and I will say this only once....

Let's not get into fallen Madonna territory.

You mean the one with the....

spot the 3 middle aged men!

There were plenty that said the same last year about this year

Maybe but it was obvious that even last year that there would be a lot of changes for 2024 with the players coming off contract

Let’s hope we actually see those changes and that they are the right quality players Christopher, I’m literally praying that they are because that’s all I have to believe in.

GH is right that the pool has shrunk. But its been small before and Leeds have used their financial clout to get the best available. Hopefully the remaining signings have the ability to bring us up a level.

That’s because they’re a pile of dog sh*te. There’s no drive to be the best. They don’t bring through good local players anymore. They don’t sign good players anymore. Just plod along and exist.

Club has no soul anymore.

All aboard the restarting the transition train, hire another cheapo manager, then restart it again next season. Excuse after excuse.

I think GH has drawn a line in the sand. But many of the problems we're seeing now are because he waited five years too long to do that, despite almost getting relegated several times and generally serving up dire rugby.

He let McDermott stay too long, and allowed junior development to become farcial. He then made bad choices with coaches, and kept giving jobs to former players with zero qualifications. That was made worse by horrendous decisions on player signings and retention, which as CEO GH simply can't say is all down to coaches. Some of the players who have left/will leave at the end of this year either shouldn't have been here in the first place or should have been let go years ago.

We seem to have tried to properly restart junior development, but its going to take years before the kids can make a difference to the first team. Short term, signings are the only way to improve the team.

They sacked McDermott nine months after he won his last Grand Final. I know lots of people were calling do his head at various times before then but the reality is very few clubs would have done it - indeed the media commentary when it actually happened was about how shocking it was.

Rohan Smith's defence is there are lots of young inexperienced kids in the team - let's look at last night's team.

1. Hooley - inexperienced at this level but 25 years old with >100 games in a good Champ side
2. Fusitua - first choice
3. Newman - first choice - might behave like a petulant child - hear he offered a fan out last night!!
4. Handley - first choice
5. Olpharts - experienced SL player
6. Martin - international player and first choice albeit not in this position
7. Sinfield - agreed
8. Oldeski - first choice
9. O'Connor - first choice
10 Holroyd - first choice
11 McDonnell - first choice
12.Gannon - agreed
13.Smith - first coice
14.Lisone - first choice - ex NRL player
15.Johnson - agreed
16. Ruan - agreed
17. Donaldson - experienced SL player

It is a fallacy about young players - there were 11 players who would play if everyone was fit. There were 4 young/academy players - Johnson it could be argued either way. This was not a side filled with academy players. There is no way this side should be conceding 60 points - looking in from the outside they were sending a message to the coach - time to go.

Time for Newman to go too - he needs a more structured stricter environment where he can grow up.

McDermott should have gone at the end of the 2015 season. He thought it was great idea for the club to have a few seasons in the doldrums so the supporters would appreciate the good times even more. McDermott started this and the club have been unable to turn it around.

They are now in a catch 22 - they can't get the better players because the club is a shambles and the can't redress the shambles util they get better players.

Two of the big signings of the summer can't get in the side of their current club - what does that say?

We can't live our lives in hindsight. McDermott was never going to be sacked after 2015 and he'd credit in the bank for all of 2016. Maybe after Cas away in '17 there was a chance but end of that season meant the reality was he was safe again. And rightly so because we won the title again!