Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 06, 2024 5:50 pm  

KaeruJim wrote:

I don't know how many threads we can have which get hijacked by the RS debate. Lots it seems.

I think we are a better squad than last year but it isn't night and day, which is showing in results this year. In seasons gone by we would be down there with Hull and Cas; so I disagree that we haven't shown progress. People are quoting table positions after 10 rounds like it's the be all and end all - there are 2 points separating the top 7 sides including us.

My main concern remains our error count, and we struggle to dominate possession, or the ruck, which makes us look worse than we really are. I'm not saying RS is blameless, if some on here are determined to blame. I've posted some other criticisms I have of RS in my own view, I'm not a mindless cheerleader like many on here try to paint out, just because I don't agree with them.

Frankly I just find the majority of arguments against RS illogical and inconsistent. It was right to retain Bentley, but we're too small and don't dominate. It was right to retain Bentley, but Fus was an awful decision. RS doesn't develop the youth, and yet clearly that's not true. RS doesn't develop players, but some that are in good form have had mystical help from other players (RS has nothing to do with it if they're in form, and everything to do with it if they aren't)... it's just bonkers on here.

If I write down our potential squad for 2025, add 2 really high quality additions (plus Hall of course), I think we are starting to get there finally. In the absence of any other magical mechanism, Leeds are going to have to spend some money short-term at least to re-establish themselves as a force. And they're going to have to spend it more wisely than we have at times in the past too; we have been out-recruited by most other sides in the league and it shows.

Unfortunately most of the threads come back to R.S because most people see him as the main problem, although certainly not the only one .

i have already made my explanation on Bentley so i will not go over that again .

It is not the league position most are on about , it is the performances and style of play that concerns us .

We need in my opinion (quality) a Full back , a centre , a winger , a scrum half , a prop and a strong running tall 2nd rower to get up to the likes of Wigan , Saints and Hull K.R . That's more than than your two additions and a 37 year old , who would I release ? Miller , Fuz , mom , Frawley , our two French imports and Donaldson . Now before you say it I know it is not that easy as most are on contract but maybe our president could have sorted it out instead of bank rolling Hull.

Oh and we need to retain Handley and Martin .

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 06, 2024 5:57 pm  

christopher wrote:

Not getting into the Rohan debate as it’s tiresome.

One thing Ive seen said on here and elsewhere is that we may be on 6 wins and only 2 points of top but we’ve played the bottom three who are as good as a bye, and somehow don’t count.

Does that only apply to us then and not the other 7 teams in the league?

Nice to see you back Chris after our wins against the bottom two .

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 06, 2024 6:02 pm  

ploinerrhino wrote:

Unfortunately most of the threads come back to R.S because most people see him as the main problem, although certainly not the only one .

i have already made my explanation on Bentley so i will not go over that again .

It is not the league position most are on about , it is the performances and style of play that concerns us .

We need in my opinion (quality) a Full back , a centre , a winger , a scrum half , a prop and a strong running tall 2nd rower to get up to the likes of Wigan , Saints and Hull K.R . That's more than than your two additions and a 37 year old , who would I release ? Miller , Fuz , mom , Frawley , our two French imports and Donaldson . Now before you say it I know it is not that easy as most are on contract but maybe our president could have sorted it out instead of bank rolling Hull.

Oh and we need to retain Handley and Martin .

100%. Handley is fast becoming the player we all hoped he would whilst Martin is, for me, the best value for money overseas players in the comp. Versatile, team player, superb attitude, skillful, availability and he kicks.

Re: Am I missing something? : Mon May 06, 2024 6:20 pm  

ploinerrhino wrote:

Nice to see you back Chris after our wins against the bottom two .

I’d not left, just not really bothered about posting anymore, every thread seems to be or turns out the same. It’s tedious and waste of time which I don’t have a load of spare at the moment.

Re: Am I missing something? : Tue May 07, 2024 5:36 am  

ploinerrhino wrote:

Unfortunately most of the threads come back to R.S because most people see him as the main problem, although certainly not the only one .

i have already made my explanation on Bentley so i will not go over that again .

It is not the league position most are on about , it is the performances and style of play that concerns us .

