That is what i thought

I don't feel too bad about seeing wire fifth. It was a slip up.

Getting third was a slip. /Getting Fifth was a slip.

Have you any proof of this?

I've only ever heard Wigan fans (and now Leeds) claim this to be the case to make it seem like they finished higher, than the league table suggests. You may be right, i am genuinely asking for some proof of this.

Saints finished top of the league in 2007 & 2008 yet Leeds were champions i.e top after the play offs.

The play offs decide the final positions, not the league table.

To save any argument its just better to win both the league and play offs

Correct. End of argument.

Or not, just the fact that the majority of your lot should've learnt not to write us off. What happened in 2007 & 2008 when we were wrote off by one and all?



Definately, think it could go either way for us. Yes i am a tad skeptical about the appointment but listening to the players, they're all saying that Brian MacD is the right man for the job, so i'll reserve judgement until i get a feel for how we're performing.

What do you expect them to say? When was the last time a player came out and said they weren't happy with the new coaching appointment? lol. Come on man, you can save your judgement but I imagine that the only people saying it's a good choice are the odd Leeds fan and I imagine that most are not over the moon with it.

Ex players that is. The likes of Mathers et al. It has the potential to be a good move for us, employing someone that focuses on youth development. He has been written off at Quins, a failing club with a minute budget. Had he been at a bigger club and not improved them one bit, then yes, i would be writing us off too. But he hasn't, so give it time.

I'm not writing McDermott off as a coach but he hasn't done enough yet to land a shot at a club with the pedigree of Leeds.

You've written us off. You've written McDermott off.

That's because it's tosh.

He hasn't started coaching Leeds yet so how do you know? What was he supposed to have done? Won silverware? Got Quins to the top of the table? If so, Wigan should never have recruited Maguire given that he hadn't even been a first team coach, much less a successful one (in terms of silverware I mean).

I never thought i'd hear you speak sense, but in the above, you have. Congrats!

They are two completely different entities the last time I looked.



loltastic.

They are, yes, but Leeds & McDermott are now as one. You're writing Leeds' chances off because McDermott is in charge.

Don't worry, it's just a blip. I'll revert to talking bollox soon enough.

Excellent. I cant wait for you to get back to how you were earlier in this thread

Getting Quins into the play offs would have been a coaching achievement. Did he ever succeed in that?

Has McCrae got Salford into the playoffs yet? Yet McCrae won silverware with Saints. Who is to say McDermott won't win silverware with Leeds given that they are supposed to be a better team than Quins?

Please explain why.

How will the Superleague money be dished out?
The money is distributed according to FINAL league places

Over to you.

If we'd have put McRae in charge of saints this year instead of Royce, would you be expecting silverwear? I wouldn't.

McRae appeared from australia ahead of the game. By the time his 3 year tenure was over, the other coaches had could him up and saints were looking pretty ordinary.

I am writing off Leeds for a few reasons and one of them will be because McDermott is in charge. This does not mean that I am writing off McDermott as a coach. If I was writing off McDermott as a coach I would say "McDermott is never going to be a good coach".

McDermott needs to develop more before taking on a position as coach at a club with the pedigree and expectations of Leeds which is bloody obvious if you ask me. It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the man (in the same way it was for Darryl Powell) so I can understand why he wouldn't want to pass it up.

In my business world you have to prove yourself capable of managing a small area effectively before you will get the opportunity to take on a role that is bigger with more responsibility. In my analysis of McDermott he has managed a small area with limited effectiveness. Has he been effective enough to suggest that he can manage something bigger? Not from where I'm stood. If he'd turned Harlequins RL into consistent top eight material then there is a case for him getting the Leeds job. He hasn't, therefore I see little in your argument to counter what I am stating. It's pretty obvious to me, however I understand why you choose to not see it.

I see where you're coming from, but it has the potential to be a good move for Leeds, he's unproven at club level, (excl. Quins as they have a budget smaller than my salary). Brian McClennan was unproven at club level, as was Maguire. If you expected McDermott to do anything other than be unsuccessful at Quins then you're deluded.

Would you give McRae the Saints job because he won trophies over a decade a go? Do you think McDermott is at the same level as a coach that has been on a downward slope since 1996?

Quins were competing with Crusaders, Salford, Cas and Wakey and finished lower than all of them. Leeds are a better team than Quins, however they aren't a better team than us, Wigan or Warrington and that's who is is now competing with. He's not shown anything so far that indicates he will be successful at a higher level.

Why? I've seen coaches improve teams with little change in playing personnel e.g. Stuart Raper, Nathan Brown, Michael Maguire. I would guess that one of the reasons why Harlequins RL haven't improved is because McDermott isn't good enough to get that improvement out of them. What has McDermott done that is any better than Steve McNamara? Brian McClennan nilled the Australians in a final. Nilled! And whilst international results may not be the best indicator of future success it is damn sight better on your CV than what Brian McDermott has.