Quote ="Maverick Rhino" Leeds deteriorated gradually throughout Bluey's reign. I cannot think of a single player who improved technically during his reign, and slowly they forgot everything Smith taught them. Incredibly there were plenty on here still lauding Bluey's ability, which was so plainly lacking once his fresh, motivational edge had worn off.
This is proof of the value of a coach. Leeds were crying out for a technically minded and hungry Aussie coach to arrest the slide. McDermott is so far from this it is untrue.'"
Look I too wish we had a top Aussie coach and if the right one became available then I would bring him in as I too am disappointed with selections and inarticulate media comment. What I have been attempting to do is get a fairer balance to the dozens of sack the coach postings who put this above all else, but I realize that I am in the minority.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"Winning isn't the point, they competed when it mattered. Elimination Semi Final and Challenge Cup finalists. They were competitive. (And petulant, injury probe, want away, cry baby Eastwood as best forward?)'"
The players were a year younger then and it was the individual performances of a few players that got us to the semi and CC final but in the end we did not compete and were well beaten.
Say what you like but Eastwood was our most effective forward in the 2nd half of last year and showed more heart and appetite than many of the other forwards when he really stepped up to the plate after JP got injured.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"There is enough in this squad to compete, they are not doing under this coach.'"
I think we agree on several points and I concede to you that a new broom as coach could give us a boost providing he was a top man and given the say in recruitment otherwise any upturn will only be temporary.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"Of course we have had injuries, which team hasn't, but the teams picked for the last 2 games have been strong enough that injuries should not be in the equation.'"
With regard to injuries. IMO Leeds have had the worst problems of the top teams because we lost our best forward and our best attacking back (JP & DM) with serious long term injuries and it is most unlikely that either will be back to their best until next season. In addition we have the new long term injuries this season to our two best young backs (BJB & Watkins) and our best in Senior (on paper at least!) IMO this seasons unavailability’s through injury has been worse than last year
In each of these cases we have not had quality reserves to fill these vacancies and so have had to play others out of position. Whereas in the case of St Helens, their academy came up with possibly the best half back combination in SL despite losing Eastmond to Union.
So if you look at our side on paper it still looks one of the strongest. The reality is that we are playing several players in key positions in the team who are shadows of their former selves due to injuries eg Webb, Burrow, JP & DM with Lauitiiti who has not been fully fit for 3 years and Leuluai who seems to be in semi retirement. Please remember that in some games Kirke has been our best prop – and that really says it all!!
All this has made extra work for the likes of Sinfield, Buderus and JJB who have stood up to the plate well so far but cannot keep up this up without getting stale at some stage. (eg Sinfield last week)
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I see a bizarre start to the year, throwing the ball about in ludicrous fashion, showing zero respect for possession and building pressure, and coaches comments to back that up that completion rates are "overrated".
Then I see this being reigned in to such an extent that we cannot get out of our own half for 30 minutes (Warrington) or play set after set against Saints of one man drives and a kick, followed by coaches comments that we set out to play like that but actually need to be more expansive.'"
With regard to playing style: Until the past couple of years these same players achieved our best success with a risky offload game that won admiration and brought the crowds in. Under Bluey we gradually became a side playing boring one up stuff and the big crowds diminished.
In trying to return to a more attractive style of rugby we have witnessed some great tries in the early part of the season but also some very poor handling and a lot of errors. IMO this is not to do with the style but it is all down to the poor execution by the players.
Our last two heavy defeats were due to the opposition playing a risky and attractive offload game aided by some very poor defense. So do not decry an entertaining offload game which our players used to handle so well and which style won us the first 2 games this season.
Is it wrong for the coach to expect the same players to be able to play offloads with the same skill they had previously displayed? Is it also wrong for the coach to expect the players to defend in a professional manner as they have previously done. They are full time with nothing else to do!
The players have shown at different time this year (eg Wigan 1st 60 minutes) that they can do both well for half a game. So which half do you think the coach had trained for?
The coaches comments after the last game inferred that the players had not kept to the offload game plan.
Many of our performances this year have had something of the Jekyll & Hyde about them which is why I believe the players do know exactly what is expected of them but seem unable to physically and perhaps mentally sustain the level for the full 80 minutes. They have displayed woeful lapses for short periods which totally put us out of several games we could otherwise have won. This trend was also evident last season and is why I hold the players more responsible than the coach
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I see a team that under Smith never took the two as they had a clear strategy and belief that they would score six, and if not they would build pressure and take gas out of the opponents tank. Contrast that with the 3 early penalties at Saints ... kick, run, kick? .'"
Here I would agree with you but would point out it was Sinfield’s decision to twice take the 2 points but on another occasion sustain the attack. This shows a lack of confidence in the player’s abilities.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I see Burrow contributing to positive plays all season, building form in general through April and May bizarrely dropped to the bench against Warrington, and then looking lost on Friday. .'"
