Are you sure it was John Kear. Looked like Daryl Powell to me

https://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1123750114?-60018:2393 Underwhelming addition to the coaching staff. So not much news on a new Head coach but we have a coaching team of JJB, Sean Long, Chev Walker & Scott Grix. We might as well go one better and just get them on player coach contract.

https://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1123750114?-60018:2393 Underwhelming addition to the coaching staff. So not much news on a new Head coach but we have a coaching team of JJB, Sean Long, Chev Walker & Scott Grix. We might as well go one better and just get them on player coach contract.

Is he teaching the backs how to let kicks bounce into the hands of onrushing wingers for hubcap winning tries?

The mere fact Leeds are getting some specialists in suggests some focus has come back to the club. He may not have a great track record (he's only just finished playing), but at least he's not another former player. Hopefully he won't have to make a Dean Bell style comeback at some point.....

Surely adding any new staff to the coaching team would be at the request of a new head coach?

Paul Anderson incoming

If he comes back empty-handed, just get Tony Smith in. He’s a fresh pair of eyes (been gone 15 years) but still knows the context of the club.

Just get him in and give him carte-blanche to get us back. He’s past his peak but we know he’s good for it, he can improve players, especially the young players, and make the team greater than it’s sum.

Be a contract for a month or two, I'd have thought

Completely agree. He gets players consistently playing to their potential. Something Agar couldn't do. He can improve players. We may not win a GF under Tony Smith but neither would we flirt with relegation. Where we are now as a club that works for me. Bringing in someone from the NRL may be a better solution but is far riskier. He is a safe pair of hands.
If he brings Danny Mags with him as a form of succession planning then so much the better.

Is there any indication Tony Smith wants the job and would be willing to walk out of his KR contract for it?

I don't think he'd ever walk out on his contract at Hull KR so it would have to be an end of season appointment rather than arriving any time soon.

Why would he vacate a winning positive environment to take on the negative environment at Leeds and be hamstrung by Hetherington wanting bargain basement players who are well past their best.. perhaps Hetherington really wants to play Bradford and he sees dropping to their level as the best route to achieve that

I think Gary has a lot to answer for and i mean a lot but we dont shop in the bargain bin compared to most other clubs really. The 4 signings we made this year certainly wasnt seen that way. We spend close to the cap limit and weve brought in marquee earning players in the past.

Yes theres been cheap squad fillers, you have to have them in a salary cap sport. Lets not pretend we didnt have them in our successful squads in the past.

Attitude, pride, hunger, character and determination have been sadly lacking since week 1.

Years ago if a player or coach left GH would have a better replacement lined up but those days now are over. His eye for players and coaches, his contacts, his knowledge and his hunger have gone i think. Lets be honest the Agar situation was obvious 2 or 3 weeks before it happened in truth. Did the club do anything to line up replacements? Clearly not cos 3 week after were no nearer by the looks and that has to be GH's fault. Were left with JJB running the team over Easter, good golly. What a mess.

Gary has been truly amazing for Leeds but hes getting old now. His best days are long gone. He was so on the ball before.

It's really very difficult to re-establish momentum with a) salary cap and b) disparity between Super League and RU/NRL. Other clubs being willing to spend money to attract young talent when we're not is also an issue, I'd like to think we could at least be more competitive there.

My beef is in the signings over a long period of time. I myself thought Sezer was a good signing and will hold my hand up there, but many of the others we sign on name or reputation rather than form, and it's bitten us time and time again. We got lucky for 1 season with Gale but... for what the club has spent on Merrin, Lolohea, Hurrell, Tetevano, maybe now Fusitu'a... far far too many big name players sink without a trace at Leeds and have been for years.

I believe the club still has an arrogance about how good an environment it is, how good the facilities are, and that we can take players from any other club and make them thrive... OK well where is the evidence? If anything it's been the opposite where players leaving us play better at another club!

Our key issue is that the players we have are simply not good enough and/or are not in form. Unfortunately we probably have 4-5 players who shouldn't be in the first grade squad still - maybe we'll sort this out at the end of the season.

We have been in desperate need of a quality big prop for years now, failed to address it and now Holroyd is injured and Tetevano banned yet again, surprise surprise we're getting mullered down the middle. Mik has been asked to do far too much work for far too long.

