It comes down to size and determination in the pack, for me.

No Dodds or Harrison all season, no Westwood or Currie back end of the season, Cox was so bad he couldn't get in the team? No Grix. We were left with Hill, Hughes and Westerman and that's it. Not going to win a GF with just those three. Sims is a good offloader but is too lightweight, the Kings are good but too young just yet (they will be cracking players in a few years) and Bailey isn't good enough at all.

We were completely dominated in the pack. How we did as well as we did this season is a surprise because of this.

Smith has his flaws and getting the team fired up to the hilt is one big one. But a fit, thus, bigger pack and we'd have won all three trophies, in the words of Stevo, it's as simple as that.

Unfortunately, there just isn't the quality out there & considering we started the season with so many bad injuries we have done well this season as many of the injuries have carried on for the whole season.
It is ridiculous that a club should start with 5 or 6 injured players out of a squad of 28 (?).....the backroom staff number more than the players !

What has happened with Cox, at start of the season you lot were heaping praise on the lad? I haven't seen a lot on him tbh, but what i saw on the SL show at start of year he looked to be playing well?

I must be missing something with George king, people are speaking as though he has great potential or will be a great forward soon.

He lacks aggression in both attack and defence, what exactly does he offer?

I don't see it either.

Not having an answer yourself is surely a poor argument? I'd like a new coach please this one's a failure, who should we have? I've no idea

Stick with Smith we are a couple of players short and it's not so long ago that many on here were wetting themselves with how young the squad is all bodes well for the future etc

Hear, hear! Lot's of over reaction on here it's almost as if some posters enjoy seeing us fail they are so quick (too quick IMO) to turn on certain players and the coach

I'm as gutted as the next man to lose last night and really fancied us for the win, but, we didn't, let's recruit one or two and go again next year NTW

He made a couple of runs without fear for his own safety that caught the eye and most thought that we have a raw recruit an impact player that might help the cause when Hill went off. Sadly it never got any better and that early season promise, perhaps looked upon too fondly due to comparatives with his predecessor a certain South Sea Islander on big bucks, never materialised.

Wigan have a very strong team ethic which was highlighted at the end of their semi with the pictures from the dressing room. Wane banging the drum and all the staff and player's joining in the singing. Admittedly not everyone's cup of tea, but it did show a real strong team togetherness, nothing was going to stop them winning the GF.

Ten Wigan born players with a Wigan born coach who knows all his players as soon as they join the Academy. The contrast to our club is startling.

That's always been Smith's weakness for me in that he doesn't get that togetherness and spirit in his teams like others do. At Leeds we won in 2004 because we were so much better than everyone else that year. When others came back at us the next couple of years we didn't win anything until we did a number on Saints in the '07 GF and many would say it was knowing Smith was leaving that helped us that year.

It took him 3 attempts to win that 2nd GF and I don't think we'd have repeated in 2008 & 2009 under him as McClennan came in and brought a togetherness into the squad and that's when we started to win the close tough ones as sometimes underdogs. McDermott carried that on and victories like the playoffs semis vs LLS winners you and Wigan both away from home in 2011 and 12 are not ones I think Smith could've won for us. Likewise the final 3 games of last year I'm not sure Smith would've seen us through them when we were struggling post Wembley.