I seem to remember he got the (rock bottom) side he inherited to the Grand Final and we weren’t a million miles off StHelens that day either. Add to that Rohan had a very specific brief which was effectively to clear out and reset the playing roster whilst staying competitive. He clearly has done that and has been pretty ruthless in the process. In terms of staying competitive well he couldn’t manage to pull that part of the deal off. We all saw that the wheels fell off spectacularly at the back end of last season for lots of reasons spoken about ad nauseam here and elsewhere.

No doubt in my mind he will be successful and that the elements required to deliver more long term success are still being lined up

Oh there’s definitely a small subset of our support who seem to love it when were not doing well and would want RS to fail to be proved right.

RS made some mistakes last year (don’t we all) but I got the feeling he was as frustrated as the supporters with some of the dumb stuff we dished out last year.

Hes done one part of his remit extremely well and that’s clearing out the squad, I think there were s few players who let him (and their teammates) down last year, thankfully they’ve gone.

The new squad has s lot more Rugby intelligence in it and I think that will suit his coaching style better.

I think He tried some different stuff last year because he knew the squad just wasn’t up to it, skill wise and mentally

It does kind of shed another angle on what RS was dealing with behind the scenes as players seemingly downed tools, completely checked out, went AWOL or just buggered off entirely. Looking back with hindsight and a peek behind the curtain we did as well as could be expected with the squad we had at the end of the season as cobbled together as it was.

It still doesn't let folk completely off the hook but you cant have it both ways, clearing out players and remaining ultra competitive (in our situation anyway) there were bound to be casualties but, and its a big but at least its done.

Not sure if this is aimed at me Jim but FWIW which is not much I’m sure the new sponsorship deal has made a big impact to ongoing finances.

I also have no personal dislike of GH or Rohan Smith. I just think not making top 4 in 7 of last 8 years is a consistent level of poor performance which would have resulted in GH losing his job at any other top club. I may be wrong he may still be the best CEO around but our record suggests the opposite.

I hope Rohan has more success than his uncle at Leeds.i bumped into him a few weeks ago in Boston Spa and he is a nice guy. Hopefully the new signings all come off.

We look light at prop to me but as you say it’s his team now so he can play the way he wants.the 2 Frenchmen will be key.

Given he has been backed now, I hope the pre-season means we start next year better but it’s focused on having a good season and not trying too hard to get a flying start and then. Running out of gas.

The whole new spine will take time to hit their collective straps.

Where’s this 10-12 game thing coming from ? Sounds like a fan thing, who like to measure things like this. We’ve just spent a fortune and built a very hot looking squad. But needs time to gel. Would be madness sacking RS if not firing 10-12’games in.
He’s had a huge part on these signings…..

Shabs, i don’t think we should get rid after 12 games Im just thinking the board might feel the pressure if we ate in the bottom 4 after 12 games (i dint think we will be by the way)

Some of us were trying to make the point months ago about how difficult it could be managing a team where senior players know they aren't wanted.

Smith was working with a squad where he was actively looking to replace some of the most important players, and a number knew they would be gone at the end of the year. This would have made team spirit very difficult to maintain. The collateral was Walters, Austin and probably Leeming and Macdonald as well. Omelettes and eggs and all that....

I don't think that's the only thing that happened, as clearly GH realised we needed to go big in terms of recruitment. But we've seen an enormous turnover in the squad in the last year or so, and anyone who has experienced that sort of thing at work will know that managing through it was always going to be a huge challenge.

Smith lost some skin in this process too, with a lot of people calling for him to be sacked during the season, and I think we're all agreed he's now under huge pressure at the start of next year. But assuming this was always the plan, perhaps we can all give him a break for 2023 at least. Just think how often he had to front the press after games when players he didn't rate had played poorly. He never stuck the boot in, but my word he must have been tempted....

Remember the optimism when we signed Brett Mullins, Robbie Mears and Bradley Clyde? Does this preseason feel a bit like that for some?

The thought did occur to me. But then I read through the list of departed players someone posted and decided the risk of disappointment was better than definite disappointment.

And you forgot Tonie Carroll who signed that season as well. He was probably the best of the bunch in terms of service, although was inconsistent.

At one point Carroll and Senior were our centres - what a terrifying prospect for the opposition. And some people think we should have kept Sutcliffe last year!

Seriously, the signings Leeds have made for 2024 look a lot more well-researched in terms of personalities and fitness, but it is always a massive risk with so many new spine players coming in at once.

I watched 'As Good As It Gets?' (again) the other day, and it underlines how close the club came to 'doing a Bradford' in 1996, and how much impact GH had in turning the club's fortunes around on so many levels - the first team, the corporate stuff, the ground, building community relationships (etc). It's hard to imagine that our last crowd in 1996 was about 4000 (IIRC). Even without the trophy success that followed it was a huge achievement to turn the club around in the way he did. It seemed at the time Leeds would always bounce back but I don't think many realised how close we were to oblivion.

As for the rest of the film, it did strike me that despite the obvious talent in the first team, Leeds were pretty lucky to come away with all the trophies we did in 2015. Even great teams need a touch of luck. We clearly had very little in 2023, although we rode it well at the back end of 2022.

Yep. Coaches like Powell and Watson are never far from throwing the players - often individuals - under the bus. That Smith never wavered in that regard, is a mark of the man. I hope, and I think, he'll show the coaching chops to take us forward in 2024.

Great Post.

See I don’t think it is that risky: having 9 and 6 already combined is a big plus; Frawley and Miller are experienced players and fringe NRL quality: I really don’t think we’ll need too long to look like a team. If the players are good enough they will play well together.