Bleedin hell that's gone quick!
Fair play to him the Trophies don't lie & although i personally would have happily seen him depart in the past he's more than earned his longevity but there are ?'s over his bench management imo (I hope the GF have expelled those)and i still think we need at the very least F/T no2.
Saying all that some of the RL we've seen this year has been electric but at the same time when the going got tough and we lost a few players we showed we could grind and fight as well with the last 3 games of the year perfect examples of that.
A huge test now for him the club and the Team this is a huge transitional year imo and the loss of Kylie JP & Sinny can't be over stated on and off the pitch.

I may get panned for this but I agree that there are still some ? for me too.

His trophy haul will always be there to see but he just makes some really odd decisions. They almost always get overlooked because of the trophies.

For me the true extent of his management skills will come on show from now. With players like Sinny and jp he has had players of exceptional physical and mental quality who have dug us out of holes. I know any team would miss those players but if McD can keep us on the rails over the next couple of years then he really is as good as the record books show.

I must congratulate Mcdermott on [ifacilitating[/i leeds success.

Facilitator of the year!!

- In reference to a phil clarke comment midway through the season which amused me, he said mcdermott isn't really coaching leeds but facilitating the top players to go out and play ball.

You thought Golding's defence against NZ was suspect too. Some people are just hard to please

Didn't hear Phil Clarke saying that but did hear it from Brian Carney. Leeds'senior players have always had an input, will be interesting to see who takes the lead now that Sinfield and Peacock will no longer be in the dressing room.

In regards to the subsitutuions thing I think it'll improve with the likes of Peacock retiring. In the front row i can see a healthy balance of Galloway/Garbutt/Singleton/Cuthbertson/Mullaly and others which will avoid the freakish 70+ Minute games of Peacock.

McDermott has his flaws no doubt....but what coach doesn't?

Very true but i also now hope the likes of Walters ,Lilley etc have shown that IF they are on the bench they are worthy of coming on in any game home or away!

Whilst Walters scored the winning try, we can't forget he was quite poor the rest of the season when he did play.

Lilley, he didn't come on against Hudds or Saints but who do you bring him on for? You don't take either of Sinfield/McGuire/Burrow off and all 4 of the, is too much.

Go without Lilley on the bench and have four forwards on the bench. Worked out on GF night but if Burrow got injured 10 mins in and we end up losing then McDermott would've been crucified on here for putting Walters in ahead of Lilley.

The point remains WHOEVER is in the 17 should be trusted to be brought on Walters may have struggled but in the biggest game of the year he came on and contributed and not just as a stop gap to give Delaney a rest either.
Lilley has also shown he's good enough to play if that mean spelling Burrow then so be it but it also gave an option for Sinny to move to 13 and rotate a forward.
I like the look of our pack next year overall but there's no need imo to run players like Delaney into the ground which has happened at times this year the same with Ablett.
I'd love us to sign another front line BR but that doesn't look like happening so i'm more than happy to see Walters et al get more game time i think the youngsters deserve to be trusted more.

Let's not get carried away. When Walters first came on he missed a tackle (along with JP and Hardaker) when they scored. I think the one who deserves to be trusted the most is McDermott. As with the short spell use of Kylie, the fans do not know the whole story. Please try and have a bit more faith in our record breaking coach.

I think people are forgetting how terrible Walters has been this year. I know he was stood in the right place at the right time in the GF and scored the winning try, but that seems to have covered up his feeble performances all year.

He put on too much weight over the off season and it didn't work for him. If people are seriously now saying he's one for the future then a lot of work needs to be done pre season. I can't see how he's rated above Minchella.

As for the Brian Carney/ Phil Clarke comment on Brian McD facilitating coaching style. I was sure it was actually Barrie McD that said it and he was complementing him. Saying it takes a great coach to put such confidence in his players and let them make the calls on the field and not micro manage. Letting Sinfield take the "captains run" entirely on his own when most coaches actually sit in n watch etc.

I agree this transition will be interesting to see how McD manages that, but nothing can take away from what he's achieved. Adding to that KS, JP and JJB have all separately said he's the best coach they've ever worked under. Best balance of tactician and man management. Those are opinions I respect.

I'm guessing some people here care about their esteem. To maintain an implacable prejudice against McDermott in the present circumstances isn't going to help with that. HTH.

Who's getting carried away?
Also re-Kylie that's a completely scenario to not using all the selected subs imo plus it's not a lack of trust in the Coach either it's an opinion.

McDermott'll do for me, even if he continues to make mistakes. That goes with the territory of decision-making. In 2011, the accusation was that he'd inherited a side imbued with the knowledge of how to win. The 2015 side was markedly better IMO, despite there being a number of reasons why it shouldn't have been. Suggests to me his input might be a tad more valuable than is recognised by some.

Haven't said any different!