We need in my opinion (quality) a Full back , a centre , a winger , a scrum half , a prop and a strong running tall 2nd rower to get up to the likes of Wigan , Saints and Hull K.R . That's more than than your two additions and a 37 year old , who would I release ? Miller , Fuz , mom , Frawley , our two French imports and Donaldson . Now before you say it I know it is not that easy as most are on contract but maybe our president could have sorted it out instead of bank rolling Hull.

Oh and we need to retain Handley and Martin .

I think if we were top of the league, our style of play wouldn't be up for debate so much. I'm still saying that whatever style of play we want to execute, we can't do it off the back of such a high error count. Style of play is also heavily informed by the players you have: example Croft. He's been worth 1-2 tries every game with assists/kicks through at the line etc.

Ironically this is one of my criticisms of Smith, I'm not convinced he is playing a style which suits the players we actually have, it's like he's trying to force them into what he sees. The problem is that lightweight backs make your yardage carries garbage and puts the whole side under pressure. Or lightweight forwards... I get he is trying to distribute the energy drain more evenly across the side but it doesn't work when we're getting hammered early in sets and then pushed into miracle rugby.

As for replacing six players, that's a bold call. I get where you're coming from but is that practical? You'd sign 6 really high quality players from where? And on usually minimum 2-3 year contracts, what about the risk of losing some of our better juniors whose paths are now blocked? Donaldson is done, Fus is most likely joining him, Martin will weigh up his options. Frawley, we'll see. I'd be amazed if Miller or Mom leaves early. I think a Hall +2 scenario is more likely.

This is probably where we differ at heart: I'm an evolutionary kindof guy, you're more a revolutionist.

Re: Am I missing something? : Tue May 07, 2024 8:03 am  

If Rhinos had not caved in against Giants the other week (by the way no excuses for this but almost every team if not all are capable of such a result). We would be joint top of the league. We would still have an horrendous injury issue and we would still have a boat load of whiners on this site!
Are we a good side? Certainly not but we are far better than last season when every time we played a bottom two or three side we lost.
What I am trying to say is we are not a top team but we are by no means as bad as some on here would suggest.

Re: Am I missing something? : Wed May 08, 2024 8:51 am  

Steves wrote:

If Rhinos had not caved in against Giants the other week (by the way no excuses for this but almost every team if not all are capable of such a result). We would be joint top of the league. We would still have an horrendous injury issue and we would still have a boat load of whiners on this site!
Are we a good side? Certainly not but we are far better than last season when every time we played a bottom two or three side we lost.
What I am trying to say is we are not a top team but we are by no means as bad as some on here would suggest.

This 2 points off the top of the league - we're going pretty well etc etc is misleading. Apart from Catalan (who let us off the hook with drop ball on our line time and again) we've lost against every good side we've played and we're out of the cup. We were abysmal against Hull and totally capitulated against Huddersfield, got out of jail against Cas who were awful and very average against London just to name a few. Our stats are dreadful in attack and defence and we're only one win better than last season at this stage.

now if we do something in these next 2 then yes i'd absolutely agree we're going in the right direction and it's not as bad as it seems but at present there's little signs of progress from last year. very little.

Re: Am I missing something? : Wed May 08, 2024 12:18 pm  

KaeruJim wrote:

Miller was the best player on the field last match. I think he is adapting still: if he tightens up his game he’s great to have.

Mom is very different to Nene, apples and oranges there. Also in context of your constant criticism of RS, didn’t he try to sign Nene for 4 years but the player had a brain fart?

Still too many poor signings/decisions. All those criticising Fus but ok with resigning Bentley on 2 years… their appearance ratio is very similar and Fus is clearly the better player.

Jon Gallagher,,Brett Mullins,,David Fusitua expensive Flops.

Re: Am I missing something? : Wed May 08, 2024 1:53 pm  

Bentley's appearance ratio is not "very similar" to Fusitu'a - although not great its almost 50% higher. He's played 45 games compared to Fustiu'a 32 since they debuted in the same game in 2022. I wouldn't have re-signed him simply because I think we need more size, and he can be a bit of a liability at times. If you're going to use stats to prove a point, it helps to get them right....

Re: Am I missing something? : Wed May 08, 2024 9:15 pm  

christopher wrote:

Not getting into the Rohan debate as it’s tiresome.

One thing Ive seen said on here and elsewhere is that we may be on 6 wins and only 2 points of top but we’ve played the bottom three who are as good as a bye, and somehow don’t count.

Does that only apply to us then and not the other 7 teams in the league?

Standard.