I agree it was a strange decision.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I struggle to understand why a so called disciplinarian coach cannot get Webb to shut his mouth. By the way I don't believe for a second McDermott asked Webb to carry the ball one handed, whereas Tony Smith coached the whole team to use that technique and the offload ability of the team became the best in the league as a result. .'"
Webb has always been a gobby sort and has given less penalties per game this year than most years. So why blame the new coach when Smith & Bluey could not stop him. Indeed this grumbling and its not fair attitude are deep seated in the squad.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I despair that our most consistent player and captain had such a dodgy game on Friday. Do you reckon that is a result of his confused role and trying to carry an attacking "structure" that they don't understand? .'"
I think it is more likely that he is constantly playing behind a beaten pack who are not putting him on the front foot enough. How do you know his role is confused? It is the first bad game he has had for quite some time so why the despair. Surely he is allowed the odd off day.
Unless you have been on the training field how can you suggest he has a “confused role” and is trying to carry out an “attacking structure” that they don’t understand. This is conspiracy theory talk.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I said the players with the kicking duties have done pretty well in that role for 5 years, and I haven't seen anyone suggesting we bin Sinfield, McGuire and Burrow. .'"
Again you are assuming that because we have done pretty well with our 3 kickers in the past then there is no need to change anything. Well we are now, and have been all season, in 14 position (ie bottom) for both the number of attacking kicks and also the number of kicks in general play. I would say that this is not good enough and I would say is in part a reason we are not in the right end of the field often enough.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"Here's a clue you may have missed, Keith Senior's interview early in the year where he stated Leeds were trying to forget everything from before and start from scratch. .'"
Sorry Keef may have been a top attacking centre but not the brightest – indeed after all his years playing SL he still does not have a clue about where to position himself in defence. So I don’t think he had anything in there to forget! So your “clue” is irrelevant.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"Again the clues are out there, the clubs turnover is the highest in the league and dwarfs the cap. The accounts are openly available and suggest we use the full allocation. GH's public quotes consistently state we use the full cap. Anyhow, I don't need to prove anything, you made the allegation so I'll ask again.
...what are these "financial reasons" you speak of that are affecting recruitment. Its a salary capped sport, and I reckon we are pretty much up to the cap ... do you know different? .'"
Turnover is nothing to do with expenditure. If indeed we are spending the full salary cap only on players – then this has been very bad management and as it was not good value to extend some of the contracts of players who were either in decline or injury prone unless they were at reduced pay levels!
Why I have questioned if we are still spending the full cap only on players salaries is partly down to the comments made by Kevin Sinfield, that many of the Leeds players would earn far more by changing clubs and implying that they were accepting less at Leeds out of loyalty - and partly to a feeling I have observing the GH recruitment policy at both rugby clubs at Headingley. I understand that the Tykes last year had a self imposed wage limit of 2.1 million when the Premiership salary cap is 4 million – no wonder they cannot compete!.
Therefore the real blame is with GH and the board who appointed the coaches and who have failed to recruit quality players in good time.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I too can use the benefit of hindsight regarding decisions to sign players, however there seem to be 2 massive targets on here at the moment, and if I am honest I thought Hauraki was worth a punt as a replacement for Ali when he was signed, and we needed a prop so Cross appeared to fit the bill (he may be another useless Aussie, who knows, how people are judging him when he never plays is anyones guess). .'"
I am not just using the benefits of hindsight as I was unhappy last year and believed that some players should have been replaced and this was before we hit our serious injury crisis.
I too was prepared to give Hauraki a chance as he was rated by people like Noble who some would like to see as the new Leeds coach. I have not yet written off Cross just yet and think he should be playing. When he was signed we new his pedigree was not that of a top notch Aussie, however he is experienced and IMO will do a better job for us than one or two who are being played. Cross has the distinction of being the only Leeds prop to average over 7m per carry and has made the highest marker tackle per game and with 21.5 tackles per game and low game time has shown one of the best work rates. I say play Cross and Burgess.
Quote ="Maverick Rhino"I maintain that there is enough abilty, experience and talent still in this squad for us to be competitive every week, and this coach is blatently unable to harvest that.'"
There is still time left for some form and confidence to return and so gain some momentum for the playoffs from say a 5th place finish which IMO would be par for the course with our present playing strength.
As a guide to this point of view, consider that you are, in turn, the manager of each of the top 4 teams . And you have to select their side but can include the current available Leeds squad. Who would you pick from Leeds to be in the team ahead of their players?
I've seen doctoral theses shorter than that.* Please summarise. I am from the TV generation and my attention span can't cope with this sort of thing.
