Quote: ThePrinter "Yeah it did help being given a quality NRL winger in Marcus Bai, he dropped Cummings for all of 2 games and he then featured in 21 of the remaining 26 league games (even being selected on the bench a couple of times).'"
Who is
Cumings?
If you're referring to Francis Cummins he wasn't dropped for two 1st grade games - it was for one. As I said, IMO it was Tony Smith's quite deliberate message to the players and the fans - no more room for sentimentality. It was a stroke of genius even if it flew over some heads.
Cummins was and I imagine still is a good fella but he'd been allowed to steal a living at Headingley for too long and was emblematic of some of the issues surrounding the club pre Smith.
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Quote: ThePrinter "Smith's success as a coach in 2004 (not what it meant as a fan, as that is a different thing and understandable) should be based solely on what he achieved in a little over 32 weeks of action that year, not what others did (or didn't do) in the previous 32 years.'"
So using your own terms what did Smith achieve with Leeds in 2004 after leaving aside their first Championship in 32 years ?
Leeds finished the Regular Rounds in 1st place - nine points clear of the rest (a SL record that still stands) having lost only twice (equaling another SL record) - they finished the Regular Rounds with the best attack and the best defence.
Ignore the 32 year wait all you want (perhaps easier to do when you haven't endured it personally) - there was more to the impact and improvement under Smith than just ending the wait.