Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Fri Apr 08, 2022 5:33 pm  

Seth wrote:

Surely adding any new staff to the coaching team would be at the request of a new head coach?

Paul Anderson incoming

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Fri Apr 08, 2022 6:33 pm  

Once were Loiners wrote:

It really will be a disaster if GH comes back empty-handed from a trip to Aus. Really difficult to spin that into something other than Leeds being seen as a complete basket-case.

Re Flanagan and the NRL. Saying he must be good as he's NRL is daft - Austin and Sezer both have far more NRL experience, and we've all seen NRL nobodies disappear without trace in SL. The standard in Australia is higher, but not to the point where you can and should expect much from a reserve halfback.

If he comes back empty-handed, just get Tony Smith in. He’s a fresh pair of eyes (been gone 15 years) but still knows the context of the club.

Just get him in and give him carte-blanche to get us back. He’s past his peak but we know he’s good for it, he can improve players, especially the young players, and make the team greater than it’s sum.

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Fri Apr 08, 2022 6:41 pm  

Seth wrote:

Surely adding any new staff to the coaching team would be at the request of a new head coach?

Be a contract for a month or two, I'd have thought

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Fri Apr 08, 2022 8:22 pm  

FlexWheeler wrote:

If he comes back empty-handed, just get Tony Smith in. He’s a fresh pair of eyes (been gone 15 years) but still knows the context of the club.

Just get him in and give him carte-blanche to get us back. He’s past his peak but we know he’s good for it, he can improve players, especially the young players, and make the team greater than it’s sum.

Completely agree. He gets players consistently playing to their potential. Something Agar couldn't do. He can improve players. We may not win a GF under Tony Smith but neither would we flirt with relegation. Where we are now as a club that works for me. Bringing in someone from the NRL may be a better solution but is far riskier. He is a safe pair of hands.
If he brings Danny Mags with him as a form of succession planning then so much the better.

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Fri Apr 08, 2022 10:17 pm  

Is there any indication Tony Smith wants the job and would be willing to walk out of his KR contract for it?

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Fri Apr 08, 2022 11:40 pm  

Marty Grrrrrrrrrr! wrote:

Is there any indication Tony Smith wants the job and would be willing to walk out of his KR contract for it?

I don't think he'd ever walk out on his contract at Hull KR so it would have to be an end of season appointment rather than arriving any time soon.

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Sat Apr 09, 2022 9:18 am  

Marty Grrrrrrrrrr! wrote:

Is there any indication Tony Smith wants the job and would be willing to walk out of his KR contract for it?

Why would he vacate a winning positive environment to take on the negative environment at Leeds and be hamstrung by Hetherington wanting bargain basement players who are well past their best.. perhaps Hetherington really wants to play Bradford and he sees dropping to their level as the best route to achieve that

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Sat Apr 09, 2022 9:42 am  

Bobtownrhino wrote:

Why would he vacate a winning positive environment to take on the negative environment at Leeds and be hamstrung by Hetherington wanting bargain basement players who are well past their best.. perhaps Hetherington really wants to play Bradford and he sees dropping to their level as the best route to achieve that

I think Gary has a lot to answer for and i mean a lot but we dont shop in the bargain bin compared to most other clubs really. The 4 signings we made this year certainly wasnt seen that way. We spend close to the cap limit and weve brought in marquee earning players in the past.

Yes theres been cheap squad fillers, you have to have them in a salary cap sport. Lets not pretend we didnt have them in our successful squads in the past.

Attitude, pride, hunger, character and determination have been sadly lacking since week 1.

Years ago if a player or coach left GH would have a better replacement lined up but those days now are over. His eye for players and coaches, his contacts, his knowledge and his hunger have gone i think. Lets be honest the Agar situation was obvious 2 or 3 weeks before it happened in truth. Did the club do anything to line up replacements? Clearly not cos 3 week after were no nearer by the looks and that has to be GH's fault. Were left with JJB running the team over Easter, good golly. What a mess.

Gary has been truly amazing for Leeds but hes getting old now. His best days are long gone. He was so on the ball before.

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:12 am  

It's really very difficult to re-establish momentum with a) salary cap and b) disparity between Super League and RU/NRL. Other clubs being willing to spend money to attract young talent when we're not is also an issue, I'd like to think we could at least be more competitive there.

My beef is in the signings over a long period of time. I myself thought Sezer was a good signing and will hold my hand up there, but many of the others we sign on name or reputation rather than form, and it's bitten us time and time again. We got lucky for 1 season with Gale but... for what the club has spent on Merrin, Lolohea, Hurrell, Tetevano, maybe now Fusitu'a... far far too many big name players sink without a trace at Leeds and have been for years.

I believe the club still has an arrogance about how good an environment it is, how good the facilities are, and that we can take players from any other club and make them thrive... OK well where is the evidence? If anything it's been the opposite where players leaving us play better at another club!

Our key issue is that the players we have are simply not good enough and/or are not in form. Unfortunately we probably have 4-5 players who shouldn't be in the first grade squad still - maybe we'll sort this out at the end of the season.

We have been in desperate need of a quality big prop for years now, failed to address it and now Holroyd is injured and Tetevano banned yet again, surprise surprise we're getting mullered down the middle. Mik has been asked to do far too much work for far too long.

We have been consistently out-recruited by Cats, Saints and Wigan for years and this is where we are. We do have some excellent youth but it's dribs and drabs playing in sides which are getting physically beaten most weeks.

It's not all doom and gloom, I really think we have the nucleus of a strong side still emerging. This year is very difficult to swallow because we've all been through such a long time in the doldrums, and we thought we were past relegation battles by now. I'm super-patient but even I'm pretty exasperated with it by now.

Re: 2022 | Head Coach talk : Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:19 am  

KaeruJim wrote:

It's really very difficult to re-establish momentum with a) salary cap and b) disparity between Super League and RU/NRL. Other clubs being willing to spend money to attract young talent when we're not is also an issue, I'd like to think we could at least be more competitive there.

My beef is in the signings over a long period of time. I myself thought Sezer was a good signing and will hold my hand up there, but many of the others we sign on name or reputation rather than form, and it's bitten us time and time again. We got lucky for 1 season with Gale but... for what the club has spent on Merrin, Lolohea, Hurrell, Tetevano, maybe now Fusitu'a... far far too many big name players sink without a trace at Leeds and have been for years.

I believe the club still has an arrogance about how good an environment it is, how good the facilities are, and that we can take players from any other club and make them thrive... OK well where is the evidence? If anything it's been the opposite where players leaving us play better at another club!

Our key issue is that the players we have are simply not good enough and/or are not in form. Unfortunately we probably have 4-5 players who shouldn't be in the first grade squad still - maybe we'll sort this out at the end of the season.

We have been in desperate need of a quality big prop for years now, failed to address it and now Holroyd is injured and Tetevano banned yet again, surprise surprise we're getting mullered down the middle. Mik has been asked to do far too much work for far too long.

We have been consistently out-recruited by Cats, Saints and Wigan for years and this is where we are. We do have some excellent youth but it's dribs and drabs playing in sides which are getting physically beaten most weeks.

It's not all doom and gloom, I really think we have the nucleus of a strong side still emerging. This year is very difficult to swallow because we've all been through such a long time in the doldrums, and we thought we were past relegation battles by now. I'm super-patient but even I'm pretty exasperated with it by now.

Agreed. Good to see you post again.