Best British Coach of the Decade? : Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:33 pm  

Following the Leeds Golden Generation's victory at Wembley, I am tempted to poke the wasps' nest of groaners and grumblers on this site by suggesting that Brian McDermott really is the best British RL coach of the present day, at least since Noble's star began to wane after Bradford's glory years.

When Big Mac left London and took over as Leeds Coach, I thought he was inheriting an ageing team going into a period of transition and decline, and that it would be a while before they won anything again. In fact he has honed the blend of veterans and newcomers to perfection, won two grand finals and now added the Challenge Cup. OK, I have to admit that they are the best team of the Super league era, but to keep them going year after year when so many of them are well into their 30s is a fantastic achievement.

The tributes paid to the coach by Sinfield and Peacock (both of whom know more about the game than everyone who posts on this site combined) prove the respect and awe in which we is held by some of the finest players of their generation.

He is now being hailed as the most successful coach in the long history of Leeds RL (and I have been supporting them since the 60s and have seen plenty come and go), so isn't it time to re-evaluate his contribution to London?. He was a key advocate of developing local young players, gave them plenty of opportunities to play alongside better British and Aussie players and built up a reasonable foundation which has been squandered by years of rank bad management and indifferent coaching. The team may not have been all that successful on the field, but I suspect the playing and development budget was always less than our main rivals and at least the lads usually gave it a go, even when they were outclassed.

There is one other important lesson we can learn from the Rhinos. The main reason Leeds have been the most successful club of the last decade is that they have been the best run business in Super League. The reason London are bottom of the League and are going down is that we have been the worst run business. In Joey Grima, it looks as though we may now have a coach to take us forward, but has the club learnt the lesson that professional sport is a business and needs to be run on sound business principles? Time will tell.

Re: Best British Coach of the Decade? : Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:58 pm  

How much coaching does a team with Sinfield, Maguire, Burrow, Hall etc. really require?

I bet even Powell could do a job with that lot.

Re: Best British Coach of the Decade? : Mon Aug 25, 2014 8:12 pm  

That's a very thought provoking thread Slaphead. McDermott in retrospect was battling years of a losing culture and it takes a long time to turn around (think Salford). I believe Grima to be potentially superior, certainly way more approachable, collaborative and fan friendly than McDermott. He is the best thing to happen to London in a very long time.

Re: Best British Coach of the Decade? : Wed Aug 27, 2014 6:29 pm  

I've always thought that Mac's contribution to the London Cause both at SL & Community level was something that would be appreciated more as season's pass by fans and critics alike.

I hope time proves that his contribution was worthwhile.

Re: Best British Coach of the Decade? : Thu Aug 28, 2014 6:36 pm  

I am happy to concede that I got it wrong with regards to Mac. He's done well at Leeds off his own bat......initially you got the impression that they only won when they ignored his instructions, but now they play his style of the game and they win and that, in professional sport, is all that can be expected of him.
His passion and belief in the game down south was never in question.......his leaving was one of the things that has us where we are now.

Re: Best British Coach of the Decade? : Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:08 pm  

gutterfax wrote:

I am happy to concede that I got it wrong with regards to Mac. He's done well at Leeds off his own bat......initially you got the impression that they only won when they ignored his instructions, but now they play his style of the game and they win and that, in professional sport, is all that can be expected of him.
His passion and belief in the game down south was never in question.......his leaving was one of the things that has us where we are now.

Me too. I reluctantly and belatedly joined the Sack Mac campaign, must have been after a sequence of poor results - might have been a shambolic home defeat by HKR that convinced me.

But I can't really argue with his achievements at Leeds.

Re: Best British Coach of the Decade? : Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:53 pm  

British coach...not easy. Guess Big Mac...I like him, always talks sense, never arrogant or gets carried away.