Fully agree that its often another coach that picks up the benefits of the work when such restructuring is required. My only point is that we shouldn't wait too long to make that call if it needs making. Perhaps it doesn't time will tell. That time in my book is after 12 rounds of the season.

Oh,, When did he tell you ?

Oh,, When did he tell you ?

He ‘clearly’ didn’t say that at all.

You do realise Lisone was actually training in Pre Season? And it was clearly a pithy remark to Jenna Brookes question.

But you carry on making up scenarios if you want.

He’s probably used his ears and eyes and looked at tje context of Rohan’s answer.

He clearly did say it. Or was he superimposed onto a screen with someone else’s voice dubbed over him ?

Stop making assumptions Christopher.

Personally i don’t think mid season sackings are great, unless we are in a world of pain.

If the club doesn’t think Rohan is the man long term I would manage the situation and get another coach in for start of pre season next year.

Sacking coaches puts you in the position of trying to find the right guy in a rush or just limping on with an assistant coach for half a year.

Mind you that would rely on Rohan accepting stepping down at the end of the year.

Anyway I think its daft to even be discussing it after a close loss away to Hull KR played on a cow patch. But I get the feeling it will be like this after every game, win or lose because some just want him out, just like Agar, just like Furner, Just like Mcdermott etc etc. it happens every year.

I said probably. Im sure he can answer himself anyway.

Got any other made up scenarios?

Going to our last grand final and putting in a decent performance raised hopes for the club. Sadly we haven’t kicked on from that , so understandably it’s a frustrating time for fans. We have no god given right to be in the top four every season ,but along with saints and Wigan we are one of the biggest clubs in super league . Look at the attendance for the Salford game, not many clubs could produce that at the tail end of winter .

I dont understand how you could watch the interview and not see this

I get the frustration but honestly, two games into the season with half a new team? In crap conditions. And we've won one of the games.

Fair comment.

I dont think its the loss as much as seeing the same / similar issues as last year.
It feels familiar and that's frustrating.

In the big picture that game might not mean nothing, it will take time for the team to gel and we are super light ( not helped with poor balance in the pack), bad pitch etc.

Still, I'd have liked to see more structure,better kicking and to look like a team with a plan or one that can adjust to the conditions/ challenge of the game at the time.

Early days yet.

Exactly, it is early days in this season.
And the 2 results we've had are irrelevant tbh.

But it's the performances that are still disappointing.
I don't see a plan, a structure, any cohesion or any identity.
Other teams just look better coached and organised than us.
RS has a lot of work to do on the coaching front.

If we finish outside the top 6, the excuse of "well, he's had to do a lot of rebuilding in the background" is just not acceptable.
Nonsense.
He's been backed and been allowed to bring in the players he wanted.
Time to deliver results now.

I don’t think you understand what the word facetious means. Watch the interview again, see what he says, listen to how he says it, and you will see he’s not being facetious. Obviously Christopher has superpowers that can see directly into people’s minds but even he’s malfunctioned on this one.
Come back to me when you’ve watched the full interview again, you will see the context in which it is said , and you will see it’s the same body language, facial expressions and intonation throughout the interview. At no point in the whole interview is he being facetious.

If we finish outside the top six I think he should go aswell, and I say that as a fan of his.

I still think the ‘no structure’ thing is being overplayed a bit, it’s this years ‘passive defence’ from the fans

You are slso ‘mind reading’ with your interpretation.

The context of thr conversation was Jenna Brookes asking RS how Lisone played so well when only been cleared the Monday before, it wasn’t RS saying he doesn’t think players don’t need to train as you are trying yo make out.

Just face it Christopher, Leeds Owl knows exactly the context it was said in and no one else possibly can.Maybe? he has exceptional insight into Rohans thought process.

Where did I say that ? I was referring to the phrase over rated, I never intimated Rohan Smith thinks players shouldn’t train at all. There’s a difference.

If Jenna Brookes had said to Rohan Smith last night, “That was a tough night for the young lad Edghill going in at short notice” and R.S replied “we gave him 30 minutes notice at least”, that is facetious. If he replied “he’s been with us since he was 10 years old, around the first team for a couple of years, he didn’t take much prepping”, that is not facetious.
Facetious definition; treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour.
Tell me what part of his post match Salford interview was facetious.

I'm not sure how to read last night.

The situation at half-time was good, Donaldson's card aside. Leeds looked the better team for most of the first half despite the scoreline and I was confident we would come good.

In the second half, HKR came out strong and Leeds couldn't match it because we were a man down. When Donaldson came back we seemed to be edging ourselves back into the game, and the Handley try seemed to restore a sense we could win. Tails were up for a few minutes after that, but then the poor discipline kicked in and we became our own worst enemies.

I'm generally keen on Smith but have the following concerns:

1 - Did we learn anything from the equivalent fixture away at HKR last year when Olpherts and Hooley had a mare in the conditions and HKR ground out a win? More generally, does RS have the blueprint to win consistently in early season games when the weather is a huge leveller and we can't rely on skillful execution?

2 - Smith's reaction to the yellow cards was disappointing, in the sense of not taking responsibility. He has to accept that is the way the game is being officiated and it's his responsibility to drum this into the minds of the players. (Admittedly I didn't think the camera showed Lisone actually connecting with the head of Minchella but everyone else on Sky seemed certain of it so maybe it was just me).

3. I'm not sure the capitulation last night had so much to do with cohesion between the spine (we looked a bit more connected than against Salford), and the missing players. Individual and collective decision making, maybe played a role.

I had the sense against Salford that Leeds knew they would come out on top in the end, but the indiscipline and the conditions got the better of them against HKR.

Honestly if we’re going to get swathes of “for the liv of God” messages every time we lose, this is going to be a long old season.

RS will not be losing his job any time soon. Calm down and watch the games.

We’ve been patchy but okay first two games it’s not a catastrophe.

I get the strong impression that the ancestors of a number of our posters used to gather at the gallows with a bowl of pigs ears for snacks.

I do have some legitimate criticisms of the HKR game: RS obviously picked too small a side with Donno, Bentley and Goudemand and O’Connor all in the pack together. I said this before the game too but his selection didn’t surprise me.

Ruan played way too few minutes.

I thought Frawley’s kicking game was consistently too short and we failed to trouble their FB all match really.

I didn’t think Mom looked interested on a cold English February night in Hull on a terrible pitch. He needs to get himself more involved.

Lisone had a bad few minutes for sure.

Various other players including Bentley were giving away costly penalties and errors as usual - although as a Bentley critic I have to say he played better overall than I’ve seen for a long time.