Re: Am I missing something? : Sun May 12, 2024 4:34 pm  

The hard truth is that any decent youth that does come through will do nothing under Smith, and likely leave for another club. Absolutely no players are actually developing and getting better under Smith. Most stagnate and get worse.

This isn’t complicated, Smith just isn’t a very good coach. It’s not knee-jerk (it’s been 2 years), there are no mitigating circumstances, injuries, the weather, bad hair day. A good coach makes you say “wow, look how well we’re doing with xxx out,
imagine how good we’ll be when they’re back. When you have a good coach, you don’t need to make excuses for how bad you are because you end up not being bad, because they are a good coach.

There’s absolutely no excuse for Leeds to be as poor as they are, except for incompetence.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 11:00 am  

I just find this argument illogical again I'm sorry - there are some very valid reasons indeed why we are poor at times. I'm absolutely saying that some of that is down to the coach. There are mitigating circumstances however and that's clear.

Maybe we do need to change the coach to help bring success to Leeds; but two more very high quality players in key positions and some better luck with injuries would help too.

I'm very much with Chris's analysis from the Pod on this - I'm a little ambivalent towards RS, I like the guy and think he's done lots of good things for Leeds, but there are frustrations with how we're playing and his selections at times - particularly these late cameo appearances which drive me crazy. Johnson was MoM in the reserves and then gets no game time against Cats, I see the point in having some cover but it's a really negative use of the bench in tiring conditions.

He'll either pull it round this year when players come back or he won't - either way in all honesty I think we need to give players game time and development this year to stand us in good stead for 2025. I know some don't like that but that is the smart approach to me, because we do genuinely have talent coming through into first grade now and there are more to come. We are very solid at centre and back row for a long time to come from our academy.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 1:28 pm  

I agree with giving the kids a chance this season, but I don't see much point in playing them out of position or in very brief cameos when the game is dead. What exactly did Johnson's 3 minutes on the pitch achieve - either for the team or the player? Same with Ruan in recent games. Either pick him and trust him to play a normal role off the bench as part of the forward rotation, or don't pick him at all.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 2:11 pm  

Attitude is non negotiable as a pro rl player watching the team getting back on the coach post match you would have thought we had won the game no one seemed that bothered CEO included.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 2:17 pm  

Smith it seems is just one step removed from McDermott's days of just using 3 subs. Maybe he's got a hooker fettish too like David waite had for loose forwards. Injuries accepted some of these selections are just bizarre and unfortunately wilkin summed us up well.

Sorry for another negative post I get the desire to be positive but this turd is really taking some polishing.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 2:25 pm  

Once were Loiners wrote:

I agree with giving the kids a chance this season, but I don't see much point in playing them out of position or in very brief cameos when the game is dead. What exactly did Johnson's 3 minutes on the pitch achieve - either for the team or the player? Same with Ruan in recent games. Either pick him and trust him to play a normal role off the bench as part of the forward rotation, or don't pick him at all.

I agree with you - he did pick Lumb though and the lad got badly injured within 1 game and 5 minutes - injury risk is higher for lads playing open age coming from academy and we've seen that loads. It's a balance between experience and longer-term welfare.

Very occasionally you'll get a Morley or Sam Burgess who comes through and smashes it at 17 but they are definitely the exception.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 2:29 pm  

The injury to Lumb wasn't a collision injury was it? I thought he'd torn a hamstring returning the kick off? That can happen to anyone, I wouldn't say it's due to his "skinnyness" (if that's a word).

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 2:38 pm  

On the podcast Chris said the clamour for smiths head is ridiculous because you need a plan and an alternative, that changes mid season rarely work that we've had so many changes of coach that haven't worked out. I don't find that to be an argument to stick with another the onus is on the club to get the appointment of coaches right which they clearly havent. and to be fair supporters arent in a position to name alternatives but it'd be naive to not expect them to voice what we can all clearly see happening in front of us. And let's not just put it all down to mitigating factor s because we weren't playing great with a more fully fit squad. I do think we're still catching up from the training ground flooding though.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 3:07 pm  

batleyrhino wrote:

The injury to Lumb wasn't a collision injury was it? I thought he'd torn a hamstring returning the kick off? That can happen to anyone, I wouldn't say it's due to his "skinnyness" (if that's a word).

Watch it back again mate, it happened in contact running through a couple of defenders and I could see him do it right in front of me live. There was just too much load on the muscle and it went.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 13, 2024 3:22 pm  

Seth wrote:

On the podcast Chris said the clamour for smiths head is ridiculous because you need a plan and an alternative, that changes mid season rarely work that we've had so many changes of coach that haven't worked out. I don't find that to be an argument to stick with another the onus is on the club to get the appointment of coaches right which they clearly havent. and to be fair supporters arent in a position to name alternatives but it'd be naive to not expect them to voice what we can all clearly see happening in front of us. And let's not just put it all down to mitigating factor s because we weren't playing great with a more fully fit squad. I do think we're still catching up from the training ground flooding though.

I can see what you mean but isn't it way, way more likely we would get the right coach, rather than just a change of coach, if it is planned for and someone lined up at a season end? Who would come across right now?

Personally if we need a manifestly better coach we just have to go with track record, GH's judgement hasn't been great and/or his hand in signings has been poor for a long time.

You're right we weren't playing great with a fit squad, but we did beat Cats, who we have just lost to with 6 first choice players out. People keep telling me there are no mitigating factors and the evidence to me seems the contrary.

Are people really sure with fully fit Croft, Holroyd, Newman we don't win that game at the weekend? I think Cats were there for the taking again.

I don't think RS is anywhere near as bad a coach as many seem to think of on here. I don't think he's perfect either. I'm sure there are better coaches out there. People should understand that no coach is generically "the best" - it takes the right combination or players, coaches, timing etc. Brian Maclennan was great for a year or two but then fell of the cliff. Murray was brilliant again for a year or two, same with Tony Smith. Brian McDermott had the most extended spell but his star fell too (although he seems to be doing well in NRL).

Whether we can get them or would pay for them - not sure. GH struck gold with Brian Mac who didn't have lots of track record with top teams when we brought him in, but he seems obsessed with a cheaper "undiscovered gold" coach rather than appointing on proven track record - and there is less excuse for coaching because no salary cap. Even if we only had a real top coach for a couple of years, it could make a massive difference to the club.

A younger coach with a younger coach equals a longer learning curve but maybe a real embedded group over time. I suspect what this young team needs is an older head who is a good mentor, and then a really good skills-driven set of assistants. The time for hard core skills development is actually in the academy, we should get best possible coaches into them at that age in particular.