We have been consistently out-recruited by Cats, Saints and Wigan for years and this is where we are. We do have some excellent youth but it's dribs and drabs playing in sides which are getting physically beaten most weeks.

It's not all doom and gloom, I really think we have the nucleus of a strong side still emerging. This year is very difficult to swallow because we've all been through such a long time in the doldrums, and we thought we were past relegation battles by now. I'm super-patient but even I'm pretty exasperated with it by now.

Agreed. Good to see you post again.

Well said Jimbo. Welcome back.

The squad balance isnt right is it? We all knew we are a prop, at least 1 prop, light and weve no depth in the halves. Those are 2 big issues. You can go a winger light but not 2 majorly important positions.

Weve a really good batch of 17/18 year olds but below that very little and above that nothing cos we decided to cut the older ones for financial reasons.

I was told yesterday that going forward the amateur deals will be scrapped to allow us to compete for junior talent but not just yet. Well that has to change immediately in my opinion.

We will come thru this im sure but its certainly worrying and hard to take right now because we all know this squad is better than this.

What sort of age group we talking when you say compete for junior talent Marty? Our 16's were a good group when we recruited them, we missed a few, but it was still a solid group, the issue with them, for me, is they havnt developed at the rate players at other clubs have, especially physically. I mentioned a few week ago about this groups development being of concern, 5 from Guisley Rangers who never play a game, when they do, they're terribly coached, Mark Nelson and Sonny Pattinson dont look any bigger now than they did 12 month ago.

The 15's, i honestly dont think the club could of recruited the area any better, we'v got all the best players in the Yorkshire league, probably Noah Broadbents the only one i would add, he chose Warrington. The key now for this group is development imo. We need to make sure, as best we can, that these lads are still the best players in Yorkshire in 2 year when Academy contracts are given out. Then they go again

What i would say, we dont tend to recruit outside of the Yorkshire youth league anymore, we dont get any from hull, Cumbria or Lancashire anymore, the Sinfield/Saddleworth connection excluded. Not sure if thats because we dont try anymore or because we dont offer the same appeal as we used to.

Harking back to some older posts, but Buzz Rothfield (an ancient but reasonably well-connected NRL journalist) said he'd spoken to Shane Flanagan who said there was zero chance of Kyle leaving the NRL.

The weird thing about the squad is that we all know what the problems are, and that some of them have been apparent for years. This season seems to be the straw that's broken our collective backs with respect to giving the club the benefit of the doubt that someone somewhere knew what they were doing and had a plan.

I don't know who the next coach will be but unless there's a fundamental change from the very top about the need for laser focus on winning, and a will to do anything it takes to get there, we're doomed to rinse and repeat. We need a new broom coach and get rid of players who aren't up to it physically or have bad attitudes, and all the coaches who've allowed this rot to take root along with them. GH seems to have finally decided to get off his backside to sort out the coach, but is he willing to be ruthless across the club to back up whoever is brought in?

Been super busy AC. Not quite in the caravan with Gotcha yet...

the signings of ali, ellis, jp , donald , webb , buderus are over 10 yrs ago - hardaker was a project came good briefly , cuthbo at the same time an unknown one season wonder , moon could have been classed as good signing , gale we lucky to get the cup yr out of him

the cracks in the old guard 11 and 12 were covered by the finals performances 2015 had the freakish form of cuthbo and hardaker we had 5 years to quietly transition instead of suffering 2016 and 18 and 2022 though the pothole tarmaccing of 2017 was good as everyone else fell away at the end

Really hoped we would have someone in place by now, I know it’s important to get the right coach and not anither stop gap, but really hope we have an announcement tomorrow who are next coach will be, even if they are not here staigut away, that aline should be enough to but a rocket up some a***s before the easter fixtures, to try and impress the incoming coach. If we have not got so somone in place by this week I suspect we may have JJB for rest of the season.

When is Uncle Gary due back?

Hes still there and is spending the day with Manly tomorrow apparantly so got to be back end ofbthis week at earliest.

Long shopping trip, let’s hope he comes back with something, and I don’t mean a new dress for Kath!

New arrival……
Scott Grix is at the club. Another one with a less than glittering CV…..