I hate to say it but Sir Kev is to blame for some of the current problems at the club

Cant believe sone people actually think this, rose tinted glasses Or what. Furner was terrible and on the way to being worse than Dean Lance, lance should have gone after 10-12 games not well into following season.

This is my my biggest fear for RS, what happens after next year if have only won 3-4 out if first 10?

that's why I'd get rid now

Briers has done a remarkable job with the Broncos attacking structures and plays without a doubt,
It is certainly no coincidence that they are currently joint top of the NRL table and are playing with such an expansive style of football,He was always a heads up type of player and he has certainly instilled that ethos into the Broncos.

Would Briers leave the Broncos for the head coaching role at Leeds if it suddenly became available though?

I'm not sure that the pull of being the head coach of the Rhinos is on the top of everyone's list of dream jobs anymore.

The life experience that he and his family are currently experiencing in Brisbane is probably a dream job that they will all make the most of before he ultimately heads home for the head coaching role at either Warrington,Wigan or Saints down the track IMO

Briers is doing a great job and will definitely make a great head coach learning his trade in the Nrl people have noticed him and will probably get a gig there, he's no
no doubt on more money now than GH is willing to pay.

I agree with all the above especially the points about Leeds not having the pull it once did and life experiences. Brisbane is a great city and better for not being on the coast. It has a great laid back atmosphere and is sporting centric. Briers will make a great coach somewhere can see him ending up at Saints.

No way will Briers come to Leeds.
In a couple of years he will probably have his pick of either Saints, Wire or Wigan.
Not all three of those can be successful, so I can see a couple of them losing patience with the coach, especially given the recruitment they are doing.
They are all far more ambitious than Leeds.
We are settling for mediocrity right throughout the club at the moment.

I don't see how sacking the coach is going to help the current situation, other than to further plunge the club into more instability.

If GH wanted to keep JJB in charge what was stopping him doing it last season?

Rohan Smith was given a long term appointment and I haven't seen any evidence that suggests the club or GH are changing their minds on this. The recent issues over the squad are clearly nothing to do with Smith, so I'm not sure why sacking him has suddenly come on to the agenda for some fans.

because there is no set style of play, no game plans, nothing. we look like a set of strangers thrown together.
top and bottom he was the cheap option. again. more of the same next season

I don't for one minute think we will sack Smith this season and would suggest he has maybe 8 to 10 games next season to see how things go.
The lack of an available coach is more the concern and if we do manage to find one the rebuilding will take yet another 2 years until they can mould their own team.
Rinse wash and repeat.

If something clearly isn't working - Leeds are 9th out of 12 - then you have to make a decision as to the best way forward. Given the lack of recruitment it suggests Leeds are happy with the way things are going including the coach.

What will change this is corporate activity or a significant reduction in it. I suspect that is the reason JJB had to go because it sent out the wrong message to sponsors etc. The golden generation is a look over the shoulder not a look forward and sponsors will have had an impact on these kind of decisions.

Yes you can blame poor recruitment in the past but what you cannot overlook is the poor performances on the field - is Smith getting the best out of the players i.e. is he adding value? If he isn't then changes need to be made - if he is then the club need to come out explain to supporters how this manifests itself.

What you don't do is fly someone and his family half way round the world and then fire him after 3/4 months - that is not how good businesses treat their people. What message does that send out about the values/culture of the club. Furner wasn't helped by having a spy in the camp who undermined him with his boss - poor all round. Was he a good coach who knows he wasn't given the chance.

So your saying we should have stuck with Furner a proven poor coach, potentially got relegated, just because he flew around the world. He was given a chance and it was very clear he had to go quickly.

You provide a support network to assist with the transition not provide a platform for matters to get worse. Leeds did all their research and decided of all the coaches they could appoint Furner was the most appropriate. All of a sudden he is no good - perhaps it was the people around him that were no good and prevented him showing his quality.

Leeds have obviously learned a lesson whereby they will back the coach and move the rotten eggs on e.g. Gale and Leeming. We have all worked in businesses with poor staff who disrupt the other staff - these people are poison. Smith saw through JJB and he was gone within 6 months - shame it wasn't done three years earlier.

I have absolutely no idea what happened with regards to Furner. We are suffering from lack of on field leadership, in the past Sinfield plus Peacock and Danny McGuire used to sort things out. Several occasions this season things have gone wrong, dropped balls, forward passes the main players just stand around looking sorry and dejected. Nobody seems to communicate any sense of urgency. Unfortunately we are a deeply flawed team starting with Myler at full back. He does an adequate job but ultimately he his not Brent Webb. Most of the season we haven’t had a decent set of half backs. Plus we have a forward usually playing in the centre role, Conner is trying his best as hooker , not getting much support. An expensive winger that seems to be permanently injured. Sadly unless things change we will be in the same position next season.

Wasn't JJB just in charge in a caretaker role while we found a new coach?

He thought he could be so successful they would offer him the job - that is the impression he gave. Thankfully things didn't pan out the way his delusional mine thought they would

Agreed

X2

In this squad there are some good players - unfortunately there aren't any x-factor players, Newman has yet to prove that. The squad needs some star quality in key positions. Look at our players and ask yourself how many would get in the Saints, Catalans or Wigan side - more worrying is how many would get in either the Leigh or Hull KR sides?

Therein lies the problem - too many average players.

We really need to avoid getting sucked into a football culture where the coach is always the scapegoat. I've always believed that coaches get too much credit when things go well and far, far too much stick when they don't. It always comes down to the players. Doesn’t matter what the game plan is if the spine players do not have the talent or character to realise it on the field. It's blatantly obvious that the current occupants of those positions are collectively not good enough. That's where the focus should be. Smith worked wonders with a squad that was near bottom of the table when he arrived last season. This year, with peanuts to spend in the off season and with a full back and two halves who are all heading towards their mid thirties he has not been able to maintain that momentum. However, as bad as some of it has been the team has generally competed every week. Our "passive" defence was 4th best in the league last time I checked. Quality additions (if they occur) in the spine positions would make a massive difference. Sacking Smith would be chucking out the baby with the bath water.

Probably more than you think, look at Hurrell at Saints, slotted in and his weaknesses weren't exposed as much.

The issue for us is the lack of quality in the halfs and the forwards not always having the correct attitude to working hard and getting on top of the opposition. If our pack plays well, we generaly play well, if they dont, we dont.

We'll need the pack to do much better for the rest of the year if we're going to stand a chance of winning many games. We're highly unlikely to have much creativity/fluency out of the spine players we have left. Best chance to get wins is to turn games into a genuine wrestle and play for position. That would mean a much more aggressive defence than we've generally shown, but I just don't see we have many points in us now.

I agree entirely though that IF we had a really dynamic full back and a playmaker (or two!) who could really lead us around the whole team would look massively better for next season. Take the halfbacks out of any team and they'd struggle.

4th best defence 9th/10th best at league positions thanks for the stats!

Do we get a trophy for 4th best defence?