50,000 sandbags at the top of McDermott’s wishilist

Brian McDermott believes Leeds Rhinos can improve next year… by investing in sandbags.

The Rhinos finished top of the Qualifiers with a 37-12 victory over Leigh Centurions, bringing an end to a difficult year for the club on a high.

When asked what Leeds could do differently next year to ensure they improve, McDermott said: “Buy about 50,000 sandbags, and put them all up the side of Kirkstall,” referencing back to when the club’s training ground was flooded before pre-season.

“Have we done some things wrong? Yes, of course we have. Have I made one or two errors? Absolutely I have, yeah. Can you stay in your post and can you hold your nerve long enough so that you can learn from those mistakes? That is where we are all at, at the moment.”

“I thought it was a great performance, the best we’ve had for quite some time, defensively especially. There were a few reasons we wanted to win tonight and a few reasons we wanted to finish strong. We didn’t see the best of Leigh, and that was down to our defence.”

McDermott also admitted it has been his toughest year in the sport, saying: “The fact we found ourselves in the middle eight was a huge blow to us. When we lost that game to Widnes by a drop goal that meant we were in the Qualifiers, that was a big blow.

“It’s been my toughest year in rugby league, for sure. When I coached down at London it was hard yards but there was always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that I was always chasing.

“There didn’t seem to be an answer this year.”

Yet Despite such a troubled year, McDermott insisted he had never considered walking away from the job.

“I couldn’t live with myself,” he said.

“I stayed on the rock face. I wasn’t sure if I could climb up and I knew climbing down wasn’t an option, but dropping off is absolutely not an option.”