Difficult to assess Rhinos performance against one of the weakest ever Super League teams. Thought the kicking game was better and some of the interplay between half backs was better. Even allowing for the low quality of the opponents Sinfield was playing against, I see no reason why he wouldn’t get a starting place in the next game. I think Miller gets a bit too giddy. At one point Handley was gesturing to him to calm down.
Not quite sure what Smith has done to justify more patience from the fans ?
If the players are sending a message they really want to play for him after all the flak he's received (see Miller interview on Sky), shouldn't the fans get behind him as well, instead of making premature judgements?
Smith is actually doing what a lot of the naysayers are demanding - picking young players and dropping players who are struggling (Frawley). Does anyone who wants him out give Smith credit for that? We're also getting into a patch of the season when injuries are probably biting us harder than most clubs - call it an excuse if you want to pursue that agenda, but again not everything that transpires is down to the coach. It's not as bad as the training ground flooding excuses of yesteryear...
On the game itself, I thought Leeds were much improved after the Hull game. Fewer errors and a bit more composure helped a lot. You could sense that the players wanted to put in a professional display. No doubt some of the higher placed teams could have scored more, but we're still a work in progress. The performance was pretty decent considering Croft (who leads the team for try assists) went off leaving Sinfield as the only recognised half-back for most of the game; we also did well considering the very early loss of Lumb.
Leeds have actually been pretty unlucky in consistently losing outside backs to injury early in games in the last few weeks. These kinds of injuries can be pretty disruptive (see Hudds game) and they are a real test of our squad depth. Losing rotation forwards is arguably easier to deal with because it typically requires the other forwards doing slightly longer stints or making extra effort, rather than having to force disruptive positional changes.
Thought Jack went well and he should keep his place. In fairness I suspect Frawley would have gone a lot better against last nights opposition. We'll find out a lot more about his progression next week. Just good to go to HQ and see a comfortable win. 13k in attendance is testament to the ongoing loyalty of the core support.