Is it? Were you saying that 11 games ago?

Our cap has been horrendously mismanaged that aint going to be sorted in the last year.

He got rid of some deadwood and the same will happen next year.

All points accepted, it's the manner of these starts that's absolutely dreadful and we've left it too late on a few occasions now and others could well have got too far away with the bounce of a ball til we decided to have our say.

I totally agree on the starts, im not happy with our form at all, but talk of getting rid of smith is just daft imo.

And look at the table its very tight, if we get a run it will look a lot different in a few weeks.

One thing is our home form is very good only one loss in a year, we just need to sort the away form!

Agreed. That’s the main thing that needs to change. For me some of it might start with the pack. I don’t think we’ve decided on the best front row yet, there’s been lots of chopping and changing there to say everyone’s been relatively fit. I also think there’s an argument someone like Bentley starts or doesn’t play. For me he’s not a bench player, his value is in high energy minutes.

Obviously not every game but some of it also lies on Sezer and Austin. Thereve been a couple of games where we start ok, then we finish a set with a stupid pass or purely executed kick and then all of a sudden we’re on the back foot for the next 10 minutes. Same with some of the penalties.

It’s all fixable. It’s all fixable by the current staff. I don’t for one second think the intent is to start slow, but I do think we’re now at the point where the passive defense needs putting in the bin. We have the pack to not need it, whereas last year it was a necessary evil.

What I would like to hear, as someone said before, is some acknowledgement by Smith that we haven't played well. I understand he doesn't want to give too much away in interviews, but as a fan the 'tough game of footy' mantra when we've played badly is starting to wear a bit thin. The journalists could ask better questions but as fans I think some acknowledgement of reality is due, as it would suggest he knows its not good enough and needs to make changes.

Our starts are terrible and our defence generally isn't good enough, either in terms of field position or points conceded. Last year we had no field position but defended our line well and then played out of defence with style. We built that style because we had a miniature front row. That isn't the case this year and there's no reason for losing field position every game. Take away the huge self belief the team built and the big effort in scrambling defence and the game plan just looks like playing with one hand tied behind your back.

He needs to revisit this as we're just not getting the results. Its not that hard to go back to the basics in defence, as every single player in the squad will have played most of their career under a very similar plan.

I also think he's making things a bit worse in some selections - I don't like Martin in the centres long term, or a winger on the bench. He's picking Bentley, who looks like he's waiting to hear which NRL team he'll join next year, but underplayed Walters, who in the few games he has played has looked really good (just 3 games from 10 now).

None of that means I don't think he's the right man for the job. I like most of the squad building he's done, and we play some very attractive rugby at times. But it feels like Smith is waiting for the performances of last year to just click in, when I don't think we can replicate the results with the same gameplan. Mid table is OK this year but only if it feels like we're moving in the right direction. Its worrying that after ten games we've maybe strung five good halfs together, and not one 80 minute game.

The halves get spoken about as if they're a couple of randoms from the championship or something. They have nearly 300 NRL games between them, and 1 played an NRL GF, and both have made the SL dream team not so long ago. Surely, we should be able to develop a tactical plan and attacking structure that gets the best out of them? The 9 and 1 positions are far bigger issues IMO.

Smith last week and I quote ‘we are not a good side at the moment’

Hes not daft maybe he just doesn’t want to publicly slate certain players

I don’t have a problem with myler short term. He’s been good but is obviously getting up there in age. 9 wise O’Connor has gone well and there’s obviously still improvement to be had there, but for him to improve we’ll have to take the rough with the smooth. Johnson needs more game time, I think we’d be better when those 9 duties are shared. I can only assume they’re being cautious with a kid who’s not played a whole lot of first grade rugby for his age?

My main issue with the halves is Sezer. For me he lets the game pass him by, and yes while his NRL resume reads great, it was always interesting that he was let go at a prime sort of age (right after aforementioned grand final I think) and came to SL at that age. The way he flits in and out of games for me directly correlates with our form. Austin like myler is ok, but imo guilty of trying to do too much.

Also to add with the level of RL ‘journalist’ in this country i don’t blame Smith for being a bit guarded

Sezer will be gone next year

2nd half was, 1st 30 minutes we (Leigh) were superb.

Leigh were great first half, they didn’t need to be in the second half as Leeds didn’t really look like scoring

Thanks for travelling over to watch the game at the LSV. It’s really appreciated. To see such a big following in the South Stand from one of the games leading clubs was awe inspiring. We were completely overwhelmed by size of the away support you brought. I only hope we can replicate the away support you gave your team in the reverse fixture. I’m sure it will inspire our team in the same way it did yours tonight. Hopefully the fixture is not on TV so that it does not affect the attendance travelling over the Pennines. We wouldn’t want anything to distract us from supporting our team.

It seems some Leigh fans have a bit of a bee in their bonnets about away support. Maybe a Friday night in Leigh looking at a load of people dressed up like Bett Lynch isn’t for everyone.

Just enjoy your win.

There were no excuses tonight - fully fit squad , settled spine , powerful bench - so why cant the coach get the team to play ? Time is running out if Smith can`t find the answer .

He did admit after the game that the slow starts are a problem, but seemed to suggest this was the first time we'd leaked a lot of points in that period? That doesn't make sense, as even in most of our wins we've been behind and caught up. If you keep giving away leads you're going to lose more than you should.

I think he needs the break to have a think about how he's setting the team up. We're ten games into the season now, about the same time he joined last year. We're better than we were under Agar but nothing like the team we became at the back end of last season. I keep waiting for us to kick into some sort of extra gear but there's not much sign of it yet.

These losses are tough, as don’t think any of us expected us to be this inconsistent.
Just need to regroup and get it right for next home game. Plenty of time left in season. We do have some cap space, and am sure club are actively looking to bring in more quality. Fullback and centre look to be positions to prioritise, but def not Gildart thanks!

HKR look to have signed a cracking centre in Corey Hall btw.

The home form is OK because they haven't played any of the big hitters yet - Wigan, Saints, Warrington - they have played Hull x2 and Wakefield. Catalans just capitulated as they can do, Huddersfield was a good win.

I think Smith is the man but he needs an experienced assistant to support him e.g. McDermott to Smith. He doesn't seem to be instill any consistency even in a single game never mind a run of games. I have said it before Smith seems to be refining his style as a coach and Leeds are just a part of that process

For all the talk Newman looks a shadow of the player he was - these serious injuries must dent your confidence

Agreed!

2x new halves, a full back and a centre for next season please Gawy.

Smiths comment on early points was an odd one and also, the only way of getting momentum isn't in just executing our plays (as he said) but also playing the game at the right end of the field with better line speed and contact as well as not coughing up the ball and giving so many penalties.

We do not have the players to be carrying off this high risk game plan every week, no one does. He's got some great ideas has rohan but he's not going to reinvent some core principles of the game that will always be true.

The loss doesn’t define our season, it’ll be forgotten if we win next game, trophies aren’t won in April, blah blah etc etc.

Please cut and paste the above for my response when we lose, which will be every couple of weeks for the rest of the season.

We are not a nursery for coaches. For him to iron out his mistakes and then go to St Helens to win grand finals.

We expect, and should be gunning for trophies. Clubs standards are in the mud.

Why have we seemingly got worse the more time smith has had with them?

I’ll be Smith out if we just rot like this for the rest of the season.