True. I guess it's easy to forget sometimes that nobody wants Leeds to do well more than him.

I started watching in 1967 and I can't remember a worse season generally in terms of all the things you highlight. Unless and until there is a serious rethink actually fear for top level RL in this hemisphere.

BTW I've watched a fair bit of the NRL on Premier and whilst the standard is clearly much higher I fear they are headed down the overcoached overstrucured and oversafe route there was a lot of dull stuff on display too

So McDermott took over in 2010 so he had six years to find/coach a replacement for Sinfield? Smith in that time managed to win 3 CC finals 2 against who was it? with a far inferior squad. Everyone is saying Leeds need a half back because the one McDermott groomed is now playing FB.

Lets see what McDermott inherited - Sinfield, Peacock, Burrow, McGuire, Ablett, Hall, Watkins, JJB, Webb, Buderus, Senior - you think Smith inherited anything like that at Warrington?

Yet more excuses - now he can't sign the players he wants because players he thought would be OK were offered contracts that have proved to be too long. McDermott has ridden on the back of a great side he inherited - look what's happened as soon as the key players have left? Must have been SPOTY, backslapping or a game against the Kiwis or the newly laid pitch, not once have suggested any of 2016 is McDermott's doing - good luck defending that one.

Smith joined Wire in 2009 and inherited players such as - Micky Monaghan (and his dog bothering bro a year later) Morley, Briers, Westwood, L Anderson, Carvell, King, Hicks, Wood, Mathers and Higham Not a bad core of senior pros there and there were good kids like Cooper and Harrison pushing through. Truth is, like at Leeds, Smith joined was the right man at the right time. Warrington had the squad they just needed the right man to see them from also rans to contenders for trophies imo. Despite all that though he still hasn't got them a SL trophy which they so crave...may change come saturday mind

Warrington were not far inferior to us in 2011 and 2012 and who won the 2011 playoff semi at there ground and beat them in 2012 GF??? As for them beating us twice in cup finals you'll find the first one was under McClennen.



He can hardly be blamed for Hardaker's personal behaviour. Also the one Smith spent time grooming is now playing FB for Salford kicking drop goals in MPG's so he's hardly perfect in that department.



No but he inherited a core of good players that was being added to as the years passed with money splashed out. At the same time Leeds stopped splashing out when it came to signings. Of those players they were also getting on and Peacock and McGuire missed the first half of his first year with serious knee injuries and McGuire's had to slowly adapt his game. Buderus he only got for one year (his best performances for us), Senior didn't see the season out and Webb wasn't too long after next year.



Come on we all know GH has the loyalty factor to players.



Like I pointed out, it took Smith a couple of years to get Wire back to the top after 2013 and he had his backwards year and a bit at Leeds too and he didn't even lose anybody then, Infact he added Peacock and proceeded to oversee Peacock's poorest year in a Leeds shirt. McDermott has had this 1 year under challenging circumstances with some bad obstacles thrown at them. Lots of decendants of Nostradamus' on this board are being too eager to confirm 2017 will be the same as 2016 and might look very foolish next year if it doesn't go the way they're predicting....then the excuse that "Leeds haven't got any better, everyone else have gotten worse" will be dusted off and rolled out after being used to explain 2015.

If 2017 follows suit then people will be correct that he isn't up to the job but despite them acting like it has, that hasn't actually happened yet.

Printer - I could agree with what you're saying if this year had been anything other than beyond awful. Completely unacceptable, and some team and individual performances were just horrible. This wasn't a poor year like 2006, or any of Wire's poorer seasons under Smith. In 2006 we finished third in the regular season with a one point play off loss to exit, and it was seen as a disaster. Well now we know what a real disaster looks like. All this with a squad which many thought looked pretty reasonable on paper before the start of the year.

In addition McD has been here for 6 seasons and yet our youth development pipeline looks very poor to me. we seem to be forever talking about 16 year olds being the next big thing. In a season like this I would have hoped we would at least have blooded a few more kids like we did a few years ago (under BM ironically). When needed we simply didn't have any near first team ready Academy players. That's dreadful for a club our size.

BTW people also forget that between 2004 and 2007 we had to replace 4 of our back 5 plus 4 forwards - i.e. half the team. Not the spine, but a lot of players nonetheless, and GH screwed up big time in some choices (Millard and O'Neill spring to mind).