McDermott out

Quote: Juan Cornetto "I actually do agree with you that frailties were evident last year including a massive drop off after the Wembley win. I felt there were clear signs that several in the squad were getting on and past achieving their best on a weekly basis and I saw flaws in Watkins, Hardaker and Sutcliffe. The management took a gamble on Sutcliffe recovering from serious injury and being good enough to start at 6 and they also risked McGuire staying free from injury.

However nobody could have predicted the extent and length of the injuries nor the inability of the team to play to the previous structures without on field leaders telling them where to stand and what to do. There does seem a lack of rugby nouse in some of them. Laziness and poor awareness at marker have cost us so many points this year and I do not think the squad looks fit enough.

Last year Cuthbertson with his offloads was a key element in our success. Towards the end of last season there were also clear signs that opposition sides had begun to work out how to deal with him so this year he is nowhere near as effective which has led him to make silly offloads which lose possession.

So we have a series of factors which when added together have brought about this huge loss of confidence creating a negative momentum leading to our downfall. Perhaps the return to fuller strength and a period in the middle 8s will see us become competitive again but we still need to recuit some top quality playmaker/leadership.'"

Head coach still doing a first class job though?

Just asking.