it comes from the lack of power in the pack. That is the new coaches No1 priority. Paramatta have a big powerful pack, BA sorted that during his time there, their team was extremely powerful and athletic in particular the season they got to the GF. Same with Rowley at Salford, they are powerful right across the park

Lads get coached in defensive line all the way through juniors, I don't think Smith has ruined these players or the side, that's just hyperbole.

Agree with the original post, good summary. We need a more aggressive and systemic defence. O'Connor runs out to put a hit on which is great when it works, but other than him McDonnell makes extra efforts for kick pressure etc and that's about it.

Ironically line speed is your ally when you're giving away size/power to the opposition, the worst thing you can do is invite a bigger opponent space to build up momentum.

The new coach and Blease I'm sure will be aware of this. Like I've said before, we likely need both better players and a more experienced head coach. I will point out that nearly every club employee I've seen interviewed has been glowing about RS and sad to see him leave.

There are lots of irritating habits in the side I think. I was nowhere near as rabid as most on here to oust RS but if we get the right man in, I think a fresh voice and some re-focus will do us good.

Interesting regarding the rhinos staff sad to see him leave, as a side issue I know several ex super league players and one super league coach. They all speak highly of Agar. Funny old world.

So your argument is that you know better than Chev Walker, Jarrod O'Connor, Mark Butterill etc plus the players and coach you mention?

Austin wasn't a fan of RS but then he was a toxic and anti-authoritarian and contrarian figure his whole career.

I'm sure things will come out as time passes, but as it stands we are getting a new coach in soon so RS is fish and chips paper.

Were you referring to my post ? Anyway it’s not as simple as your quaint reference to fish and chips . The new coach will inherit a sub standard squad of players. Most of them have for months under smith showed no sign of improvement, many have gone backwards. Plus the fact the squad has never played with any kind of structure or game plan. I refer you to once were loiners recent excellent posting regarding our playing structure .
Have a look at the league table , our position after all the money spent is scandalous.

I don’t accept that version of where Leeds are at or that Rohan Smith has ruined Leeds etc.

We are in my view probably three starting players short of a top 4 side.

Not easy to do but hardly cataclysmic.

I agree Kaeru. The defensive setup is something that a new coach would seek to fix straight away, and as you say, all of our players will have played in a range of defensive structures, many of which will have focused on linespeed. That would at least put us on a level pegging with opponents. If we then add in some extra power in a couple of forwards we would look a different beast.

Where we may differ is that I think we need three big, strong forwards to make a real difference.

I know a fair number on here are critical of Bentley and whilst he isn`t the barn stopping forward we crave for.
We have imo missed his tackling and defence these last few weeks.

When he keeps his head, he's an asset.

The problem is we are loaded with workmen backrowers. Only Ruan offers size and he's young / raw.

Bentley has been discussed to death but one thing he isn't is a player who will get us on the front foot. You can't just have one or two forwards responsible for all the momentum. Good sides hit the opposition with heavy artillery on successive carries; we have generally been unable to do this.

He works best as a bench player but then we have O'Connor for that role who is arguably better at it.

I'd be surprised if Bentley is retained beyond his (confusingly long) recent contract. If Blease wants a Murray-era pack we need a few different players.

Bentley is a better 2nd rower than O’Connor. Remember, this is a player who Saints wanted to keep and showed abilities that many thought would lead to him playing in the NRL.

Not signing at least 2 experienced props over the off season, instead adding another lightweight 2nd rower hurt us badly.

Bentley is fine as a player now he's stopped getting banned.

We are just full of similar backrowers, resigning Donaldson was another mistake to go with Fusitua and Goudemand imo.

Losing Martin,as good as he is wouldn't be the worst situation for us given our cap/QS / needs for next year.

A pack with a new monster prop and a strike back rower to start with Bentley and Oledski with Holroyd/ Lisone/ Gannon /Mcdonnell/Sangare fighting for bench spots is a better position to be in

I agree and that`s why he looked good at Saints with the props they had and like I`ve said before he will unsettle the opposition and make a bucket load of tackles something Goudemand and Donaldson don`t do.
Comparing Bentley with O`Connor is wrong as they play in different positions.

O’Connor came through at 13 and has played alongside Ackers at times, and is a similar body type to Bentley.

Stopped being banned?? He hasn’t played for months that why.

Anyway I’m not getting too far into that can of worms again; we’ll see what Blease makes of it all. I think we can all agree the overall balance of that Leeds pack isn’t right.

To be fair to Bentley his discipline did improve in his last outings, and I remember at the start of the season a lot being made of the fact that he'd given up alcohol. If he continues to knuckle down when he returns he should be in the 17 most weeks.