Fair play to McDermott, he's got his team to two finals.

However I remember sitting next to a certain Dave Lister at Wembley this year, and he wasn't very happy with how they played for the vast majority of that game. Leeds were dreadful in the first half and paid the price for it, against a Wigan team who played well below par and other teams in the top six would have beaten.

The 'fact' remains we did the double over Leeds this season, and we all know these things can happen but the limitations of that Leeds team were laid bare for all to see. There's no luck involved in their excellent play-off run, that is just a team hitting its stride at just the right time and they deserve credit for that. But it is fanciful to suggest that we had 'good times' under McDermott. We didn't, and as poor as some of the peformances under Powell were this season, I still feel slightly more optimistic now than I did 2 years or even 12 months ago, after wearying campaigns watching dismal rugby produced under McDermott, hamstrung as he was by external factors.

I don't think he's an especially imaginative coach, and I don't think he's very good with people. But if he wins a grand final, fair play to him, he's proved a few people wrong but it doesn't change his record at Quins - which was, in most people's eyes, a poor one especially in his last two years.

Spot on Happy, and unlike a certain Leeds born Big Mac fanboy, my opinion of him has not altered one iota, while he has done well enough in the end with an above average team, [despite that numerous get him the fook out of here threads on SS.com] his management of what he had in London, his people skills [sic] his drivel post match comments and his general could not give a f**k attitude did more damage to supporters of this club than most other things over the previous 2 seasons to this one gone.

Is Powell a better coach? probably not, but am I happy burger king left? over the moon harry.

"Could not give a f**k attitude" ? Interesting. And they say cultures in business often come from the top down... I don't agree with your assertion, but I wouldn't blame him for not caring when the club is run in such a shabby fashion. He will have been desperate to get out and put his skills to good use, and Leeds provided that platform for him. He has turned a team around this season - the performance against Warrington was the best I have seen for years - perhaps it is the climax of their excellent run at the end of the season, but regardless, it has been mastery from McDermott.

You think post match comments and a bad attitude have irritated fans more than ritual humpings by below average sides, usually by a hefty score? Come off it.

When I watch Leeds I see they like to throw the ball around. I never remember Quins playing like this under Mac. Didnt Quins fans complain it was too boring under his coaching spell?

If i remember right his last 8 games Quins did throw it around usually to the opposition. Wakefield away anyone

Ps I liked Mac as a person and His love of the junior set up was there for all too see.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 606418.stm ""We certainly wouldn't be going to a Grand Final without his efforts," Gary Hetherington told BBC Radio Leeds. "The appointment of Brian McDermott has been one of the best moves I've made in my 15 years at the club," he added. "I've made some good ones and some not so good ones. But I think the appointment of Brian in what was a very tricky time in the club's transformation has been justified."

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 606418.stm ""We certainly wouldn't be going to a Grand Final without his efforts," Gary Hetherington told BBC Radio Leeds. "The appointment of Brian McDermott has been one of the best moves I've made in my 15 years at the club," he added. "I've made some good ones and some not so good ones. But I think the appointment of Brian in what was a very tricky time in the club's transformation has been justified."

Yes, and then they started throwing it about, with dire consequences because few of the players had the necessary ball handling skills.

But you're right, for a time our games were boring in the extreme.

Sole reason? no, anymore than any other one single daft thing the club has done over the past 5 years, but as a part of the combination of issues, yeah I do think Mc's time in charge or at least the last 2 seasons, certainly didn't help keep bums on seats.

Hindsight and the passing of time always help these assessments, but for me personally, I am glad he left, and am ambivilent as to how he proceeds from here.

I don't know what it says about the finalists at the weekend but we did the double over one and beat the other at home! Maybe there is not so big a gap for us to bridge after all!

oh and another thought a new song for next season : "If Chase can play for England so can Dorn"!

I cant imagine Dorn replacing Tomkins at 1 or Chase at 6/7

McBanana said there were others similar to Chase eligable that he had looked at in our game

I don't know why this is such a big story. Australia and NZ have been playing guys from other countries for years.

said it many times when everyone was slagging him off down here
Whats the point in playing an open flowing game moving the ball about when the players cannot keep hold of the bloody thing!
Why did we play boring rugby, probably down to the coach telling em to try and keep hold of the ball rather than dropping it
The players did not perform! they could not do the basics, at this level the coach cannot be blamed for that, it should already been there
Think he has proven his coaching ability, no-one expected leeds to do anything this year because apparently they are " a team in transistion" well they have gone against all expectation
Give the bloke his due and say well done

its interesting that "chump" chase been voted player of the year by the rl world up here

How many of "his" players have got them there? Sorry Listy, but the team that have got them to the GF is not one he built and neither is it one that plays in any manner like Quins teams played under him.



IMO it remains to be seen......once a few more of the decent players have been replaced with second row forwards, then we will see where Mac sits in the pecking of order of ESL coaches.

2002 was the last time Leeds conceded over 600 points in a regular season, so at least his defensive coaching hasn't changed.

A good analogy would be when Derby County won the old Football League in the mid seventies under Dave MacKay after Brian Clough had been sacked under strange circumstances (it was always rumoured that the Derby board had effectively been ordered to fire Clough by the FL and FA) - it was Clough's team and tactics.