[Quote More likely he realised how foolish he looked challenging people to leave the board permanently because they didn't share his dislike of McDermott.'"

I do like to watch the opposition and give credit where its due. Cas where immense last week.

Appreciation of the other team makes watching a game that much more enjoyable....IMHO of course.

If I have you mistaken then I apologies. By the way you have me mistaken as I made no mention that you should be ashamed.



My point has been simple and consistent. I have never said BM is perfect or never makes a mistake, however I am sympathetic to the coaches position when their critics sally forth with OTT (not shouting by the way) opinions made without real knowledge of the circumstances.

When players hit poor form or make silly mistakes on the field, as they all do from time to time, is not the fault of the coach. To assume that these things are the coaches fault or that there is no structure or game plans or player rule or other such nonsense show a complete lack of understanding of the coaches role. Mac has coached the team to 2 championships a WCC and 2 Cup finals and has shown earlier in this season that we can produce a side that plays attractive rugby with attacking back play and resolute defence.

We have just been through a long spell without our two first choice hookers. In addition there have been other injuries and our leader and captain has been a lot off-colour. To pretend that these are not really important factors in our drop in performance is unreasonable. How many of those calling for Mac to be sacked would be happy if the same criteria were applied in their workplace and to their performance.

We're in a slump and McDermott has to turn it around, if we finish the season with silverware, most importantly the big one then he will have done a great job. If the slump continues and we finish with nothing they I think he will be out.

Surely the skill of a good manager is to get the best out of charges and ensure certain performance levels are maintained regardless of team content.

I see players that struggle to pass to the right, can't catch a high ball, can't pass from dummy half, can't read plays - if this is not what McDermott is employed to ensure basic technique is correct then what is his job?

I wouldn't have thought teaching basic technique was the head coach's job. That should be done with juniors by junior coaches. The fact that players lacking the most basic skills in their position ever get to first grade is bizarre, but sadly too common.

Slightly OT, but the most cringe-making example I remember recently was Scott Moore for the Cowboys last year. Probably the worst passer from dummy half I've seen in the NRL. How he ever managed to get as far as he has without being able to consistently pass from acting half is a complete mystery.

If the basic techniques are preventing the team from being able to carry out his plans then surely something needs to be done. Tony Smith spent a lot of his early time at working on the basics - things worked out OK for him.

I don't think it's down to Mintball entirely but you are right about the Sin Bin. Someone should have organised the funeral a long time ago while there is still something left to put in the coffin.

All your above points are granted and have credibility at certain points during this season. But I'm looking at Leeds over a wider period. We are so reliant upon blood and effort, busting a gut for the side. It is almost as if it doesn't come natural to Leeds as we're set up to go to war on every occasion without much focus on attacking shape and the natural flow of our rugby. That mirrors the ex Marine which is McDermott. Then when the injuries/fatigue arrives and our physicality drops as a result, the young kids are just not tough enough to go to war and don't yet have the skills for the off the cuff stuff we play. Where as if we were well set-up in attack with structures in place we still should be going through those plays, even if they do result in a drop ball and a missed timed run through lack of experience. Instead we are just so flat its like watching your amateur side. On Friday there was no reason what so ever for Joel Moon to repeatedly cut back on the inside and run across the line of defence without a single player putting his hand up to crash onto the ball or run as a decoy. Its all off the cuff stuff. There was no reason what so ever to not put another play on whilst he was teasing the defence, instead we stood there clueless and made to look pretty silly. Hey, that can be down to the players and no one putting their hand up to give Moon a runner is not good enough. If that is the case I expect McDermott to come down hard on them this week and see a marked improvement. But I've been waiting for that for years...Lets see if it happens on Friday.

In addition, for what its worth I don't think McDermott shouldn't be Leeds' 1st team coach. Just for him to share the work load and not be Mr Leeds. We need that extra coach that has the responsibility from McDermott to shape Leeds better up in attack. Step forward Dunneman, we can dream.

There are other culprits Codead, FA, Dally but the fact remains that between them they have killed the board. Now they have no one to belittle through demonstrating their superior knowledge to (sic)!!

if you supported hull fc like me you would have something to moan about.....top of the league,cup semi, 2 grand finals in his time and still you moan we would settle for a win at present

Quote: "Brian McDermott workshop offensive principles Leeds rugby academy 4th Aug 7pm all coaches welcome book Maybe a couple of posters might like to attend. These are regular events. Very popular and very well attended I understand by the local coaching fraternity. Thats people who actually get involved and put something back into the sport they love, rather than those that just have Terrace Test Caps. www.therhinos.co.uk/news/23485.php

Quote: "Brian McDermott workshop offensive principles Leeds rugby academy 4th Aug 7pm all coaches welcome book Maybe a couple of posters might like to attend. These are regular events. Very popular and very well attended I understand by the local coaching fraternity. Thats people who actually get involved and put something back into the sport they love, rather than those that just have Terrace Test Caps. www.therhinos.co.uk/news/23485.php

Ricky Hatton said in an interview that he never shadow boxed for 12 rounds because he felt it made fighters too robotic. He liked to train for a few rounds in different scenarios so he could react to situations. Under McDermott, to me, we seem like a team with a plan for 80 minutes, rather than one with a few plans to mix it up.

The players are trained to the point, that when it's not working, there's no alternative. I'm not looking for miracles, but at this level when most defences are strong, teams need something extra in attack to break them down. Dummy runners, second phase, offloads - things many of us see lacking. This surely comes down to the coach and how he prepares them. So many times, we offload and the next tackle is within 5m of the offload. Other teams offload and look to exploit the space.

I try to think of a run of a games where we've been on fire, but I struggle.

True