Yes, understand that Chris, however, the squad and the recruitment has been all Smith's - GH said last year Smith is in charge of player recruitment, yes GH will have done many of the contract finer details, however I am pretty sure Smith will have been fully in the loop, knowing who we can afford and who we can't. We've got players on the books who Smith wanted to bring in who are just not good enough for a club like Leeds. There's no doubt however, GH has messed up also in this. Anyways, time to look forward, im pretty confident Blease will sort out but it's just frustrating that it might take another season and a half or so..

Ive been impressed with Blease, he comes across as a guy that will not tolerate any nonsense on and off the field.

I listened to Chev in the pre-match conference before London. He mentioned aspiring to be a head coach but then mentioned that he was making no changes to how Leeds played. Surely, an aspiring head coach should have his own ideas on how the game should be played. It came across to me like he had no idea and was happy just to be told what to do. He didn't impress me at all.

No idea how Arthur will do as I have not watched much of Paramatta. I watched some videos of him on the sidelines and at training. He looks like someone who commands respect, is clear in his instructions and will not tolerate soft play. I suspect he will be cut throat and players will be dropped for youngsters if they do not perform. Sounds just what Leeds need.

Arthur seems the best candidate for the job at the moment, and this deal gives both parties a look at each other to see if it might be extended.

I wouldn't surprise me if Arthur ends up being our coach for next year too, but his family situation and opportunities back in Aus will have lots to do with it. He might not be the messiah at Leeds either, we'll have to see.

One of the big reasons I wanted him was because he has some draw with NRL players. I think it's key that we're able to attract a higher calibre of overseas player than we have in the past generally.

If Leeds are to get back to successful ways, we need a good coach but we also need stability and a settled side once the inevitable next cycle of clearing the dead wood is completed.

While I see the advantage of bringing in a top-level experienced NRL coach now, it has to be acknowledged there are risks involved that go way beyond whether or not the next 10-11 games pan out in a positive way.

Blease is obviously hoping for a Murray style appointment - short-term surge in results taking us back to the top. After all, he's spoken about Murray, and Arthur fits the bill in having what may be considered better pedigree than Murray's time at the Hunter Mariners. I hope this happens.

But there is a dark side to the Murray era too, which I fear could strike us a second time. The Murray success was not built upon in the Lance era, when Leeds stagnated while remaining a top club (SL was far less competitive then, as GH will point out). The Lance era was foreshadowed by Murray pinching Adrian Morley off us, and later on, Iestyn Harris going to Welsh RU. If BA achieves success in 6-18 months here and then goes back to the NRL, he's likely to take the cream of the crop with him (i.e. Croft, Newman if he ever lives up to his potential, etc). Hopefully Leeds will put in protections against this scenario panning out.

There's always a risk of players going to the NRL, and more so for a new franchise like Perth, which will need a bunch of players. Assuming Arthur is a decent guy I doubt he'd strip Leeds of players. In any event he's just as likely to find players he could use at Wigan or Sts etc.

Newman won't get anywhere near an NRL deal unless he improves a lot. The odd good game here or there punctuated by long injury layoffs won't attract any interest. If we got to see a top form Newman for two seasons and then he left that would be a much better outcome than we're currently looking at.

You're right that the issue is building on what's put in place though. No point in having a year or even two where things turn around only to fall back as soon as Arthur leaves.

I thought that was interesting too. I'm sure they are different around players, but both Chev's and Rohan's communication styles are so unbelievably dreary. You might be able to say the right thing, but it's far more about the way you say it in these situations. Arthur from the YT looks like a communication genius in comparison to RS's behind the scenes team talks.

There's clearly tactics and the way to play the game, but coaches have to inspire teams too. So often I didn't like the tactics of Brian Mac, but he could sure get a tune out of the players when he needed too. I'm hoping BA will be a similar presence around the place (with a better playing style).

Also interesting to hear Grix concentrates on our attack that`s been woeful and Walker on defence.
Good thing we only shipped 3 tries against the worse team in the league last week!
Clearly their coaching methods need addressing and I hope Arthur gets more out of them than we currently are.

I’ve just heard the interview with BA and Jenna, he said all the right things about standards and expectations and then holding people to account.


He’s the right choice.

impressive interview.

He has gone home already

He's told Bleese he can coach rugby players not perfom miracles Taxi.....

I really like BA from what I've seen, and I think the players will too. He won't BS them but they'll know where they stand with him and have more clarity on what they are expected to do.

Looks 50-50 whether he'll stay for next year.

BA on a completely different level to Rowley imho….

Totally agree shabs which is why i can’t see him staying for long

I think BA is very impressive. He talked about standards and accountability in that interview, both of which have been the main ingredients missing for me.

He also said we need to clean up around the ruck, which is so true. Our initial contact is as bad as our passive defence. Players dropping off tackles and not dominating the ruck speed whatsoever.

Main change for me for next week - Cam Smith benched or out, and JOC in at 13. Smith has become too much of a player who wants to do everything, and so isn't great at anything. He has the fitness to make a lot of tackles, but lacks the fitness to do anything explosive in attack or D. Hoping Arthur will shake things up straight away.

There are a couple of "part of the furniture" players which Blease and Arthur need to get their head around for the good of the team. Cam is a good player, he is a solid clubman rather than international class IMO, and that's fine except when so much of our play goes through him. He slows us up too much. I still think Gannon might make it at 13, concussions aside - we also have a couple of loose forward potentials in the system who are very talented.

Smith is a good lad and he does his work really well, but I think his role needs to change in the team in all honesty.

BA ain’t getting on no plane

I’m not sure what BA can achieve in 10 ish games.
Expectations are high already but with the squad he has, it’ll be interesting to see.

Give him 10 games, some new signings and a full pre-season, we should see some difference in 2025.

Was it Brian Mac who tried to turn him into a prop? It might actually be his best position as a ball playing prop who can be spelled during the game. He doesn’t seem to be a natural captain and it has impacted his game. Think it’s time to remove some of the responsibility from his shoulders and simplify his role so he doesn’t feel he needs to be one of the main playmakers.
Try Jarrod at loose forward. Make Croft captain

"We've got to get off the line in defence and go after the collision, instead of waiting for teams to run into us"

Hallelujah.

I heart BA already. We need to try to keep the bloke here for a full pre-season and next year for sure.

Hilarious how he's got straight to the point with our issues, and has a plan to fix us up too.

What he's saying already is music to many ears: I love the way he's making a sober assessment of what he has to work with, and is trying to evolve us rather than revolutionise. You can see why he's so popular with players already, I reckon our mob will love him.

I still think our team needs several key additions, but if he can find the magic sauce to get the players more focused and smart, tighten up and improve game discipline, we could still be in with a shout for top 6 this season.

As mentioned elsewhere, he doesn't need to do owt fancy.

Just get them putting energy I to defence and respect possession more/ clean up the basics and game plan.

He's such a good fit for what we need, calm and experienced pair of hands who commands respect.

Arthur reporting Goudemand out between 4-6 weeks and McCormack out for at least 4 weeks.
Donaldson likely to be added to the matchday squad after recovering from a neck injury along with Newman who suffered a foot injury.
Still no sign of Bentley