They could have had a long list of targets that they want to bring in but if the players don’t want to come they don’t want to come. So now we’re probably looking at players that do want to come, where the quality isn’t as high.

For all we know, we started with Nathan Cleary and worked our way down to Frawley

theres a hell of a lot of levels between those two, that process must have involved a lot of conversations with a lot of players! I wonder if one was tyrone may though he decided Hull was a more exotic location?

And we came back with Matt Frawley

I doubt that’s correct as on the way down they’ve not been in contact with me or my agent.

Who were we talking to, his Mum?

Ooh he's a lovely boy my Matthew always picks up after himself.

I read that in a Terry Jones style as Brian’s mum…

only talking about that film at work this morning.


blessed are the cheesemakers...

Ahead of it’s time on the trans issues too.

Absolutely and so have plenty of fans.

Good post.

Its been so badly managed that the years of 'transition' to date have been completely wasted. The clearout that was so obviously needed is almost done - there will be hardly any players left at the start of next year who were here at the start of 2022, and even fewer starting in key positions. That should have happened years ago. It didn't and we are still right at the start of developing a quality team.

Smith is right in saying that the best way to success is to develop as many quality players as you can, and then bring in quality. Problem is that while we may have a lot of talented kids at the club now, it will be at least 3-4 years before we have enough of them at the right stage of development to make a real difference. Even that approach only works if you bring in real quality to fill the gaps. Ali, Senior, Bai, Webb, Donald, Peacock, Leuluai, Ellis etc were as important to the Golden Generation succeeding as having Sinfield and co come through the juniors.

Unless we get the signings right - and its looking shaky right now - we will still be struggling even if the kids turn out as hoped.

Every year is the start of the new transition then we desperately try to get rid of last season's signings who are this season's deadwood.

Excellent Post.

The problem we have these days is that the quality available for signings especially overseas just isn't the same as it was back then, that's why its even more important we get the signings right.

I'm glad its not me making those calls

I'm not suggesting we can sign that quality, but more that its always been a myth that the Golden Generation was just about homegrown players. They were key, but the right signings made it work.

That's true it wasn't just about the homegrown players, I think what did make a difference was the quality of those players coming through all at the same time. I mean let's be honest a club would be happy to produce one of any of Sinfield, McGuire or Burrow but to have all 3 at pretty much the same time won't happen again any time soon, add in players like Chev, Matt Diskin Id even add players like Hall, Abblett in there later on, we were very fortunate to have watched that team for so long!

John Wilkin saying Leeds are the biggest flop of SL in 2023:

[iThe biggest flop in Super League right now is Leeds Rhinos. They've just limped out of the playoffs. Your best player is playing for Castleford, and your best young player has left because you wouldn't pay him enough money. A bizarre club at the minute that makes very little sense.[/i

I agree with the general point he makes, but the specifics are nonsense, i.e. the suggestion that Austin was ever our best player (sure, he was up there for about four games), and even more so that Sam Walters is our best young player (he has the potential to be Adrian Morley but could still end up being Andy Hay - he certainly played that way against Wigan).

Good to see Wilkin is still 'healing' after those GF losses

Wilkin is talking nonsense as usual, Huddersfield have been a bigger flop.

Walters is a good player but the over hyping by everyone is way OTT, he’s never going to be on Morleys level, Morley was an international at Walters age

Can someone just remind me, was this season the start of a new transition or a pre-cursor to the new transition and the real transition starts next season? I'm just wondering when is it that we're out of the transition and no longer able to use it as an excuse for jam tomorrow?

Personally id say Rohan Smith was brought in to oversee a 3 1/2 process or call it a transition if you like and in fairness wether you rate him or not he’s cleared out a lot of the squad in his first year, and whichever way you look at it that needed to happen.

Smith has done a good job in terms of removing a lot of dead wood from the squad so far, he's still got a lot to go, and we've just resigned some of it for another year or two. He's been let down badly by GH who replaced that dead wood with kids or second tier players with the odd exception during the last closed season. I would have said that we could have done most if not quite all the reshaping in 2 off seasons (this is the second) if we had replaced the departing players properly, but we haven't and don't appear to be now either.

Smith has failed to get anywhere close to the best out of the squad he has had at his disposal this season.

Both things can be true at the same time.

We don't know who else is coming in yet

What I would say about this season is that the disruption in the squad and also injuries has been really out of the ordinary, how many times this year have we had our first choice spine play together, I bet its nearly on one hand!

As much as I like smith and think he will sort it, he has made plenty of mistakes this year but as I said he's also had a lot to deal with squad wise.

Wilkin spouts a load of garbage most of the time.
But I'm afraid he's right with this.
Our season is panning out as the most disappointing in SL.
Obviously because of results.
But also how the squad has totally disintegrated.

Fixable for 2024 with a few more quality signings.
But 2023 is a total disaster.