Lack of organisation and a lack of fire in the belly. You could see how angry and disappointed Wigan and Wane were when they made an error with only 5 mins left and 42 points ahead, Leeds didn't show anything like that at anytime in the match when they made an error. Charnley being able to get in under the posts from the touchline for his try with no one bothering to stop him was terrible to see.
With Wigan you can talk about how good certain individuals are but its really a team performance by them when they play. They play with great structure and game plan discipline, we have neither. We seem to just want to make it up as the game goes along. Wigan are described as a well drilled machine by many, we seem to be just talented players hoping to knock something together on the day.
Worrying was Rod Studd's half-time report that in the Leeds dressing room it was the senior players doing most of the talking and not much was said by the coaching staff, when we got a shot of the dressing room McDermott looked to have just as little energy as the players. Too many camera shots of him during the game (and other ones too) were he just sits there largely expressionless looking like he's HOPING things will go well instead of trying to MAKE things happen. The first set of the 2nd half when Sinfield kicked out on the full after being put in a position of pressure by the Wigan defence sum's up are lack of organisation.

I'm not going to call for whole sale team changes because i don't think the likes of Ward, Singleton etc would of faired any better tonight with the way we are coached. I still believe we have the playing personnel to challenge but the tactics, motivation, inspiration and discipline are all lacking from McDermott especially when to compare it to Wane. With the players we have we still have the potential to do something similiar to last season (although i doubt lightening will strike twice) but i personally don't want to finish 5th-8th every year now, i want to enjoy the full year not just the last 2 months. I was hoping after the Grand Final and WCC wins and a full pre-season in charge McDermott will of clicked but whilst he might still be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat performance-wise now and again i'm convinced now that he'll never be a coach who produces a week-in week-out consistant good team.

this time last year we (Wires) did a similar number on you guys...and we all know how that turned out!

Different this year?

The decline is gathering pace.

3 wins from the last 9 in Super League.

Just 2 wins from 8 matches against teams currently in the top six this season.

Will GH do a 'Dean Lance' on McDermott in the hope that a new coach can inspire a Cup SF miracle (because it's Wembley or bust for this team)...or does he sit on his hands and watch the decline develop at a rapid rate of knots and then the support starts dwindling ?

And will he finally put his hand in his pocket to bring some much needed quality to the playing staff ?

Regarding your last point I assume you mean for 2013 as we're not going to get anybody decent mid season?

I'm pretty sure that Leeds record against the top sides during the regular season last year was far worse. Not a single victory against any Top 4 team until Round 27 away at Huddersfield when they were already shot. Leeds finished 5th on the back of whipping all the whipping boy SL rabble.

Looking at the rest of this season, of the top sides they've only got Warrington, Catalan and Huddersfield to play and all the rest of the fixtures are against whipping boy SL rabble, therefore plenty of easy pickings and points to collect in order to ensure a 5th or 6th place finish on the ladder.

Whether this squad can repeat what they did last year does seem very unlikely - key members of the ageing squad are one year older and less effective - and the absence of Buderus is a key loss. I'd still expect them to reach the last 4 (week 3) of the play-offs given the play-off format.

The main concern for Leeds fans ought to be that last season's title win - apart from papering over the obvious decline and cracks - has delayed the necessary overhaul and renewal of the squad required to maintain the requisite level of genuine competitiveness over the longer term. A title is not worth winning if it ends up condemning the club to numerous years of mid-table mediocrity, simply because the club left it too late to overhaul a squad already in terminal decline and instead rewarded the elderly and the declining with contract extensions.

Frankly, whilst most of what you say above is accurate the bigger issue for me is the fact that even this season we have gifted at least one additional year to the slowest front rowers in SL. Both have been excellent servants to Leeds, and maybe there could be a place for one of them next year, but certainly not both.

The lack of ability to replace Buderus with a player of requisite quality after publically stating "he won't be allowed to leave unless we secure an adequate replacement" leaves GH with a rather large amount of egg on his face too. Buderus was an absolute rock for this team last year and is sorely missed.

It's still possible to turn this situation around in the short term, but it will require a ruthless streak that we haven't seen at Leeds since the departure of Hay, Sheridan, etc, and I include the coaching staff in this too however don't expect for a minute that BMD will not see out his full contract.

This actually sounds half decent compared to 2011.

Good coach won the Grand Final and World Champions.Wigan where on fire.

Not seen it mentioned about Wigan yet so I'm going to throw it out there:

Peaking too early

You are Brian McDermott and I claim my fiver

On recent performances I'm actually glad Leuluai has decided against retiring, I think he's been by far and away our most willing and effective prop forward, probably over the course of the season.