Before we had kicked a ball this season, most on here were saying lets judge after 12 games, new spine has to bed in, half the side are strangers and unfair to judge too early. 5 weeks in and the knives are out. Sit back and reserve your judgment as you proposed at the season start.
Am I happy with the progress so far, of course I'm not. I'm also not going to throw anyone to the wolves this early

Spot on.

I keep on saying this but our awful season last year wasn’t just down to RS, as much as some on here can’t seem to get beyond results only. There was a lot going on behind the scenes and this season he will be judged on his own merits more.

I’m hoping to go see us at Cas this week because I think it will be a really instructive game. We need some response.

While I agree (IMO) its FAR to early for the knives to be out for RS I can see why people are frustrated with the same issues cropping up time after time, game after game.

Weve been very workmanlike few opening rounds. A lack of understanding in the playing group, new combinations, team mates etc and playing on cabbage patches hasnt exactly done us any favours but the basics for me are not being done consistently and correctly. Throwing the ball around like a hot potato is only going to get you so far.

Interesting comments.

My problem is that most matches so far this season look like 17 guys who play RL meet outside headingley 3 hours before the game and said “ do you lot fancy a kick about later?”
Isn’t it the coaches job to prepare for upcoming matches.?

You also mention Wolves in a different context.

Sam Burgess has had less than 10 games in charge and they already look like a winning side How many does Smith need? 110? 210?

Maybe if we hadnt played Saints twice, and had instead played a poor London and Hull, like Warrington have, we wouldn't be saying Smith out just yet

Perhaps those easier games would have given our new spine time to gel a little more and play a bit better in attack, and we'd be saying there's a little progress being made

So based on your analogy then Castleford need to add an extension to their scoreboard to accommodate what’s to come on Thursday evening

I get the over-reaction after the disappointment of the cup loss. If we're not in a significantly improved position compared to this time last season after 10-12 rounds of SL I will be worried.

I'm prepared to see some of the last performance as a one-off - the poor attacking play was a collective problem, not really about individuals (apart from Frawley's kicking game first half). Time will tell on that. Defensively we were still good. The tries Saints scored were not clearly executed moves where they beat us with power and skill (Clark's soft try aside) but rather had an element of lady luck about them with the bounce of the ball. On the other hand, we created a couple of nice chances from kicks in the second half and didn't get the bounce to capitalise (and no, I don't think this is why we lost).

What I would like to see next:

1. The team finds an answer to being pegged in our own half - whether it is the forwards being more aggressive, a better kicking game (more Croft kicking please), and/or fewer errors coming from throwing the ball around before we've earned the right to play like that. Bottom line is we're less likely to concede tries if we keep the opposition away from the try line for longer.

2. We learn to adapt our current style of play with a lot of lateral movement and high skill passing to match a) the tempo of the game, b) the weather conditions, c) the way the referee is interpreting the rules, and d) the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. We need to be cleverer in 'yardage' as well as in the opposition 20. You do get the sense that we're trying to score off every play rather than building pressure over multiple sets, and instead we're the ones absorbing pressure over multiple sets, and it's killing us slowly.

Well my comparison was based on 2.5 years Vs 2.5 months. But fair play Burgess was a class act players Smith was a mediocre amateur player at his playing height and therefore has no concept of what it’s like to achieve anything on the field.

Unfortunately your repeated rebuttals for all things Hetherington make me feel like you could be one of his minions always on the back foot defending the indefensible ie him and his languid approach to RL and the fans.

As a businessman I doff my cap as an advocate for Leeds Rhinos / Rugby league / Expansionism I run for the hills.

But stupid me I keep renewing my season ticket

Smith took us to the grand final in his first 10 games, hard to judge Burgess yet.

We will see in a couple of weeks time. I truly hope I have a huge slice of humble pie at the end of the game but somehow I think I will be left bereft and wanting

I knew I was missing something its the fixture list that's the reason for us playing like turkey's for the last two games damd and twice damd.

Pea sized heart