Some did and some went backwards but the team you tipped to finish top & to win the GF had a terrible, terrible year.

I don't know if people are purposely missing the point McD is making about 'chasing wins too early' or if they're just a bit thick!

He's clearly saying that what they should have done in the early part of the season is instead of spending time on reviewing that weeks opponents and preparing game plans for that individual opponent, they should instead have used the time to catch up on what they missed in pre-season. I'd also guess he's also reflecting that he shouldn't have rushed people back from injury in the early season to chase wins.

It's a bit of a lame excuse granted, but it's not like he's said 'we shouldn't have tried to win games'.

Translated as GH handed out contracts to certain players too long in the tooth and now we're stuck with them!.
Was wondering had Wigan.saints.wire.hull had the season we've just had would they of stood still and recruited nothing?

So, now we're using Hull and Wire as the yardstick for sustained success? How?

If McD has sold that crock of $h1t to GH then he deserves more credit than he gets. He's in the wrong job. If he actually believes it then he is also in the wrong job.

However, if we get some luck with injuries I can see a top 6 finish not being particularly challenging.

Not using them as a yardstick just saying they wouldn't stand still and pretend everything was fine after that rubbish of last season.

Wow. Everyone is mocking McD's open letter yet everyone is also buying it!?

For months everyone has slated the current squad as not good enough yet now allow a sudden we are good to go with that same squad?

It's like you all have Alzheimer's.

"Only regret".....he didn't say that at all, he said his major regret.



He also admits that they were all guilty of relying on excuses too much.....the exact thing people have pointed at him and he is accepting that is true.

This was my view on it back in April re chasing wins...

"Aside from clear lack of leadership and direction on the field, 80% of what goes on in a game is mental. BM talked recently in an interview how training wasnt an enjoyable environment to be in at the moment as 'they have to always address the things that are going wrong' this is clearly an approach that isn't working at the moment. I have always believed that the more you enjoy your work the better you perform, sometimes the harder you strive for something the further it gets away and more demoralising it becomes. It's OK talking about technical issues but this game isn't the most complicated, morale is the first thing to address in my view.

If you have seen the PA suite at Leeds the players are analysed right down to the infinite detail and when players are low this is not always helpful, employees are not robots and don't function as such"

The main issue remains. No reasons/excuses could hide the fact that the glue that held Leeds together as a unit and made all the pieces connect retired and now works for the RFL.
We need a player to put a decent squad into shapes that make a team perform.

We needed a Gidley, not a flat balloon.

Thing is when we were playing well in 2015 it wasn't because Sinfield was directing us around. The style that worked for us didn't have great structure or set plays or a kicking game that always delivered. It was one built just playing what we saw and keeping the ball alive and leaving the opposition knackered with constant offloads and we produced that on occasions when Sinfield was out of the side with away wins at Catalans and Castleford and we were out of sight away to Saints before Sinfield came off the bench. It wasn't like we were clinical in the final 20m then either and we still looked more likely to score from further out.

What that style needs most is energy, enthusiasm, fitness, confidence. All the things that were beaten out of the side as the start of the season progressed.

Look at the McGuire no try @ Wigan in 2015, keeping the ball alive repeatadly against the toughest defence in SL who were left grasping at thin air. That kind of play summed up what we were about in 2015 and that didn't require that Sinfield type general, it required a team that had the energy and confidence to do that. And we clearly weren't properly fit because of the time lost in pre-season to have the energy (and then subsequent loss of confidence/form) to try pull that style off.

Think it's forgotten because of what Sinfield did with the 40/20 in the playoff semi and his good performances in the cup games, but he started that season really badly in 2015 and dare I say he was a bit of a weak link in a side that really started hot before he missed games through injury and then not selected.