No, it's not "obvious", it's a theory. Similarly it's not obvious that Smith has fallen out with Balmforth, again it's just a theory.

Another theory is that the players just aren't good enough. Better players have left than the ones recruited. Now whether the blame for that lays at Smith's door or Pearson's or Clarke's is open to debate.

What a load of rubbish

We’ve been on a steady decline for 7 years, Smith is far from the ‘catalyst’. What we’re seeing is the result of bad recruitment and retention over that time period, on and off the field, stoked by obvious reduction in spends.

I’m not defending Smith, he should be doing a lot better like a lot of the people at the club should be, but this all started way before he was with us.

To be fair I agree I doubt we’d likely finish any higher up the table if Smith was removed. However I would also say it’s not about league position that’s the big issue more the inept and woeful performances that are now very much common place, under Smith we no longer have peaks and troughs in performance it’s just turd every week now.

For me despite Smiths ramblings about players buying in it looks very much to be either the total opposite or that there is simply no structures or game plans being put in place or adequate training methods.

I’ve said before I question the qualifications & credentials of Gene in terms of Coaching ability and what he actually brings to the club.

It’s clear there is something very very wrong within, from Pearson, through to Clark and down to Smith.

I don’t think Smith even with his experience is the right fit or right coach to turn things round on the pitch. If he were we’d have seen improvement in some areas on the field but all we see which is frankly undeniable is the we are actually getting worse each week. The levels of poor performance are not and should not be acceptable and certainly not when our current coach is so experienced.

I know we have a poor squad and injuries but that does not even come close to being an excuse for the continuation of p15s poor discipline, lack of intensity and line speed, all of which are simple and basic aspects of the game.

Yes the players should be doing better but other than Houghton, Lane and Tuimavave it is pretty much a fresh group of players from the previous lot downed tools. So I don’t believe it’s a repeat of player power etc I think it is poor recruitment and very very poor coaching.

I also think it’s time that Pearson faced the music and showed his face to the fans and spoke to us all instead of hiding away as this got me is the biggest insult that the owner/chairman and the CEO have gone in to hiding.

A few players comments on gene , are he’s a nice bloke but his ideas and coaching methods are old school and not what they’ve been used to at other clubs .

Well he is 87

But apart from being Tony's mate what is he actually doing there?

Well I've got to say the training cones looked impeccably aligned on Saturday .

Pretty much like his time at Rovers, where his employment was probably based on nostalgia rather than coaching ability.

Before you all laugh - this is a true story - I was Tim Glasbys boss.
Not the Tim Glasby when he played for Storm and Queensland, but when he worked very part time for Hostplus the
Pension Fund manager in Melbourne.

Hostplus is a big sponsor of Storm and so Tim came into the office once a fortnight for 6 hours and we chatted rugby here and there.

Tim said if Craig Bellamy (greatest coach ever in rugby league) -

“Craig is a FIRM man but also FAIR”

I know we cannot describe any FC coach like that in the last 30 years !!!

Care to elaborate? How is it rubbish whats your counter argument? Can you honestly say we would be any higher? are we better than Salford? Huddersfield? Leeds? Leigh? NO! So therefore we are were we should be given the roster available to us. You could argue with every single player fit we could push for maybe top 8 but that's about it. and before you say it i am not saying the performances couldn't be better, of course they could but realistically the results would be the same, i cant think of one game we have lost this year that we could have won even playing to our full potential can you?