Agreed…I can however see a scenario a bit like with Furner, where Arthur comes in and tells us all what we already know in that lots of the players are not good enough/not as good as they think they are (and let’s those players know) but hopefully this time if/when some of them go moaning to Blease about how harsh the new coach is etc, instead of siding with the players like GH/Sir Kev did when getting rid of Furner, Blease has the balls to tell the players that Arthur is right and that some of you need to work harder and/or are not good enough for what a Leeds team should be and let’s them know that if they are going to sulk and cry about it, then “there’s the door”

The squad was so poor under Furner and not fixed under Agar that achieving a complete turnaround in less than 3 years was probably impossible given salary cap issues. I think Smith did a good job of getting rid of some dead wood, but some of those brought in are as poor as the ones who left, which means we're not as far into squad renewal as we should be. That's aside from coaching issues.

Generally though its really hard to argue that the club lost its focus years ago. It does now feel with Blease taking over that there's a recognition that everything ultimately stems from the first team being competitive, but its been a long time coming. At least now we have a boss who's job depends on success.

One other thing, please do not reinvent Furner as some kind of misunderstood genius. He was a terrible head coach, who got both his NRL and SL roles through his history of the clubs, and nothing at all to do with ability.

Whatever your views of Furner’s coaching ability, you surely cannot disagree that his summing up of the terrible state of our squad was bang on the money, but the powers that be chose to ignore his views

I'm not suggesting he was wrong if he thought the squad was dire. But a better, more respected coach would have found a way to manage the change required in the squad without pushing us into relegation.

For a second opinion, ask Raiders fans what they think of Furner as a coach. Its not good.

Agree with the majority of the above , but not sure Walker and Grix could be trusted with the water bottles

Excellent post Matt

BTW I agree entirely that the next coach will assess the squad, and that Blease needs to be able to stop any player from running to mummy if they are told they need to improve or ship out.

My only question is how much weight/clout a temporary coach might have. Giving a view on every player ready for the next coach might be useful, but I'd doubt someone like Rowley who is in and around SL all the time wouldn't already have a strong view on our squad.

Or is it more about a temporary coach trying to energise the team to have a season end like 2022? Not sure how you do this unless the whole squad buys in from day one.

At least it'll keep interest in the season going - it already feels like this year's done and gone.

Arthur coming in and being a sort of "axeman" might actually be beneficial, would give more insight to next season

Aside from that fact that lots on here are ridiculously critical (some of you need some happy) - Arthur might end up catalysing a couple of players to leave. It would be easier for the incoming coach to take a settled group. I don't think Blease will shy away from a couple of hard decisions in there, the question is will he get them right?

I'm not as despondent for our chances against Wire, although to me their performance at HQ was the best I've seen this year. They have some disruption, we're underdogs, let's see what we can come up with.

If we do get done over I wonder who will be the next target for the Malcontents in the away support...? Judging by this forum Rohan Smith still has some legs.

Someone like Arthur coming in for the rest of this year is an opportunity to try and remove some of the awful bad habits that have been embedded over the last 2 years.
That wasn't going to happen overnight and the performance against London showed that.
Chev and Grix are not in a position to do that as they were part of the problem.
We can have a reset with the current playing squad for a few months.
A coach with proven NRL pedigree coming in to get us back to RL basics, remove the gimmicks, improve line speed, improve intensity and try and get us so we at least look organised. All the things that have been missing.
The results are not so important to me tbh.
Whoever we have in 2025 at least then has a better foundation to take us forward.
I think it's a good move from the club.

Ridiculously critical?, have a look at the league table, we have just parted with an absolutely absolutely useless coach, who signed several sub standard players. The assistant coaches are hopeless and we have just about managed to beat the worst team in the league. Plenty of scope for criticism I would have thought.

and one of you is ridiculously happy to accept mediocrity and a poundland coach

Yep, I love nothing more than a bit of mediocrity.

I’m more M&S than Poundland though.

Everyone agrees that something had to change and that bringing in Blease was a step in the right direction. It does feel that the club has been muddling its way through for too long, without the laser focus on performance of the first team, which ultimately drives the club and enables all the other stuff to happen off the field and with other Rhinos teams. Like more than a few others I thought Rohan might be the one to bring us back on track, but while he did a lot to rework the squad, its still a mess. Taking all that other stuff off the coach and making their ultimate objective first team results has to be a good move.

One thing I'll certainly agree on is that whatever RS is or isn't as a coach, his recruitment was patchy and risky. Not sure how much of this was GH getting directly involved or pulling purse strings, but in terms of player selection a C.

Blease does have a much better track record with judgement so let's hope he can apply that at Leeds. A steady hand at the tiller who isn't GH is what I think we needed, so let's hope.

Said it before but it looks as if we need both a new coach and some new players in order to challenge again. I just don't think our first grade squad is consistently good enough. Next couple of fixtures will be interesting - will we have a new coach in place for Wire...? I reckon BA was on the plane yesterday/today and they'll announce him once he's arrived and branded up for the cameras.

Jim I love the way you distance yourself from negativity whilst also pointing out the failings of the coach and players.

There is a difference Sethster between critical thinking and being negative. Like I guess there is between confidence and arrogance.

I don’t criticise others, generally, to make myself feel better. I try to provide a balanced view.

We all have opinions and I like to think I’m willing to change mine from time to time based on evidence.

That is not allowed on here, if you said it 5 years ago you have to stick with and forever be criticised. Changing your mind based on evidence is frowned upon

Not quite as simple as that, several of us on this site midway through last season pointed out that Smith was incompetent, we were told by certain people that we should support the side. Also that the deadwood had to be cleared out etc etc, plus Smith was rebuilding the side. We then pointed out that he wasn’t doing a very good job. Once again we were accused of being negative. If I see the team playing poorly then I will call It out. If the team plays well then I will praise them. I certainly don’t have a vendetta or gain pleasure when the team struggles, god only knows we have had very little to cheer about this season . However I have supported the team and will be supporting the team next season.

Not quite as simple as that, several of us on this site midway through last season pointed out that Smith was incompetent, we were told by certain people that we should support the side. Also that the deadwood had to be cleared out etc etc, plus Smith was rebuilding the side. We then pointed out that he wasn’t doing a very good job. Once again we were accused of being negative. If I see the team playing poorly then I will call It out. If the team plays well then I will praise them. I certainly don’t have a vendetta or gain pleasure when the team struggles, god only knows we have had very little to cheer about this season . However I have supported the team and will be supporting the team next season.

Peter Smith pretty scathing about the squad in todays YEP. Did make me laugh though when he said maybe it wasn't RS fault after all (the current squad's performances this season).... it's a RS legacy, with a squad that has no back bone, poor leadership and is very undersized in the pack, lacks X factor in the 3 quarter line (Croft and Handley apart) and are so volatile in their performances. This is his squad. They just look so so poorly coached.

We've seen a mix of awful coaching over the last 5 or 6 years or so and woeful recruitment by those coaches (inc GH).. which is why we are where we are now.. having said that, all we need is a top coach with 3 or so good acquisitions in the right areas and we can get into that top 3 or 4 again.

If any Leeds fans are pining for a bit of "coach out" content now ours has been sacked, have a look on Redvee.net they've gone into meltdown

Peter Smith is well informed but he has his views... like he never rates McDonnell despite the fact he was selected for the England squad and has made the Team of the Week several times this season... unlike most other players.

I was gob smacked they lost to Cas. They've been spoilt with fabulous success. Those incredibly high achievements were never going to last forever... they're still very capable on their day though and well ahead of us. Crackers this game isn't it

You big tease.