You make a reasonable case above.
Sipping from my half full glass of Luke warm cat slash it should hopefully result in a pretty hungry group for next season

That's why I think we'll be ok long term even though some are worried we might be struggling for 2/3 years.

Regardless of whether we scrape into the Top 8 or have to negotiate the Middle 8's, either way the next pre-season looks like they'll be a lot of soul searching and focus to right the wrongs of 2016 (look at Warrington this season to last), not the patting on backs "how great were we" of the off-season just gone.

Although 2015 was our 1st treble i honestly don't see how complacency could become a big issue because the Challenge of being defending Champions is added to by big ?'s of how we cope without Sinny JP & Kylie.
That should be motivation enough to focus the Squad & keep their heads out of the clouds imo.

The questions of whether they could cope without Sinfield and Peacock were ones fans/pundits were asking themselves......doesn't mean the players were asking/wondering that themselves. Remember Sinfield and Peacock performance-wise were far from the most important during the majority of last season. If you rated your top 10 performers from last year for us both might struggle to make the top 10, maybe just squeeze in.

I agree on complacency, and stated also previously. However, I also think some players are nowhere near the standard some fans and players think they are, and were made to look good in a good team. That also applies to the coach, and why I feel we will struggle for 2/3 years, unless of course we make changes. A change is as good as a rest, and even though I think some players are not up to, I do believe a new coach would get a lot more out of them.

Which players are you thinking of?

What does any elite athlete have to motivate them - competitive spirit/will to win. It is a factor in getting them to where they are.

Just because you have won something last season why should that impact on the current season? a couple of individuals perhaps but not a whole team?

Many in this side had won 3/4 GF before last year and a CC also - that didn't seem to impact them last season especially the CC which was the holy grail.

They didn't look knackered against Hull FC at home. Or Huddersfield. Or Saints.

The reason they look knackered at times in games is because they're forcing themselves to make a shedload of unnecessary tackles by turning the ball over and giving dumb penalties away. That's what's taking petrol out of the tank in-game.

I don't buy the "disrupted pre-season" excuse for looking jaded. You can do your cardio work anywhere you have an open space, it doesn't need to be in a specific gym or on a 4G pitch. While it might have affected attacking fluency, there was no reason the Boxing Day floods should leave the players short of fitness at Round 1.

You can't do your gym work, nor your tackle or wrestle technique. And you certainly can't combine it in the way Leeds have successfully done for years under Jason Davidson.
Then add in the injuries including the leaders such as McGuire, JJB & Cuthbertson and the back 5 who were so important last year and it explains most of the fall off in performance in my opinion.

I'd also say they looked knackered v Hull and Huddersfield. I think only the home game v Saints did we look good energy-wise.

In several interviews McDermott has eluded to unbelievable things happening outside their control. It got me thinking about all the hullabaloo surrounding GH's attempt to sign Sam Burgess and the rummour of Watkins being offered to Bath as part of the deal. Now I have no idea if this were true but it could have had an unsettling effect on the likes of Watkins as would the new signings if they had a better deal than the old guard.

In fact the departure of Sinfield and JP could also herald a change in the salary structure at Headingley. If we are to re-balance the squad with a mixture of experienced quality and young talent it may mean selling one or two established stars on the wane to fund it.

Why can't you do your gym work, out of interest? What's so different about the weight room that Leeds had at Kirkstall that they couldn't find another similar one in the area? Yorkshire is full of pro sports clubs, all of which must have high standard gyms.

You can't use injuries to explain a lack of defensive urgency from the 17 that are on the pitch. How does Moon. McGuire, Cuthbertson etc being injured cause other players to be slow retreating or miscommunications? It's down to those players that are actually on the field to sort those out, not bemoan the ones sat in the stands.

Leeds are struggling defensively because they're having to do too much work due to their own errors and indiscipline. All else is excuses, and I'd hope those involved day-to-day at the club aren't using them in private as much as they have been publicly.

It has a sprinting track down the middle and it has a wrestle/contact padded area at the end. So you can combine weights with other conditioning and training. They're are gyms but they're public which isn't ideal nor would you be able to book it for exactly when you want it. The same is true for the other pro sports clubs.


I think players who are injured or not fit probably wouldn't show as much defensive urgency. Also, leadership can create such urgency. For an example see JJB in leading the line.
With a lack of urgency it probably comes back to the lack of preseason and the continuing lack of proper wrestle and contact work. Which is obviously affected by the lack of training ground but also by injuries.


It's partly why they're struggling defensively, partly it's because they've had sod all preseason and still can't train as they'd like and half the players can't train properly because they're injured. Those are also primary factors in why the attack is poor and why we're producing so many errors.

When is Stevie Ward due back? I think that will make a big difference as he has the mix of youth and 'next generation' whilst also having been around for ages and many of us were bigging him up for new captain as well...

castlefords "gym" which was upgraded last year is a portacabin, kitted out entirely with weights, that are specific to squats and legs. That is their gym. Look how it has effected them........ no really.

Yeah. It's theirs. They can use it whenever they want in whatever manner they want with half the team doing something else on their training pitch which is right next to it. It also wasn't out of action during pre-season along with their training pitch.