christopher wrote:Im not convinced Rowley is the right choice. But ultimately that’s now Bleases call and he knows him better than most
I've thought since we signed Croft and Ackers that Rowley would be the next coach. Now that Blease is on board it does seem the logical outcome. However, if Arthur were to come he'd be the first bona-fide head coach from the NRL in a long, long time. Would be a major statement of intent. Ultimately, there are pros and cons with either. Would be less happy with JD given the fall out at Souths.
Joined: Feb 26 2002 Posts: 9594 Location: anywhere, literally...
So I’ve been clear I haven’t wanted him as coach for a long time, that’s not a personal attack, I just didn’t think he was experienced enough and I didn’t buy into his ideas about the way the game should be played. The club have made the right move.
I wish him well, people says he’s a nice bloke and his contribution to the club statement seems to underline this. I hope he has success in the future, and that his life is a bit more peaceful now.
It's not how much talent you've got, it's what you do with it that counts.
Joined: May 28 2002 Posts: 7411 Location: Isca Dumnoniorum
In hindsight, I don't think it did Smith any favours that we made the GF in his first season. Expectations (including my own) were raised too high after that.
Conversely I wonder if we had managed to win the first game against Saints this season whether the team would have had the confidence to kick on. Probably not, but things really dropped off after that peak performance.
I agree his position had become untenable, and his win-loss record sums that up (second worse after Furner, who admittedly was a lot worse than Smith). In a longer perspective Smith merely carried on the mediocrity of the Agar days, and we were looking for a Murray-style appointment. First few months aside, I don't think Smith had much luck at Leeds - and I'm not talking about silly things like the training ground flooding (the classic Mac era excuse). I think his spine signings will all be okay but failing to buy good forwards was a major undoing.
batleyrhino wrote:So I’ve been clear I haven’t wanted him as coach for a long time, that’s not a personal attack, I just didn’t think he was experienced enough and I didn’t buy into his ideas about the way the game should be played. The club have made the right move.
I wish him well, people says he’s a nice bloke and his contribution to the club statement seems to underline this. I hope he has success in the future, and that his life is a bit more peaceful now.
Nobody wants to be sacked but I know his wife wanted to go back to Oz , so his wider life will be simpler now and it’s for the best.
It had to happen, personally I’ve not enjoyed watching this team for a long time. I think we played better stuff on attack in 2022 and the run to the GF , and I’d suspect Sean Long was a big factor. Since he left we have looked pretty clueless with the ball.
He has exited huge number of players but Also recruited a lot of mediocre and downright poor players.
Hetherington has ultimately ducked responsibility for his error “the most important appointment blah, blah”.
Even now he is still spouting utter garbage about strategy . What a shambles, 7 out with HIA’s . 4 from Saturday but none were withdrawn from the game. We get Warrington’s 5th choice winger and Wigan’s 10th choice prop on loan plus trying to get in Jake Connor. Hardly a model senior pro.
Jesus wept, we are plumbing new depths every week. Unless someone gets a grip this season will get even worse
Last edited by Sir Gregory ParsloeP on Wed Jun 19, 2024 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Aug 02 2002 Posts: 7392 Location: Wakefield but near to Leeds!
christopher wrote:He also cleared out a lot of the players that many on here wanted rid of.
I think Hetherington needs to shoulder a lot of the blame here, Rohan’s remit was clearly far too big for a coach of his experience
Yes GH has a lot to answer for and has a habit of deflecting the blame elsewhere to save his own skin. He has in the past worked wonders for the club but I do feel he needs to take a back seat now and hopefully with IB in place the club can move forward. Personally I would like Arthur as coach.
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