The table can easily lie about the quality of teams. Rovers have had two props in Jewitt & Scruton retire midway through the season with injuries. Scruton having not played once and Jewitt been very poor in the two games he played. For the first half of the season we'd struggled to get props on the field sometimes Mulhern was our solitary prop, Your go forward has to come from somewhere. Funny how Mulhern can't get a game now we've players back fit.
Quinlan has also only just returned from an ACL injury and missed the 1st 19 games of the season He was injured in July last year and was still our player of the year winner. Greenwood has been missing most the season and until we brought in Parcel we've not fielded a recognised Hooker with Lee & Lunt been injured for most the season.

Do I think were a better team then Leeds. Your damn right I do. Put the two teams against each other and I wouldn't swap many.

As it should be - coaches have a limited life span - you need to build the best squad and the coach needs to coach it as best as he can

Hadn't thought of it like that actually. Fair point. Sinfield is going to be around (hopefully) longer than any coach you have.

I remember Graham Murray saying saying very similar when asked if he thought his squad was good enough he replied my job is to coach the players and make them better.

And it works the other way too of course. I’m sure McDermott had input to recruitment but Hetherington seemed quite clear that he was responsible for recruitment, contracts etc. previously.

He made some inspired signings early on with the likes of Delaney, Peacock, Ellis, Donald, Leuluai, Senior etc and you’d have to give him some credit for the golden gen too. Something along the way has scuppered his judgement, and I’m voting for him being flat out too tight with the playing squad once success was regular.

GH would often say we are in the market for new players but they have to be affordable.