only a few runs and hardly any metres. The backs do the ball work under Smith, and then they are also expected to score the points on miracle plays, whilst the forwards are passive in defence inviting the opposition to make metres at will. Our forwards are simply not performing and the game plan is nonsense.'" Blake Austin's Instagram essentially confirming what you say about backs being treated like forwards when it comes to work. Smith's tactics are complete emperor's new clothes nonsense. You've got to be really smart and have a big brain to buy into it, just remember to completely ignore the results, performances and the fact that teams who actually compete in the Super League play nothing like this. https://content-eu.invisioncic.com/x324 ... 2af6fd.jpg

Quote ="batleyrhino"We actively do not use the forwards to drive the ball in. This is why they have only a few runs and hardly any metres. The backs do the ball work under Smith, and then they are also expected to score the points on miracle plays, whilst the forwards are passive in defence inviting the opposition to make metres at will. Our forwards are simply not performing and the game plan is nonsense.'" Blake Austin's Instagram essentially confirming what you say about backs being treated like forwards when it comes to work. Smith's tactics are complete emperor's new clothes nonsense. You've got to be really smart and have a big brain to buy into it, just remember to completely ignore the results, performances and the fact that teams who actually compete in the Super League play nothing like this. https://content-eu.invisioncic.com/x324 ... 2af6fd.jpg

Surely Smith has to question or at least modify his philosophy at some point, its like he defies convention for the sake of it. He's not going to reinvent the game and he needs to acknowledge that and quickly as we're fast turning into a failed experiment and we've already had enough years in the wilderness.

If Gawy reads that he will be offering you the job I would good form sir

Oh no, I was jumped on the other week for calling crossfield kicks and 20 meter passes in our own 20 'trick plays, short cuts or gimmicks', I'm sorry but that's exactly what they are when you cant get the basics right. Rohan your system is a load of bollox.

We weren’t great against Saints in the cup, but this is the first time we were really disappointing over the whole game this season.

I want to see us come out against Huddersfield looking hurt and determined. I still think we are top six but we are in a pivot point.

Compare what we served up compared to what Catalans have just done against saints, with players missing and 2 on the bench for a big spell.

Yep, said same watching the game. Catalan Saints Wigan Warrington look well ahead of Leeds. And possibly KR do too.not a massive amount in it squad wise but look much better coached.

Given what Huddersfield have just done to Hull I would expect them to wipe the floor with Leeds if R Smith continues with his Willy Wonka tactics and regarding C Smith I can only assume his missus knocks him about as he plays like a frightened wabbit!

Listening to the sky commentaries when jenna brookes does her bit just after half time it always seems to be something along the lines of 'rohan smith has asked his team to respect possession' there seems to be a real contradiction sending out the team to play high risk then telling then to reign it in when it's not working.

because its never him. sky have a blind spot with him and he gets away with his blundering approach

I think we need to keep things in perspective. We haven’t had an awful start to the year overall, and shown good quality in patches. That’s something.

I don’t think any of us loved getting spanked by Wire at home. No excuses, we got what we deserved. I think the main reason we lost is just errors, again. You can argue this is RSs responsibility after this long in charge.

I would say we were right in the game until the 40 min mark. There were some 50:50 callls go against too - Martin ball strip was marginal, Mom double movement was marginal, couple of knock-ons were stripped IMO but they always get given. Newman being penalised for a head high tackle when the player was falling into him was annoying; wire did way worse and no penalties. The ref yesterday at the reserves game allowed Wire to slow the ruck right down too. They need to improve it’s frustrating.

All the above is up for debate but looking at facts

R Smith and Gawwy claim they now have great signings and clarity of a way forward
R Smith has had over 2 Years to make his mark and design the play.

Sam Burgess has inherited a Daryl Powell Keystone cops outfit (What Powell does best is ruin teams) SB has added a few good players and in 3 months has pulled Wire together

RESULT Total humiliation of Leeds team that looked like a bunch of 18 guys who just met that day for a local pub team runaround

TELL ME What has Rohan Smith achieved other than modelling most of the OXEN merchandise on Sky tv claiming “We played well but got totally blown off the park?”

we are no further forward in terms of an identity or playing style than when smith came.
you can blame refs, 50/50 calls whatever, but the fact is we have played on the back foot since he came.
it occasionally works but long term it certainly work and smiths blinkered approach and refusal to change means its another doomed season

Inherited a key stone cops outfit? He Inherited one of the best squads in the league

They all have better squads than us and even if some of the coaches are not great they are still better than ours

OKAY:

1) cleared out a load of dead wood, sometimes quite brutally
2) brought the whole club together more from all the different sides
3) brought in some good quality players (not enough)
4) dealt with a lot of bad luck and adversity (injuries and unrest) mostly out of his control

SB has done a good job with Wire for sure so far. I’d like a Leeds side that plays that way because he loves his defence.

The injury to Handley was always coming under Rohan Smith. His workload carrying the ball out of defence has been ridiculous, he’s been making carries the forwards should have been doing for far too long. The props seem to be able to hide for long periods under Rohan Smith and will continue to do so.