I think unless a suitable replacement is available now, we may as well wait until the end of the season.

I'm probably out on my own in this but...... I'd like to see him finish out his contract. I can handle another season in the doldrums as I know It was never going to be an easy task or a quick fix for him (or anyone else for that matter), to turn our fortunes around. Everyone at the Rhinos understands this too I would imagine, especially when they awarded him a 3.5 year contract, unfortunately the majority of the fans who want the results now, can't or won't see this.

Churning through managers to hopefully get 'the one' is often a big mistake that ends up being costly and nonproductive, for every manager 'paid off' it's less money in the pot to bring in players, for every manager replaced, you go back to square one with tactics and ideas. I'm not in the know about what goes on at the Rhinos, neither do I claim to have a great insight into the game, call it naivety if you will, but I still reckon he should be given more of a chance.

Christopher is correct so back on topic is it fact that Ash Handley is definitely staying? Because I've heard whispers to the contrary.

Contracted 'til 2026 I thought??

Catalan are rumoured to be interested but they would have to stump up a large fee as he is contract untill 2026.

wouldn't totally surprise me if Ash moved on, he's top class and wants to win things... we're a way off delivering that to him. We're at the stage now where top players won't automatically be drawn to playing for Leeds as they once were as we've not competed regularly at the top for years and we don't look like a club heading in the right direction.... it's starts to tell with recruitment and retention.

I know, it's not like we've just signed an England international hooker and a Man of Steel stand off or anything. Of course we can still attract players and keep them, Handley himself is signed up for another two years and we have just renewed Newmans contract.



How is signing for Catalans a guarantee of winning things, what exactly have they won bar a CC final six years ago, we have actually won something more recently than they have, yes they were in the GF last year but so were we the year before.

Lighten up guys, not everything is doom and gloom.

it's not Chris. my point is that Leeds has no longer quite got the automatic pulling power it once had because we're frankly miles off being regular real title and cup challengers and have been for years. Eventually that shows. Of course we're still big enough to attract top talent like Croft and Ackers, but it's not quite what it was. Now with a club like ours given it's size and quality of facilities it should be an easy fix, once we're heading in the right direction then we're back in play

We weren't winning things when we signed Ellery Hanley, Iestyn Harris, Keith Senior, or Ali Lauitiiti.

Of course the glimmer of silverware may have attracted the likes of Buderus, Peacock, Webb etc but I doubt it was ever the primary factor.

Handley is a key member of the leadership group at Leeds, and was also a member of the 2015 triple winning squad, if not any of the final winning teams.

Not winning things regularly doesn't help us, it just means we have to pay a bit more to get the players than we otherwise would do. Leeds is still a big draw in UK. The answer is in producing our own players in enough volume that we are then looking to sign the icing rather than the cake...

Pretty much this im told hes disillusioned and had his head turned with the lifestyle and £££ but them signing Makinson might have put an end to the interest its all hearsay.

I would say the reason we signed the 2 from Salford was down to the amount of money we paid and how desperate Salford were for the money.
Both players were happy to stay at Salford until they were told Salford had accepted the offer.
£300k is a lot of money in the SL world when most players move for nothing.
My point is Leeds is not the attraction it used to be. Not winning trophies is one consideration and the style of play or the way they are coached could be another factor.
But given time things might change. It is the length of time that concerns me.

If we’re talking overseas signings, SL in general isn’t as attractive as used to be either!

Getting likes of Buderus, Webb, Lauititi etc is long gone.

So the only reason we bought them is because Salford were short of money ?? Surely it was because we had identified a lacking in our own team and thought that those two could possibly fit the bill?
Salford may well have jumped at the offer but personal terms with the players would have had to be agreed upon before the players moved, we could have offered 500k each to Salford but unless the players agreed to the move and the terms of their new contracts Salford would have had to refuse the offer and honour the players existing contracts. However it's all a moot point now as the deal has been done, we have the players and we'll have to see how or if they can turn our fortunes around.