New Leeds Rhinos Coach

[Hopie]

Not great from Leeds tonight but they aren't sacking a coach in these circumstances, no matter how many fans of other clubs call for it.

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Hopie said:

Not great from Leeds tonight but they aren't sacking a coach in these circumstances, no matter how many fans of other clubs call for it.

Plenty of Leeds fans have been calling for it.

It's not just under these circumstances though is it? He's had 2 years, spent and recruited big and still has a poorly performing team.

[Tommygilf]

25 minutes ago, Damien said:

Well after another defeat at home, and a particularly big one at that, and another poor performance surely Leeds must now be seriously questioning if Smith can continue as coach. Its his team, with plenty of big name and big money recruits but the same poor Leeds performances. He surely carries the can for this.

Smith is between a rock and a hard place: either it is his team and he's telling them to play like that, or it's Hetherington's team and he can't complain to his boss about all the money he has spent.

FWIW I think it's somewhere between the two. The squad churn, particularly in the halves and backs, seems very much associated with what Smith wants. Signing say Matt Frawley however seems much more Hetherington-esque.

When this thread was first started he was a left field, cheap(ish) punt (very similar to Oxen/EPS getting the kit rights incidentally). I remember saying myself that he had as much credentials as say Justin Holbrook prior to joining Saints for example, and it clearly could work well.

His first 6 months or so were about righting the ship, which he achieved by basically letting the players have a bit of fun and play with no pressure or expectation. It got us to a Grand Final with decent form. Since his first pre-season however, it's started to look like he's in over his head. Our attack has had zero structure. He's tried things out like no captain and no linespeed (and then corrected them) as if he is at a lower league club not one of the largest clubs in the country.

I was fully behind giving him the benefit of the doubt to start with. He had a good write up within the sport and the Q Cup looked like a decent CV. I think after 2 preseasons and nearly 2 years, we can make judgements.

[Gooleboy]

Coaching a Championship Bradford Bulls and in the Q Cup is not good enough for a club of Leeds stature.

[Mumby Magic]

21 minutes ago, Gooleboy said:

Coaching a Championship Bradford Bulls and in the Q Cup is not good enough for a club of Leeds stature.

Go on I'll bite. Their stature is?

[Gooleboy]

12 hours ago, Mumby Magic said:

Go on I'll bite. Their stature is?

They are arguably the biggest club in the SL. I am no fan of them, but they should be looking at coaches who have a better CV than Smith. Only my opinion. Anyway, maybe see you at POR this afternoon. You may get your first win against us for a while.

[Mumby Magic]

5 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

They are arguably the biggest club in the SL. I am no fan of them, but they should be looking at coaches who have a better CV than Smith. Only my opinion. Anyway, maybe see you at POR this afternoon. You may get your first win against us for a while.

Think they've gone left field quite a bit with coaches tbh. Look at Mcdermott before he took over.

[johnh1]

Just hope they keep their hands off Paul Rowley.

[lucky 7]

4 minutes ago, johnh1 said:

Just hope they keep their hands off Paul Rowley.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rowley is their coach next season as he's shown he can coach in Super League on a small budget which would appeal to Hetherington.

[M j M]

38 minutes ago, lucky 7 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Rowley is their coach next season as he's shown he can coach in Super League on a small budget which would appeal to Hetherington.

As shown on the SL wages thread Leeds spend as much as other big clubs. People confuse Hetherington driving a hard bargain in negotiations with having a small budget, they're very different things.

[Wolford6]

As a Bulls fan, I think Rohan Smith is a fantastic coach and deserves a 5-year contract-extension.

[Tommygilf]

On 07/04/2024 at 19:18, lucky 7 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Rowley is their coach next season as he's shown he can coach in Super League on a small budget which would appeal to Hetherington.

Its a difficult tension at Leeds. Hetherington had it good for a long time by getting a core of quality players to accept less money to be at a successful team. Leeds still spent well and to the limit, but they maxxed out the value of that spend.

Since that time GH has been willing to spend. The 2019 intake of Hurrell, Lolohea and Merrin on reportedly marquee wages stands out. As does the transfer fees paid for Croft and Ackers. However none of these big spends have worked particularly well or had an immediate impact. Perhaps spending is just in the wrong place? And the value for money Leeds used to get isn't close anymore?

[redjonn]

when i read various comments about coaches being rubbish or need replacing I often wonder how many of those fan experts are the the same that were rubbishing McNamara not many seasons ago.... mind you I think I remember early in the start of his career some questioning Matty Preet on here....

[Click]

19 minutes ago, redjonn said:

when i read various comments about coaches being rubbish or need replacing I often wonder how many of those fan experts are the the same that were rubbishing McNamara not many seasons ago.... mind you I think I remember early in the start of his career some questioning Matty Preet on here....

What similarities does Smith have to McNamara? Honest question

[redjonn]

15 minutes ago, Click said:

What similarities does Smith have to McNamara? Honest question

don't know... except to say both have been rubbished for their coaching as the result of team performances and selections plus lack of experience of being head coach at a moment in time.

