[quote="KaeruJim"]
There's always a mix isn't there? Rohan, however, does not have to keep picking a lad who has been terrible under the high ball all season. On Frawley, I have nothing against attempting to get the ball to Handley in that situation. The thing is a half back of even normal pace would have made enough ground to not have to attempt the pass in contact. Not Rohan's fault but his signing and his selection.

Regardless, the next few weeks are enormous for Smith (assuming he lasts this week!). If we lose to Cas I'd say there's no coming back from that, and there's only downside in all the games to Wire. Lose any of them before then and the pitchforks will be out, win them and he'll barely nudge the dial because only Leigh are even half decent. In some ways he'd be better with games against teams just above us for the next few games.

Agree with that but the notion that if Leeds don't finish top 4 is abject failure is based on flawed assumptions. In theory, 100% Leeds should be challenging for silverware every year of course. In practice we have no divine right and this squad and likely the coach too isn't working to the right standard. Problem is you can't assume your better players will hang around forever in an over-pressurised environment like Leeds. For me 2025 is the crucible year, where I would totally say that a finish outside the top 4 is not acceptable. For 2024 a play-offs spot would be good enough for me, yes.

I agree with Jim that most of the errors are not directly about any style the team are being asked to play. We are making these consistently through games, including spells when the pressure is off. Of course when we have been under the pump for extended periods of time the incidence of errors and penalties increases.

Re: the forwards, they need to step up collectively. Individually few have done much of merit this season. Oledski needs to be more aggressive, run hard more often, and not simply look to go to ground quickly to win a quick PTB on every tackle.

Lisone might be a Matt Adamson style fans favourite but he's the first one that I would show the door to. His discipline is atrocious for a player who spends so little time on the field. We are not getting value for our quota spot here. His 5 minute cameos might work against poorer sides but he lacks the size and impact to be a competition leading player. He might be worth it if the rest of the forwards are laying some sort of platform but that's not happening.

McDonnell was a strong player last season but he seems to have faded a lot. Reading Redvee (I know!), they seem to regard him as a bit of a grub and can't understand why Leeds put so much stock in him. I don't agree with all of that, but he does seem to be really struggling this season. Cameron Smith is another who looks really out of sorts. Goudemand looks pretty anonymous. Might as well give Donaldson another run out...

[quote="ArthurClues"]
Who else would he pick though Clueso? He tried Lumb who went pop. Edgell is game but not a big lad, and is gonna get dominated in the tackle and in D potentially more than Roberts, who at least has some size. Ned McCormack could play wing but probably isn't quite quick enough (looked like he got chased down a bit against Luke Briscoe at one point against Donny..), and again is learning his trade in RL. Jack Smith I think has been injured. RS brought in Matty Russell who went pop within 30 minutes. What do you want him to do?

Roberts looks miles better at centre where he's not so exposed under the high bomb, but RS has to pick the least bad side he can - like Frawley in for Sinfield, which for Saints I actually think was the right selection because of his D. Hurrell ran at him all night, if they'd have done the same on Sinfield he'd have really, really struggled. If Jack had missed 12-15 tackles and let Hurrell run over him several times, everyone on here would be criticising Smith to high heaven for exposing the young lad too early, he literally can't win.

The only thing that can protect Smith is winning games, as soon as you're losing too much then the knives come out and people vent their frustrations and blame. We should be winning 3/4 of the next fixtures and putting better performances in.

Agree - with McDonnell the problem is, like with Holroyd, they both do a ton of work in D which gasses them. They're having to do this work because players around them aren't - I just think it makes both players look worse than they actually are. Both would look way better playing with 2 really high quality forwards to take some pressure off.

Lisone is devastating on his day, but for an experienced player he doesn't control it well enough. Giving away penalties when you're in possession is mindless. Again, he only works well in a team that is already dominant, and he can come in and twist the knife. He doesn't have the control to work well in a team under pressure.

We'r a terribly coached team, we have no structure and no plan, obvious to anyone with eyes

Our talent ID is also appalling, what kind of team are we, its Smiths team now, thats last seasons excuses out the way, so what does a Smith team look like:

Are we a Big team?
Are we a Quick team?
Are we a fit team?
Are we an intelligent team?
Are we a resilient team?

The answers no to all, we have no playing identity that translates to successful RL.

He will leave us, hopefully soon, in as bad a mess as he found us

Ive said it before, he wont be going until the end of the season unless he quits (which he wont)

We cant be relegated so there's no onus on the hierarchy to get rid until then.

Best you might see is an announcement that hes off home at end of season / got a new exciting opportunity back home / family issue and thats it if we get pumped in next few games.

Fir smith to say we're still a new side and for anyone to give him mitigation for our current plight, look at Rowley and what he's had to face with his star players been sold having to pull a team together in the off season. Smith has an embarrassment of resources compared to Salford yet they still continue to overachieve.

I see your Rowley and I'll raise you a Sam Burgess.

Now Im not saying that Wire will go on to win any pots but hes taken a misfiring, spice boys joke of a team and in one preseason moulded them into a very solid, taught team. Their defence is spot on, their attack is crisp and they really look like they are finally moving in the right direction.

1 off season and were what? 2 years in on Rohans Revolution and we still cant string results or performances together?