So there it is, on the rhinos website: Sinfield "Brian McDermott is the best coach I've worked under". No better judge, case closed.

Only someone desperately wishing it were true would consider Leeds Rhinos a marginal business.

IIRC he said the same about tony smith

Maybe he did but he was yet to play under McDermott as a head coach, he clearly now sees McDermott has superseded him.

what did you expect him to say? in all honesty he's not going to say he's rubbish.

Ha ha, I was waiting for that response! He doesn't have to say anything, or certainly not be so gushing. There are other things to say in between "he's rubbish" and "he's the best coach I've played under".

Lets hope he can get us to perform more consistently then through the regular SL season ,improve the right side defence ,our attacking options ,utilise a full 17 week in week out and rotate his whole squad so our older lads actually get rested and the youngsters doing well get a deserved run out!
Kudos for reaching the CC final x2 and back to back GF's and winning the WCC which is incredible to be fair but like ive posted many times a competetive team week in week out isnt/shouldn't be too much to ask for when you purchase a ST.

The solution is in your hands, there is never a need for a season ticket to obtain any finals tickets, in fact, like many others, I fail to see any practical advantage in buying a ST at all.

Just from idle interest, what rank was McDermott in the Army ?

Not sure McF but Royal Marines of ANY Rank are Tough feckers.
P.S.You are spot on re-ST i was just highlighting my opinion.

As Seth has already pointed out, he could have said nothing at all, or simply said that he's a good coach and he enjoys working for him. Saying that 'I hope he's here for many years to come' suggests he's doing OK.

How many times did you hear similar praise of McClennan? Not at all would be my guess.

Whatever people think of McDermott and his "game plan" etc, one of his biggest strengths is his relationship with his players, and they all seem to show him the respect he shows them. That's half the battle IMO, and that's why you see commitment like you saw on Friday.

Still think he lacks the will to win of Shaun Wane?

Keith Senior doesn't rate him. Nor does Paul McShane.

I heard plenty of praise for Bluey ,TS ,Powell etc etc but should that mean as fans we shouldn't have an opinion when we have played sh## or witnessed the same mistakes time and again with selection ,tactics etc etc??
I'll happily heap praise on every success we achieve and that incudes ALL involved but that deosnt mean it shouldn't be mentioned when we haven't performed and had a pasting or 4!!

Are you suggesting Sinfield is insincere? Anyway shouldn't you be concerning yourself with your Debenhams appearance? Unless of course you were being insincere!

Keith Senior or Sinfield, who's the most level headed intelligent person I'd rather respect the opinion of, hmmm? Reality too is you'll always get the odd one who doesn't feel the same.

Given the structural deficiencies of our attack and defence, there has to be question marks over Mcdermott's abilities as head coach. Sinfield may enjoy working with him and like him as a person, that doesn't make him a good coach.

Anybody who watched the NRL grand final this morning will have noticed a marked difference between even our best sides and the two teams playing in that game. The gap between Leeds and those teams can only be measured in light years.

I could never rate the opinion of a communist too highly

Bet your "whipping boy rabble" from Wigan rate him though!

Shut it you Sinfield loving commie sympathiser!

I certainly don't recall much praise in terms of McClennan's coaching. It was one thing that struck me at the time he was here, that very rarely did any player actually mention him in public.

Nobody is saying you shouldn't criticise poor performances. As I've said before, some of it comes down to player motivation. Motivating yourself for the bread and butter of a regular season game away at Cas/Wakefield/Salford in the middle of the season is probably quite difficult after the highs of the previous season, and having already won 4 of the previous 5 GF's. Even the away games at Saints, Wigan and Warrington, you can understand why they don't break their backs trying to win them when they're safe in the knowledge that a big end of season effort when it really counts might be enough.

McDermott isn't the perfect coach, nobody is, but the criticism of him is a little over the top at times considering his achievements.

But when the much acclaimed captain of our Champion side makes it quite clear what he now believes, in comparison to all of the others, should you not reconsider that maybe, just maybe, you have been wrong to lay the the blame for some poor performances in the regular season at the coaches door?

Would you agree that Sinfield is a much better judge of coaching skills of BM than you or I, or indeed any of the so, so knowledgable keyboard coaching critics?

Sinfield said: [i"I have to say that Brian McDermott is the best coach I have ever played under. His combination of tactical awareness, player development and man management is second to none and I am so pleased for him that we have got back to yet another Final. The backroom team of James Lowes and Jason Davidson perfectly complement Brian and together they give us everything we could possibly need to succeed.

"Sometimes things don't go our way in the season but we stay tight and continue to work hard for one another. That happens in life and how you handle that adversity makes you what you are," added Sinfield. [/i

His comments were clearly highlighting BM´s coaching skills; =#4000FF"His combination of tactical awareness, player development and man management is second to none"

This is not some young player seeking to keep his place with a bit of toadying. Most people close to the team are well aware of BM´s abilities so I guess Sinfield chose to make this very strong statement to enlighten the coaches critics who are unaware of what is really happening on the training field. A bit like his speech at last year´s GF.

The last thing you want to do when corporate entertaining is actually watch the event! You want the time to work the client, not watch sport!

Edit: It's for that reason I don't spend on sports for corporate entertainment. Corporate entertainment should either be talking to clients, in which case dinner and drinks is far better that the distraction of an event, or a reward for your organisation in which case travel typically works far better. I'd have to break out my expenses to see exactly what's spent on what events, but it's in five figures annually.

Won't it be an irony, if the cause of the end of the most glorious period of our clubs history, comes because the fans are no longer prepared to pay to watch the greatest team in the history of the club.

Rather than subjectively guessing at light years, we actually have a match of rugby league to objectively measure the gap between the two teams.