absolutely WQ. Any small improvement in performance would be a measure for us.

To back up what you say, there are lots of good coaches who have never won a grand final.

I'd heard from people who had played under McDermott at London that he was a good coach. I listened to them rather than people on here. Fans are very results focused, obviously. So maybe ask them by what measures a coach like McDermott is judged.


He didn't have the artillery at London like he does at Leeds. You need that in RL to fully show how good you are.

I understand where you are coming from RB, but I have to say, regardless of what players say about the guy, he didn't deliver whilst in London.
By deliver, I mean he didn't get the results the fans wanted, or the club as a business needed to attract more fans and sponsors.

08/07/06 to 03/09/10......116 SL games under him and we won 43 of them and lost 60% . In his last season, he presided over the lowest placed finish in the clubs history...13th out of 14 teams. 3,137 points conceded at a average of 27 a game is a terrible statistic for a professional RL coach....the only reason he isn't the worst coach we ever had is because our chairman appointed Rob Powell, whose team shipped 1,642 SL points in 47 games.....close to 35 a pop. Tony Rea presided over the 2nd worst season in regard to points shipped......and then turned it around the following year and got us to the Play-offs.......that's how I measure "success".....not by word of mouth from ex-players.

I have no doubt that those players who are coached by him say positive things about him....he quite patently a motivator and his teams play "for each other", but whether he is a decent RL coach remains to be seen.....Leeds have 2 of their worst regular season in a while under him and the teams ability to win "knock out games" doesn't change that. Leeds shipped 24.5 points a game in the regular season this year....their worst effort since 2002.

See comment saying Fans are very results focused, obviously.

Players know who can coach, fans recite win ratios, stats without knowing how teams have been coached.

Ivan Cleary IS a good coach, will Penrith fans think that as he finished 15 out of 16?

Cleary is a good coach...he's proved it over time by building his team at the warriors. BMcD inherited a team at leeds and has taught them how to ship points but still grind out knock out wins.....
As for players knowing who can coach......I suggested in my last post, he may know how to "bind a team together" and motivate them.....but his tactics? His tactics are to rely on Sinfield......