Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:11 am  

Loiner at large wrote:

29 tackles and only played 40 minutes. If we going to continue to play the way we are he definitely needs to play the first half every week!
Will be missing next week so others need to step up defensively.

I think we'd all mostly agree he is very good in defensive workrate, no issues there.

We also have a lot of complaining on here about lack of go-forward and he is one of the main culprits, as a forward. Contrast with Martin and McDonnell who both offer loads more in offense, and this is why I wouldn't have Bentley in my starting 13. McDonnell is physically bigger and stronger than Bentley and looks to be improving there too. He handles bigger men better than Bentley can IMO and he is better technically on the ground too, whereas Bentley tends to niggle too much and get pinged for it. I also think McDonnell has better skill than Bentley, generally.

Martin has been very decent this year in the second row - at least what he lacks in outright size he makes up for in pace. If he breaks the first line he's dangerous.

My first choice back row would be McDonnell and Martin, and I'd let Goudemand, Bentley, Gannon, O'Connor and whoever else fight out the bench spots. Actually the better comparison is Bentley v O'Connor as they are similar players in some ways.

I was thinking a couple of times when Mom went for intercepts, in dry conditions I reckon he takes those and it's probably a try. His rugby brain is there he's just not quite on his timing and form yet. Interested to see how he develops with more game time and drier tracks, he could be disappointing or ace, haven't made my mind up yet.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:23 am  

Exeter Rhino wrote:

Newman did not fail his HIA, he needs stitches in a badly cut lip.

Holroyd did not play because of heavy bruising sustained when a Saints player pushed him into the advertising signs.

Gannon is out long-term - they are taking it slowly because of the concussions. I doubt he's ready yet.

I agree Leeds should have had an antidote to being pegged back for so long in the first half. We should also credit the outstanding defence a bit more too. I agree it will need to be better against Warrington.

I can see a pattern developing with the Smith haters that we only win when the opposition are poor. At what point do you give the guy some credit for those four wins? Okay, we have better players this season, does Smith not get credit for identifying them and signing them, or is it GH? But I thought everyone agrees that GH has lost the plot when it comes to recruitment... People have been moaning about Olpherts, the guy is moved on, and who gets the credit? This time last season we weren't winning as much, and the mantra was all about getting results - so what has changed now we're getting a few?

Good post.

I can totally see where the RS criticism comes from - some of it is to do with how we play and a perceived lack of "structure". I think there is a kind of structure but it's not as regimented. Whether it works or not time will tell. Much of the rest of the criticism is just bias because people don't like the bloke's personality as far as I can see.

Don't get me wrong, he doesn't have excuses this season for poor table position or too many poor results, unless we have another injury tsunami. I'm not completely sold on how he's asking the team to play yet myself: although I would say the conditions have been crappy and levelling so far this year.

I can't argue with any of his post-match summary - we have played well in large patches this year. We haven't done it for long enough periods but when we are on form we look very good actually. I am concerned with how easily we're getting rolled down field and how hard work we make of gaining territory when we have the ball. However here we are at 4-2 with a decent sequence coming up ahead. If we beat Wire we're suddenly looking half competitive at least in terms of table.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:59 am  

I'm going to the Wire game (first live match in over 10 years) so will probably join the chorus of Smith haters if we play the same way as we did in the first half against Cas

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 12:01 pm  

Keep the faith Ex.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 12:35 pm  

You can tell I'm avoiding doing the garden today...

So this next couple of weeks is interesting for us now. Points difference isn't great for us, but on actual points we're looking good at this stage. After this weekend we'll be sitting on 8 points behind the top two sides on 10 points.

I still think we're going to hammer someone at some point, so hopefully that for and against will improve.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:25 pm  

Exeter Rhino wrote:

Newman did not fail his HIA, he needs stitches in a badly cut lip.

Holroyd did not play because of heavy bruising sustained when a Saints player pushed him into the advertising signs.

