I think Barrie McD said something that may be relevant yesterday, he said that at the start of his career he'd played for Oldham where the crowd appreciated you if you played your heart out for 80 mins, it didn't matter if they lost only that you had given them 100%.

Then he went to Wigan where the only important thing was that you annihilated the opposition every week, they didn't care about effort as long as you had a clear 20 point margin or more at the final whistle.

He also said that when he gets "supporters" giving him an earful about how everything is wrong and they know exactly what they'd do if they were in charge he will look them in the eye, nod as if interested, then thank them for their opinion and walk away without giving it a second thought.



I think that some Leeds supporters would make ace Wigan supporters.

I would never boo my team or the coach but you don't have to love the coach to support your team or have an opinion on his ability.I don't rate him and think the success we have enjoyed in recent seasons are the fruit of previous coaches .his continued policy of keeping playing his favourites regardless of form will lead to a fractured dressing room if it isn't already.

Some of our senior players have earned the right to have time to play themselves back to form rather than being dropped, but I don't know how he can look at the last month or so of play and decide "you know what, the problem is McShane".

Sutcliffe appeared to be played as a prop last night.

I agree

Wigan fan here so no interest other than hoping you'd both lose

As soon as it happened I said that although in the field of play initially the ball touches the Line whilst Hardaker is in possession.
For me that is dead in goal, Drop out.
Would like to hear Gansons explanaition of this as for me it's one fo the strangest I've seen (One of the worst I saw was the Jack Hughes No Try at your place last year, can't believe it was ruled out?).

This must be the 20th season running where I've heard that.

Referring AGAIN to what Barrie McD said yesterday, he said that playing at Leeds is about the whole package, its the most professional setup that he has experienced anywhere in RL and that the only reason he signed for us when he was "sacked" by Wigan is that he loved coming to Leeds as an opposition player because it was patently obvious how professional the whole package deal was, everything from the guy who looks after the kit to the people who make the breakfasts at the training ground etc etc etc, was done with professionalism - the bloke who has the label of "first team coach" is only a small part of the package.

The CEO has provided his coach with a barely adequate 1st grade squad - which I imagine to be a country mile below the cap - and that quality rich, numerically poor squad is reduced still further once it passes through the coach's own filtration system - which historically has highlighted 1st grade contracted players that will unfortunately need to play their rugby away from Headingley.

A few injuries - only to be expected in RL - and it's down to the bare bones with some players stretched to breaking point and still asked and expected to turn out and perform. There is virtually no competition for places at Headingley and sub standard showings can be virtually ignored with a shrug of the shoulders (if injuries still allow a shrug) safe in the knowledge there's no trusted alternative so selection the following week is a formality when you're part of the 'in crowd.'

tvoc, could you please let us know how many players each club have used in their first team this season, highlighting the number of debuts per club as well so we can see how our squad usage compares to other clubs?

Go on, you know you want to.....

Nope you've lost me there !! Although one wonders why he was dropped

The bench spot that McShane would have had was taken by Sutcliffe...

Quote: batleyrhino "tvoc, could you please let us know how many players each club have used in their first team this season, highlighting the number of debuts per club as well so we can see how our squad usage compares to other clubs? Go on, you know you want to.....'" Wigan have used 27 wigan.rlfans.com/readarticle.php?article_id=1818

Quote: batleyrhino "tvoc, could you please let us know how many players each club have used in their first team this season, highlighting the number of debuts per club as well so we can see how our squad usage compares to other clubs? Go on, you know you want to.....'" Wigan have used 27 wigan.rlfans.com/readarticle.php?article_id=1818

You have used the expression "barely adequate" a few times now, what do you define as barely adequate and how much cap space do we have left?

Yes you might be right.
First receiver and run it in forgot your ball handling skills and help out the forwards.
I actually thought he was trying to give him the Stevie Ward role.
IMO he was needed as a halfback not a forward last night.

There are many things I still want to do (but sadly won't) ..... unfortunately that isn't high on the list. I know a straight-forward way to find the numbers each team have used (at least in the regular rounds, ie excluding the Challenge Cup) but identifying which of those have also made their 1st grade debuts would take much more effort and the truth is I'm a lazy b[iastar[/id at heart.