Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 11:30 am  

It’s clear there’s a big issue players arguing on the field. Probably no respect for RS. GH needs to swallow his pride and sack Smith immediately. But can GH admit he got it wrong?

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 12:13 pm  

Steves wrote:

It’s clear there’s a big issue players arguing on the field. Probably no respect for RS. GH needs to swallow his pride and sack Smith immediately. But can GH admit he got it wrong?

Not sure if GH ever admits he got it wrong, if he does its very rare.
Whether Smith is a poor coach or too inexperienced GH choose him.
In any organisation or business its the man at the top who is responsible and if its floundering then they tend to be replaced.
If Smith goes then GH should go as well.GH has been great for the club in the past but he is now like a boxer who cannot realise or does not want to admit he's had too many fights.
He is totally out of touch and a younger man needs to replace him with fresh ideas.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 12:44 pm  

Agee with your comments SteveM but we do not live in an ideal world so the best we can hope for is Mr Hetherington admits his latest mistake (even if privately) and does the right thing and replaces RS. No point waiting any longer. If decisive action is taken and a good positive replacement is found quickly, even Mr Wane. Then we can salvage something from this season. If he doesn’t take action then Mr Hetherington must carry the can when it comes to a big decline in season ticket renewals for 2025

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 12:57 pm  

The least-worst option is probably to keep Smith on to the end of the year regardless. If we go for another coach mid season we might see the usual dead cat bounce of a new man, give him a long deal and then discover he's actually useless (see Agar). The only value I could see in replacing Smith mid season is in sending a message to players that what they are delivering isn't good enough. I would only bring in a coach mid season on the basis that unless we win the GF under them, they wouldn't be here next season. I doubt you'd have many takers.

In terms of replacement, just going to Australia isn't enough. Furner was from Australia and was awful, but anyone who had looked at his record at the Raiders would have steered well clear. But GH knew him, so in he came. Smith had a reasonable track record, but how much did the fact he was Tony's nephew have in the decision to hire him? The professional thing to do would be to pay someone who really knows their stuff and is very close to the reserve game in Aus to get us a shortlist of young, hungry coaches in Aus, and pick from them. I'd also think seriously about paying someone like Gus Gould to do an independent review of the playing and junior development side in the off season, as its clearly a complete mess.

Regardless, our next coach is not going to have the room to manoeuvre that Smith had this off season. I would expect them to look at the pack in particular and try to get rid of some midgets and bring in bigger forwards, and take some obvious decisions like not renewing Fusitu'a. Martin might also have to be sacrificed to get the cap and quota space to bring in what we need. But we will be stuck with the majority of the squad we have for a couple of years.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 1:29 pm  

There's about as much chance of Hetherington retiring as there is Putin calling it a day.

As for the coach, he's probably got time yet. But if the home losses keep mounting, patience at the club may run out. If the players want him to stay we ought to see a response in the coming games.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 2:40 pm  

Exeter Rhino wrote:

You must be delighted with yesterday's result. You are probably not even a Leeds supporter.

There are probably good reasons Wane has not been brought in for the head coach role for another SL club. I would struggle to see him fitting in at Headingley.

If we do decide the change the coach, a successful appointment for me would be someone who is capable of getting the most out of the current squad, which has been expensively assembled, much of which is under contract for next season and beyond, and features a growing number of young players. IMO the squad is good enough to be higher on the ladder, aside from needing a bit more firepower in the forwards.

If we go for a new coach who wants a clear-out it will be back to square one again, and I don't think the club can afford that unless it is determined that the likes of Croft, Ackers, Miller and co are not what we need.

If you had read my past posts you would have noticed that I am a life long supporter of our club. I am 69 years of age. My first final was Wembley 78. So I have seen some terrible games and leeds teams but none so gutless clueles and down right badley coached bunch of individuals. So no it gives me no pleasure at all to see my club like it is now. I have never been one for sacking coach's but he is way out of his depth. He seems like a nice bloke but maybe the team need a disciplinarian and not a mate. Just of the record I stand in the southstand where my father and his father before him stud. Even after the rebuild.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 2:57 pm  

I’d like Watson or Rowley as our next coach if we went UK. I wouldn’t rule out Wane either. If NRL I wonder if Woolf or Holbrook would come back to the UK

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 3:01 pm  

I just can't see him being sacked.

How many coaches have we gone through in the last five years or so?.
Who will want to come mid season that isn't already contracted ?.

Who would come knowing it's a huge job and they have 0 time to set stuff right before they are on the chopping block?.

Who wants to be in charge of year 10 of the rebuild with a team made from multiple short term coach appointments?.

We need to fork out the big bucks and get a big name that knows what to do and who he wants on his staff.
Even then with a great contract we will struggle to get him.

If RS goes now we get another temp coach or a cheap bargin bin appointment

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 3:38 pm  

Trebor1 wrote:

I’d like Watson or Rowley as our next coach if we went UK. I wouldn’t rule out Wane either. If NRL I wonder if Woolf or Holbrook would come back to the UK

Believe Woolf's taking over from Bennett at the Dolphins, Demetriou might find himself available pretty soon & could fancy it having spent his playing career over here

Re: Smith out ASAP : Sat Apr 20, 2024 5:22 pm  

Absolutely the wrong thing to do if we change coach - unless and until we can find the right man for Leeds. Absolutely zero point changing one gamble for another gamble. We need a coach with track record and who is strong enough to handle egos like Newman. He should have been brought off after 20 mins yesterday but he seemed to refuse the touch line instruction.

The club should have top class technical and conditioning coaches and a head coach who can really handle players and pressure. That Leeds job is such a crazy hot seat.