Discuss

Prefer the javelin meself.

Just read this in the YEP online - think they got the better deal out of this swap.

i don't. willie was a lovely guy, very under rated player but did a sh*t job coaching the u20's

Give over. On what sane basis can anybody say that?

The guys done an absolute shocking job with our under 20's since been put in that position.

Don't really like piggy Lowes and always had a soft spot for Willie.

I don't like Lowes either, I think he's a turd. But however good guy Willie was, he was a shockingly bad coach. His record clearly shows that.

One things for sure, if we end up top 4 next year the coaching we have brought in will have done a fantastic job. Yet anyone would think we will be lucky to make top 8 with the way they have been written off.

I still remember Lowes making that gesture to Leeds fans .

I still remember Ellery Hanley doing something similar also in his Wigan days.

Should we have not signed him aswell?

I can think of a few reasons why I wouldn't have gone for Lowes, but sticking the fingers up at some dipsticks is not one of them.

but Lowes did it as an ex leeds player Hanley up to then never played for Leeds and had endured a lot of stick from Leeds fans.
When player's leave clubs that they have served for a number of season's they dont usually go over the top with celebration's if they have any feeling for the club.
Having said that I am preparedto give Brian macdermott a chance and trust his judgement up to now

Since Poching took over the under20 side, what have they achieved?
I rated him as a player but have seen nothing in him as a coach to believe that we've not got the best out of all this recent business.
It's an odd world though aint it?

Got to say i'm hapy willie has moved on ,great player for us but as many have stated but he had a shocker with the u20's and was on his way out with Cummings no matter if Bluey had stayed or not.
Again with the Lowes appointment he would'nt of topped my list either but Brian Mc wanted him and GH seems happy to apoint him so time will tell.

If he's so bad why does Tony Smith and the moneybags Wire want him?

He is very unproven and didn't get the results. Although I am a bit dubious about Lowes joining us, I do feel that we have got the better assistant coach!

My 1st guess is that TS knows he's a "yes man".
My 2nd is that he's only going there as an assistant and TS needs someone right now but he's not coaching the juniors which he did'nt do very well at Leeds imo.
Strange how things work out but we'll soon see how it all pans out come Feb.

Find it strange how people make judgements on coaching ability, have you ever seen them coach? And if you had would you know what you were looking for?

Many things other than results factor into how a coach would fit in to a new club.

On Mcdermott, he has some interesting coaching philosophies, some of which I think are spot on. He also feels the previous regime was probably too technical. Interesting transition time for Leeds.

Poching - yes
Lowes - no

On Poching, whilst I wouldn't go quite as far as Gotcha in describing his record as "shocking" I'd agree with Gotcha's general point that he's not great. Having said that, he's a really nice guy and hopefully he'll improve under Tony Smith.

On Lowes, not seen him coach but have heard things from people who have. Some complimentary, some not. Probably as you would expect from a coach still learning his trade. Perfectly willing to give him the opportunity at Leeds, anything that's happened in the past is just that, in the past. I would imagine Lowes wasn't too happy with the way good ole Alf got rid of him but he's put that behind him so let's all move on shall we.

That's interesting, since after the 2008 Grand Final win McClennan said that our ability to wrestle and control the tackle was "probably the biggest factor" in that final win.

McDermott probably has a point.

Willie would be a great "ASSISTANT" Coach.

With the U20's it was his job, he was solely responsible and as many have mentioned, wasn't very good at it.

Although the Assistant's job is technically a step up, there's a lot more places to hide, and a lot more "hand holding" in that role. If the U20's lost it was Willie's fault, but nobody ever blamed Franny for our disgrace at Wembley did they (or any other loss)??

Willie's qualities are clear for all to see, dedication, commitment, work ethic, motivation, likeability. All qualities which could easily see him excel when practically being Tony's coffee-boy and when used as a sounding board for any ideas, without any of the key decisions to make, or any responsibility with the fans or media should those decisions go wrong.

Were the U20s results so bad solely because of Poching's coaching? Or were the tools he had to work with not as good as in previous seasons? Those that say it was down to Poching, what evidence have you got to back that up? I'd say it's never black and white in these situations.

It's funny how some people are lining up to back McDermott who has a questionable record at Quins yet are ready to write off Poching who had a comparable record with the U20s. I wonder if they'd be saying the same if McDermott was joining another club?

There's a fair bit on inconsistency IMHO!

Simple in'it... McDermott is joining us. Poaching is leaving us.

We're all blindly following the mighty Rhinos with Blue & Amber specs on, and there's certainly nothing inconsistent about that!

We've already seen what impact Brian Mc has had when he was the assistent to TS and the immediate after effect when he 1st left so that initself buys Brian Mc some time and grace as no1.
With Poching the u20's were'nt as bad a team as the results were suggesting imo and some of the performances were absolutely woefull now of course the players themselves take a good % of blame for that but it was'nt all down to them and overall Pochings tenure as u20's coach was'nt as good as it could of been imo.
How he turns out as TS's no2 remains to be seen and he was a fantastic servant to our club as a player but ATEOD the club decided not to retain/offer him a new deal and that points to GH being not exactly 100% impressed with his efforts as the u20's boss also.
That's absolutely nothing to do with consistency of opinion just how it is and as for Lowes i still remain sceptical about his appointment but he's gone through the interview process and got the position so we'll have to wait and see.

It's what fans do isn't it? We all did the same at the Bulls when McNamara got the head coach job. You try and convince yourself of the positives!

It's going to be an interesting 2011.

There were positives about McNamara? Apart from the obvious that some day his contract would end of course.

IIRC plenty of us hoped him taking over would go as smoothly as the last couple of changes where the assistant had taken over from the senior man. As I recall nobody at the time said that he was hopeless and we should steer clear.