Re: Smith out ASAP : Wed Apr 24, 2024 10:56 am  

I think for me I want to see how Leeds are playing with a little less pressure from the opposition. Hopefully we can pick up 2 wins next and be 6/10, which actually isn't awful as a win rate even if performances are wobbly.

I think my minimum success result for us this year was top half finish and a decent showing in play-offs. If we lose one of the next two games I'm not sure we're going to finish top half and so even voodoo doll gets dusted off. We need to be dominant too because points difference could well matter at the back end of the year.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 10:59 am  

YosemiteSam wrote:

Hull/London are probably the worst two games for RS at this point. Winning well (points wise), given their form to date, no additional credit there. Any other result and he has a very big, immediate problem. I don't see how he can improve his position from these two games. There is only down side for him.

I see it differently, I think this is a change for Leeds to get back on the horse and get back into something of a groove.

We need to play ourselves back into form, we're not going to do it on the training field only.

If we get two solid performances and wins, we are somewhat back on track. If we lose one or both of these then we are in serious trouble and I think RS position becomes untenable.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 11:47 am  

Let's be right - these are two must win games.
Hull are in a mess and are crippled with injuries.
London are the worst team in the league.
Literally no excuses.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 11:52 am  

Yeah I think it's win but also win well: our PD is rubbish and if it ends up being tight at the top half, it's going to count.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 11:58 am  

KaeruJim wrote:

I see it differently, I think this is a change for Leeds to get back on the horse and get back into something of a groove.

We need to play ourselves back into form, we're not going to do it on the training field only.

If we get two solid performances and wins, we are somewhat back on track. If we lose one or both of these then we are in serious trouble and I think RS position becomes untenable.

For me its the worst possible time for these 2 games. 2 'solid peformances' against 2 train wrecks of clubs isnt good enough and will simply paper the cracks / keep Rohan safe until we play someone decent and inevitably get mullered again.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 11:59 am  

Jack Burton wrote:

McClennen was the right man in 2008 to take over fromTS, but it was time for a change when McDermott came in.

I'm very sceptical about RS, and I highly doubt he's the right coach for where we are now, as a club, but I definitely don't think he's a bad coach.

You would have to say that looking at your above quote it says a lot about how hungry Leeds are as a club nowadays. McCllenan was on a percentages basis, the most successful Superleague manager we’ve ever had. Champions for 2 out of his 3 seasons, and play off semi finalists and Challenge Cup finalists the season he was released. That says a lot about what we were aspiring to back then. Yes he had a better team to work with, but I think the ruthless drive within the club that sacked him is no longer apparent. If Smith is a “project”, it’s one that must be swiftly curtailed if we languish in mid table at the end of the year.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:07 pm  

FGB wrote:

For me its the worst possible time for these 2 games. 2 'solid peformances' against 2 train wrecks of clubs isnt good enough and will simply paper the cracks / keep Rohan safe until we play someone decent and inevitably get mullered again.

Who has mullered us this year? Warrington was the only time I can think of.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:33 pm  

KaeruJim wrote:

Who has mullered us this year? Warrington was the only time I can think of.

You must have been watching a different side to most then. We've been dire most games

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:53 pm  

ALAW wrote:

You must have been watching a different side to most then. We've been dire most games

I'd say we've been very good in patches, and then inconsistent for the most part.

Dire is an over-reaction. Some really poor errors and odd decisions have cost us dearly.

There is a crowd power thing, so enough Leeds fans turn on the coach then his position becomes untenable. I think mostly, we're all just sick of being the League's laughing stock and we want the tide to turn.

My question is whether changing RS is going to do that and I'm still not convinced. And as I've said elsewhere, if RS hasn't worked out then we have to also look at GH's position, because ultimately this will have been the 4th coaching set up he's appointed since McDermott which hasn't worked, and as a club this is almost ten years in the wilderness now, with a couple of trophies in that time to paper over cracks maybe.

There is a chance that another coach might come in and being a breath of fresh air, if RS's approach is no longer landing with the players. The best barometer of this is the players themselves, and I doubt any of us on here really know what the players think (without quoting Austin who has sunk without trace after us).

There are some good coaches in the Championship actually, doing good jobs in difficult circumstances very often.

Rowley is a potential candidate if RS can't turn things around sharpish.

Re: Rowley : Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:56 pm  

We haven't been mullered on the scoreboard, but there's something depressingly familiar about the way we're losing games this year vs last season. Losing field position - check. Bad errors when in possession - check. Mostly OK line defence followed by a howler letting in a try - check.

I cannot see GH making a move until the off season myself. If we lose both games at Hull and London maybe that will change, but for good or bad he's decided Smith is the man to take the club forward over the longer term.

Even if/when a decision is made to make a change, I can't see Leeds looking for a coach in a professional way. Furner got the gig as an ex-player. Agar was a caretaker coach who got a dead cat bounce and then proved his previous record as a coach was a pretty accurate guide to his ability. Smith seemingly got the gig because he knows Chev and is Tony's nephew. None of that smacks of a professional approach to appointing a coach. Just more jobs for the lads.

I still hope Rohan can turn things around. I really do. But if he doesn't the alternative is more likely to be some combination of Golden Generation former players with zero track record than genuinely the next 'big thing' out of Australia.