Thought Bluey was a breath of fresh air just at the right time. I think he had a lot to do with the way Leeds kicked on in 08 and 09. I saw the likes of Sinny and a few others play with a smile and s lot of pressure was lifted off them. I thought he was very unlucky not to get us to a title in 10 as well. Losing Peacock and Burgess in the unimportant thrashing of Cas and then our player of the year McGuire.
Better/worse is not how you can measure people. He was different and it worked. If Smith had carried on I don't think Leeds would have done so well (but of course that's impossible to prove).

Funny how Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Peacock say Macca is the best Coach they have ever played under and is the best in Super League. 8 or 9 out of 10 in most departments.

I think I'll take their opinion over yours any day of the week.

I think that's a fair assessment. At the end of the day, Bluey won the same amount of silverware as Smith in a shorter tenure. He may not have left as good a legacy or brought the same amount of improvement, but his time at Leeds should not be diminished even if some of the players didn't rate him as much as some of the other coaches they've worked with. He also managed international success in a major series against Australia, something which has eluded the likes of Smith. It can't all be down to 'luck'.

Is it fair to say that he was more of Brian Clough type coach?

Doesn't mean better or worse, just different style.

I saw Smith as quite tactical and McDermott as probably somewhere in between.

They have all benefited in my eyes from good recruitment. It wasn't like any of them took over Wakey and then took them to Old Trafford.

Things did seem to feel different when Smith arrived. It was the first season I have seen them and had real belief that we could win the big one.

I agree Bluey was the right man at the right time. Coaches who are primarily motivators do tend to have a short term impact.

I do however remember at the time that Sinny said he'd never known a feeling like it and that the team would run through a brick wall for Bluey

I think McLennan was more a "one of the boys" type of coach. A pretty relaxed, laid-back kind of bloke who could get his point across when he needed to, but also knew when a player just needed a quiet word or a joke to put a smile back on his face. Maybe not the best tactically or technically, but someone who you would run through brick walls for if you had to.

Arguably the individual talent level in the current Leeds side is better than the one McLennan had to work with. Hardaker or Lee Smith/ oft-injured Brent Webb? Tom Briscoe or Scott Donald? Cuthbertson or Bailey? Garbutt or Kirke? The likes of McGuire, Burrow, Ablett, Hall have all added to their game since McLennan's time IMO.

do we put the 2008 GF win down to Bluey ?because like Kevin Sinfield said a week previous were were beaten by saints and were in a pretty dark place.I know the players themselves must have played a part ,but his motivational talks mst have had a bit to do with it

That was the greatest win against the odds i think i have ever seen as a Leeds fan. Perhaps the 19-0 win at central park in 92 comes close but this being a big final tops it for me. Certainly have to give Bluey some real credit for that, Saints were a fine side in 2008 and their name was all over the trophy that year and to get us to that level two weeks after the hammering at Knowsley Road must have taken some doing. Wasn't that the year of the half time Anderson 'rant' too which the Sky cameras caught?

Quote: Biff Tannen "That was the greatest win against the odds i think i have ever seen as a Leeds fan. Perhaps the 19-0 win at central park in 92 comes close but this being a big final tops it for me. Certainly have to give Bluey some real credit for that, Saints were a fine side in 2008 and their name was all over the trophy that year and to get us to that level two weeks after the hammering at Knowsley Road must have taken some doing. Wasn't that the year of the half time Anderson 'rant' too which the Sky cameras caught?'" Oh yes it was. That was pretty bloody funny and is in stark contrast to Smith, Bluey and McDermott who I'm told rarely, if ever, shout and scream like that. It was also the year of one of poor old Jon Wilkin's post Grand Final whinges. This time it was Leeds cowering away, "whooping" as they go into tackles, the weather and cameras in the dressing rooms. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 653071.stm Lovely stuff.

Quote: Biff Tannen "That was the greatest win against the odds i think i have ever seen as a Leeds fan. Perhaps the 19-0 win at central park in 92 comes close but this being a big final tops it for me. Certainly have to give Bluey some real credit for that, Saints were a fine side in 2008 and their name was all over the trophy that year and to get us to that level two weeks after the hammering at Knowsley Road must have taken some doing. Wasn't that the year of the half time Anderson 'rant' too which the Sky cameras caught?'" Oh yes it was. That was pretty bloody funny and is in stark contrast to Smith, Bluey and McDermott who I'm told rarely, if ever, shout and scream like that. It was also the year of one of poor old Jon Wilkin's post Grand Final whinges. This time it was Leeds cowering away, "whooping" as they go into tackles, the weather and cameras in the dressing rooms. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 653071.stm Lovely stuff.

It was a great victory but the chance Leeds were given was totally out of line with the actual situation. I think that year Leeds were one penalty kick away from the LLS - Rob Burrow had a kick to win the match at Wigan at the end of the season and we would have finished top.
We led the league for a good portion of the season and had rolled over Saints at home. To write us off the way everyone did was totally wrong. It was at a time when everyone was still messing in their trousers over the 2006 Saints wonder team, 2007 had been dismissed as a fluke, a freak result never to be repeated.
I think that was why it was so important to win the LLS in 2009 and the GF. There was very limited respect for Leeds back then from many quarters. 2009 eventually put that to bed.

Having said that, I was on a flight to Japan on the Saturday so only saw the result when I turned in my phone at Narita airport and the picture of the boys holding the trophy slowly downloaded on my crappy Palm Treo. The rest of the travellers in the immigration queue giot a bit of a surprise.

Sean Long just about airbrushes this from history in his book.

"This was the night we showed them how to win saints style, but it rained and Leeds were better"

Ha Ha

Leeds lost Webb in the buildup as well which added to the odds against leeds. First 15 everything went as predicted. Saints got the early try, were making breaks and things looked ominous. Then something just magically changed, few saints errors crept in and leeds penalty here and there and once leeds got a sniff into the game they never looked back.

Didn't Agent Meli play his part too? Or was that 09?

The odds were stacked against us in 2008. I honestly think that night is a big reason why the players who played that night don't know when they are beaten. Saints were unbeaten for about 26 matches going into that final.

No matter what happens in what's left of Lee Smith's career or how his life goes after he hangs up his boots he will always have that magical 80 minutes to look back on. He did everything right, and then some. The emotion in him after the match when he probably realised he'd made a huge mistake going to union was also there. He shouldn't care, we all make mistakes but not many put in a performance like he did that night.