Gannon is out long-term - they are taking it slowly because of the concussions. I doubt he's ready yet.

I agree Leeds should have had an antidote to being pegged back for so long in the first half. We should also credit the outstanding defence a bit more too. I agree it will need to be better against Warrington.

I can see a pattern developing with the Smith haters that we only win when the opposition are poor. At what point do you give the guy some credit for those four wins? Okay, we have better players this season, does Smith not get credit for identifying them and signing them, or is it GH? But I thought everyone agrees that GH has lost the plot when it comes to recruitment... People have been moaning about Olpherts, the guy is moved on, and who gets the credit? This time last season we weren't winning as much, and the mantra was all about getting results - so what has changed now we're getting a few?

I am certainly not a Smith hater, on the other hand I am not a great fan of his. I don’t take any perverse delight when we are defeated, however if we play badly and some of the coaching is questionable I will certainly comment on that. As I have posted previously since super league was formed the top 4 clubs have been Saints, Wigan, us and Warrington . We have just suffered 2 comprehensive home defeats to saints which is a cause for concern. Whatever happens results wise I think Smith should stay to the end of season. Finish in the top 4 wonderful, outside the top 4 failure, he should go. It’s not acceptable for a club of Leeds stature and fan base to finish outside the top four three seasons on the trot. Certainly when Saints and Wigan have suffered set backs the fans and club quite rightly complained. In both cases things were soon back on track,EG Saints after the Cunningham debacle and Wigan bring in a new coach and strengthened the squad .Both of these sides at the moment appear to have a stronger squad than us.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:35 pm  

Interesting to hear Smith say that winning was the most important thing in the press conference after the game. Last year it was all talk about process and performances, and all the while we were losing too many games. Losing games like Cas absolutely kills momentum, and its good to know that this year the coach acknowledge that the table matters.

On your point Backwoodsman, I think the club see this as a transition season again. We've had to make too many changes too fast to be able to get exactly the squad we want, our pack is just too lightweight and we've got a host of kids who look like they could be stars who just aren't ready yet. Even so the squad is looking closer to decent than it has for too many years. It feels like for the first time in a long time there's actually a plan to get us back to the top.

Whether Smith will be the coach if/when we really challenge regularly, the jury's out. I don't think losing the field position battle every game is a winning strategy at all, nor is playing without much structure. Maybe we'll see things change over the course of the season?

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 2:13 pm  

Backwoodsman wrote:

I am certainly not a Smith hater, on the other hand I am not a great fan of his. I don’t take any perverse delight when we are defeated, however if we play badly and some of the coaching is questionable I will certainly comment on that. As I have posted previously since super league was formed the top 4 clubs have been Saints, Wigan, us and Warrington . We have just suffered 2 comprehensive home defeats to saints which is a cause for concern. Whatever happens results wise I think Smith should stay to the end of season. Finish in the top 4 wonderful, outside the top 4 failure, he should go. It’s not acceptable for a club of Leeds stature and fan base to finish outside the top four three seasons on the trot. Certainly when Saints and Wigan have suffered set backs the fans and club quite rightly complained. In both cases things were soon back on track,EG Saints after the Cunningham debacle and Wigan bring in a new coach and strengthened the squad .Both of these sides at the moment appear to have a stronger squad than us.

Warrington are not one of the too 4 clubs never won Super league, only Leeds Bradford Saints Wigan have, multi times each Warrington won no more trophies in SL era than Hull. We should be aiming for too 3 every year.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 2:25 pm  

I know people see me as a Smith hater, I’m not I actually think the bloke comes across quite well in interviews and on TV. I just fundamentally disagree with his coaching strategy and game plan.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 3:03 pm  

We really weren’t that bad against Cas: I think people have assumed too much about their form. It’s just one of those fixtures that means a lot more to Cas than to Leeds and they aim up.

Our line speed was poor through sections of the first half and we could do with another forward who can bend the line but we were okay otherwise and good in parts.