One thing the club could have done better with Smith (with the benefit of hindsight) is the size of the contract he was awarded. Perhaps giving him until the end of the 2023 seasons with options to unlock performance related extensions would have been better? I guess that GH saw it as a post that needed scope for longer-term changes... Could those bigger picture details have been the responsibility of a Director of Rugby, with a coach focusing primarily on the first team's performances? But that kind of arrangement could have complicated matters, since they would need the coach and DoR to share the same vision and what that looked like in terms of personnel and tactics (etc).

I'm not sure about performance related bonuses like extensions. The coach shouldn't need an incentive to be successful. As far as DoR etc is concerned I'd be looking to mirror the setups of the really successful sides. What do Melbourne Storm or Penrith do? I'd be speaking to people at Brisbane and asking how they managed the transformation from basket case to contenders over the last 4 or 5 years.

Looks like Hull are after Paul Rowley. If we are waving goodbye to Smith, Rowley would be my choice. Not a great fan of Watson, Rowley is probably the only decent British coach who would come to Leeds. A big bonus would be working with Croft again.

Not sure whether coaches who did well for clubs with relatively low levels of resource are guaranteed to cope or make it with bigger clubs.

For every Tony Smith there's probably a Daryl Powell. Ian Watson has hardly turned Huddersfield into GF contenders yet, despite Leeds finding a way to gift them a win on Friday.

Surprised Hull are not pulling out the stops to bring local boy McNamara back to Humberside... Maybe he's saving himself for the task of bringing Bradford back to SL, after setting them on the path to relegation back in the day. In fact it's a small miracle the guy is still in coaching after having won so little, after the likes of Wane, McDermott etc won so much more but got booted out.

Hull FC have reportedly offered Rowley the head coach position for 2025. If the board are starting to think in terms of exiting Smith, you would think this might lend events a degree if urgency.

He may well have been given a bit more time , JJB stuck his oar in and got his best mate to get rid of him though

Given Hethrington lauding it up how rosesy the garden is regarding academy etc I'd be really interested to know how much input the head coach has had in this area and what other platforms he has put in place with the whole talent pool identification and pathways, while he is failing with the senior squad perhaps this is where he exells?

have you seen how poor the juniors have been????
excel at what exactly?
he's a fraud

He's staying at Salford, apparently

would you go to hull?

Don't get me wrong, Rowley's good at what he does. But he's not really had to bring through youngsters to the first team. He's just signed established players. Different ball game trying to bring players through a system I'd imagine.

Yes, but he gets the best out of mostly average players and cast offs.Smith cannot get the best out of quality players.
Look at Croft, showed some nice touches but seems half the player he was at Salford so far.

Hanging in till the Leeds job is available?

maybe.
hopefully it's available monday

That crossed my mind.