Its a bit weirdly timed to come out with that and almost simultaneously announce Miller. That announcement could have been cut and pasted from most of the last 8 years. The only difference this season is not needing to add the fact that we're in a relegation battle.

I like Miller as a signing. Lets hope we add a couple more players with real class.

I’d be really interested to know what the Leeds Board consider is to lowest acceptable outcome in terms of League Position and CC progress before there are changes to the football operation?

We won’t ever be told, but if it’s not SF of the cup and top 4, then the board needs removing never mind anything else.

As you know, super league is extremely competitive and we believed we’d put together a strong team, along with Rohan, that could challenge, unfortunately…..

His spiel just rolls off the tongue. I know he’s not said that in the above article but I guarantee he’ll say something to that effect at some point.

Super league isn’t extremely competitive. It’s .

On the ambition front, it was weird to be bigging up a 15k crowd for a heavily marketed match (with 2 other matches at the stadium) when we used to average 16k.

I saw the release mid week about the Wigan match, laughable that they thought it would be relevant for the top 6 from a Leeds point of view.

I await further hollow press releases as we move towards the season ticket renewal/general sale windows.

I personally thought the 15 k crowd was excellent. I was also comparing it with other club’s attendance figures. My praise was based on the judgment that due to the dire state of super league it demonstrated that with a decent team we could command the biggest crowds. My other reason for my post was to highlight the attraction for summer Sunday afternoon games.

How is the drive for the play offs going?

Depends on which years play offs you refer to!!

"But all the players here now are united to finish the season strongly and we face five crucial games as we look to secure a play off spot, starting at Huddersfield Giants on Sunday."

This one!!

I'm sure some people will find everything positive in their nice fuzzy little world

I think the only one left who is 'glass nearly full' is leedsbarmyarmy who thinks we're all daft. Christophers positivity has had its limits stretched I think.

I think you’ve got me all wrong to be honest. Been 8th in the table and not performing each week isn’t acceptable. We should be up near the top each year as we are one of the biggest clubs in super league.

I just don’t agree when people say, for example, the coach is sh it, all the players are sh it, etc. it’s just not as simple as that.

I also don’t agree when people are bagging the club on recruitment for next year, when it’s still August and we have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. I’ll save my criticism for the club when we see the 2024 squad taking shape towards the back end of the year.

But I’m sure I’ll still be labelled a cheer leader as I’m not going with the forum narrative of criticising the club for very thing they do.

But you’ve got it right on the glass half full thing, that’s how I live my life. Nothing wrong with been a positive person and I don’t allow a sport to dictate my mood, from reading these threads, a lot of people should try it sometimes.

Im not positive about this year, it’s done. Ill still enjoy going to the games because I enjoy going to watch the games.

I’ll reserve judgement on next year until I see the squad finalised.

Agreed, especially your last paragraph.

All very fair comments and you are right re the last paragraph. I think peoples apprehensions re recruitment can be understood though owing primarily to yet another poor season, the significant holes to fill, current indications not being great yet and previous disappointing recruitment. I'm working on being more positive, in all aspects not just rugby, which I think I hold too much as an escape then get frustrated at well, getting more frustrated.

Yeah I understand some of the concerns but some seem to think we’re not making anymore signings and have written off next year already, which is baffling at this stage of the season.

Good to hear mate, it’s good to have many “escapes” so when one isn’t giving you the required happiness you can move to another. Rugby league isn’t as big in my life as it used to be, maybe that’s why it doesn’t get me as worked up as it does to others.

I think that given the time of the year, many fans are (perhaps rightly) anxious that the available pool of quality players may be too small given the number of important gaps in our squad and the ambitions of our club.