Nowadays no real similarities, given time McNamara has a proven track record as head coach and made a huge difference I think to Catalan. 

my comment was more on our immediate rush to judge as like McNamara Smith was almost immediately rubbished.

Anyway I myself am not sure about Smith but recognise he needs more time plus not sure he has a leadership group within the current team... that would take time and his earlier judgement last year showed he didn't think he had one... I would suggest maybe they should have tried to bring someone in to the team that provided more clearly those attributes as Leeds to me have lost that winning, consistency muscle memory that helps provides the core leadership nohow...

[Click]

1 minute ago, redjonn said:

don't know... except to say both have been rubbished for their coaching as the result of team performances and selections plus lack of experience of being head coach at a moment in time.

Nowadays no real similarities, given time McNamara has a proven track record as head coach and made a huge difference I think to Catalan. 

my comment was more on our immediate rush to judge as like McNamara Smith was almost immediately rubbished.

Anyway I myself am not sure about Smith but recognise he needs more time plus not sure he has a leadership group within the current team... that would take time and his earlier judgement last year showed he didn't think he had one... I would suggest maybe they should have tried to bring someone in to the team that provided more clearly those attributes as Leeds to me have lost that winning, consistency muscle memory that helps provides the core leadership nohow...

I just looked on Wikipedia, he has been there since 2022 and has won 26 games and lost 23. I am not sure how much time you want to give him, and if he hasn't got a leadership group within the current team, then that is very much a reflection on him as head coach. This is his team, no one elses.

[redjonn]

10 minutes ago, Click said:

I just looked on Wikipedia, he has been there since 2022 and has won 26 games and lost 23. I am not sure how much time you want to give him, and if he hasn't got a leadership group within the current team, then that is very much a reflection on him as head coach. This is his team, no one elses.

yep, this is his team as of this year with 7 games gone,  a 4 to 3 record and just 2 points off the chasing pack to top of table. They beat Catalan, the only team to do so this season, ran Saints close and maybe could have won the first of the two games. They were poor against Warrington and Saints 2nd game and have had patches of brilliance and awfulness in the other games.

They have been inconsistent this season for sure as one would have expected with new spine, so yep I would give more time.   

[Hopie]

14 minutes ago, Click said:

I just looked on Wikipedia, he has been there since 2022 and has won 26 games and lost 23. I am not sure how much time you want to give him, and if he hasn't got a leadership group within the current team, then that is very much a reflection on him as head coach. This is his team, no one elses.

Smith joined Leeds after multiple recent seasons where they regularly flirted with the bottom, and peaked at mid table mediocrity. He has had 1 and a half completed seasons with a terrible squad, that led to 1 grand final reached . There has been a huge investment in the last off season, the new squad (which is still nowhere near the quality they had in the glory period) and the whole spine of the team hasn't even had a third of a season to bed in and they are 4 wins out of seven, it's not great but its hardly terrible. If that was enough to sack someone I have no idea how many coaches teams would go through. 

You can say you don't like his style of play, or his opinions, but sacked? 

[Wolford6]

58 minutes ago, Click said:

What similarities does Smith have to McNamara? Honest question

Both disappointed when Bulls coach.

[The Future is League]

On 08/04/2024 at 04:18, lucky 7 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Rowley is their coach next season as he's shown he can coach in Super League on a small budget which would appeal to Hetherington.

Wayne Bennett could be an option for Leeds as he's contract runs out at the Dolphins  at the end of the Season.

[The 4 of Us]

14 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Wayne Bennett could be an option for Leeds as he's contract runs out at the Dolphins  at the end of the Season.

He’s good. But not that good.

[Fly-By-TheWire]

51 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Wayne Bennett could be an option for Leeds as he's contract runs out at the Dolphins  at the end of the Season.

He could start by replacing Ash Handley with Blake Austin?

[Worzel]

4 hours ago, redjonn said:

yep, this is his team as of this year with 7 games gone,  a 4 to 3 record and just 2 points off the chasing pack to top of table. They beat Catalan, the only team to do so this season, ran Saints close and maybe could have won the first of the two games. They were poor against Warrington and Saints 2nd game and have had patches of brilliance and awfulness in the other games.

They have been inconsistent this season for sure as one would have expected with new spine, so yep I would give more time.   

Fully agree. I don't think Leeds are as far off as people, including some of their fans, think. The new spine will take time to gel, but there's the sign of a decent side under there I think. Trophies aren't won in April. 

[Damien]

Fans don't sound too happy:

 

[Tommygilf]

13 minutes ago, Damien said:

Fans don't sound too happy:

 

A coach has 3 elements to keep the confidence of: the squad, the management and the fans. He needs to have 2 of them at any one point to stay in place - and either the fans or the squad can push the management to make the call.

Rohan Smith has not got the fans right now.