At the very least, other SL clubs have been quicker to make announcements than Leeds. The comments by Smith in the YEP about accommodating Miller and Myler suggest we are still actively looking for half-backs rather than having player(s) 'signed and sealed'. There's still time for the sleeve to deliver, and we're not quite in the bargain bin territory of December, but it does look like the club are taking a major risk by having so many critical positions unfilled at this late stage. I hope I am wrong, and that there are more Miller-esque signings to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Myler will be 34 years of age just after the start of the 2024 season. If the club has any meaningful ambitions he shouldn’t be in the squad.

Myler is contracted for 2024 (who made that decision?). That's fine if the plan is for him to give us versatile back-up in several positions, but concerning if he's being given the 6 or 7 shirt.

Agree

Have Leeds lost hunger as a club? Yes, definitely. Matt Frawley signing is a great example of that. He's bloody terrible.

If we are that broke that we can't afford to bring in decent quality players, GH should be honest with the fans and say so. Lay out a plan that shows how we will rebuild over 5 years to a team of young local players who will give everything for the club, and a sprinkling of top UK talent from other clubs along with the best available Overseas signings in positions we need to fill. Just like we did to bring through the goldens.

The silence from the club on the strategy for the future is absolutely deafening.

Everyone knows halfbacks are the most important positions in the team. Two quality halves and you can cover the rest of the team being average or worse. Two rubbish halfbacks and you can make world-beaters look like plodders.

Given the Goldens had three quality players to choose from for over a decade, you'd think everyone at Leeds would know this more than anyone. Instead, just have a look at this shower we've signed since McGuire retired:
Myler (201icon_cool.gif - signed as the main man despite being the support act for Briers at Wire. So good he's barely played halfback since 2019.
Lolohea (2019) - shipped off less than a season in due to being awful. And fat.
Lui (2019) - great job in an emergency, but we had to offer him a contract a season too long.
McLelland (2019) - I'd actually forgotten we signed him. Injuries aside lets be honest he didn't look much cop.
Gale (2020) - would have been a good signing in 2018 if he hadn't got injured. A few glimpses of a good player but nobody cried when he left.
Eastmond (2021) - played two whole games before retiring. Waste of time.
Sezer (2022) - kicks a lot. Occasionally runs and looks OK when he does, but mostly looks like he can't be bothered.
Austin (2022) - one good game in five, one shocker and three meh.

Of that whole list only Gale suggests a club looking to sign someone who could make a real difference. Never mind their NRL 'pedigree', lets not forget Sezer's form had fallen away at Hudds and Austin was basically without a club when we signed him.

Frawley doesn't even have the pedigree of Austin or Sezer. He is the definition of a below-average NRL halfback. We'd need to sign Nathan Cleary for signing him to make any sense.

If Frawley is the standard we're at then gawd help us over the next few seasons.

Excellent posting, likewise I had forgotten about Mclelland. Don’t suppose Sezer will be committed in the remaining games, he won’t want to pick up any injuries before returning home. I am trying to look on the bright side with potential new signings (with great difficulty) it certainly looks like we seem to be in the bargain basement league.

Nicked from someone on twitter far more eloquent than me, this seems to hit the nail on the head re our current plight..

"It’s a successful business model. Very NFL. Win just often enough to quell fan revolt and keep the ground fullish without spending money you can’t afford on match winners. I assume it’s deliberate. If not it’s woeful recruitment and management"

Given this season it felt like the club just had to make a statement about not accepting being rubbish any more. When we signed Miller I thought we were going to go big at halfback. Then Frawley. Its pretty damning when Peter Smith's comments are basically about giving Frawley a chance. Oh, and he's played 50 NRL games.

The criticism on here and elsewhere has been growing and its really hard to feel excited for next season. One thing's for sure, I doubt Rohan will treat the off-season and pre-season games as a glorified Its a Knockout. If we don't come out of the blocks strong I think he'll be in all sorts, even if its mostly down to the club not being willing/able to spend.

I'd swap excitement now for results next year. Not saying it's going to happen, but we've been here so many times with exciting sides on paper only for them to disappoint.