they have been totally crap.
we have been mainly crap

We have got rid of some so called dead wood and replaced it with guess what ?
Some more dead wood

What a load of balderdash !

Johnson , Sinfield and Simpson have played a handfull of games between them and Gannon ( mainly due to injuries) Holroyd only had a handful of good games and Walters can't get in the team so they are hardly cemented in the first team, then you pick out full back as a place we need a player , yet Myler is our best player .
Some of this years signings are just cheap and somewhat bizzare .

Not quite sure what your point is?

Which signing other than Olpherts (which is certainly looking questionable) is cheap/bizarre? Bear in mind we had apparently very little room under the cap with a squad which was deficient in so many areas, so its not as though we could just throw out half the team and bring in superstars.

Roberts, Hooley, Ruan and Warren were signed to add depth and with a focus on the future. Sangare and Lisone were signed to add bulk to the pack, which they do. Macdonald was brought in to add strike and pace, which he undoubtedly does. McDonnell is one for the future as well but already looks a solid player.

The reality is we got rid of a couple of players who'd been clogging up the place for years (Sutcliffe and Dwyer are doing amazingly for Hull I see) and strengthened where we could. But we didn't/couldn't get rid of our top earners because a huge chunk of our cap was tied up in players under contract.

Off contract this year are Fusitu'a (who may be OK but definitely not worth big bucks), Tetevano (marquee in name only), Sezer and Austin. This will not only clear a huge amount of cap space but also clear key positions for incoming players. As they're all overseas players we should be able to go hard to recruit the best we can from the NRL. Bentley will also be on a wedge and supposedly wants to try the NRL, so there's another potential chunk of cap there.

I'm with KaeruJim - we're starting to look like we've got some solid players and some really good younger players about the place, but we need to improve our spine hugely. I'd also say full back and one of the halfbacks.

Agreed. You'd have to say that all of Agar's big ticket additions: Tet, Fus, Sezer, Bentley and Austin, have for differing reasons, not been consistent value for money. Could well see most, if not all of them depart. I really hope the club have already made decisions about who they want to get rid of and are actively lining up replacements now. We badly need a couple of players (see French & Field) who can win a game out of nothing.

I will give you McDonnell and Macdonald the rest are very ordinary to say the least and if you just want bulk then why not just sign a couple of Sumo wrestlers .
Why you can not see that Myler has been our best and most creative player the last 3 years is beyond me .
Yes though i agree to shipping out Seizer , Austin , Faz and Bentley along with Tetevano

Myler was our best player over those years. He wasn’t our best, I would say that would comfortably be Mik followed by handley. He was one of our best because of how Agar wanted to play, the structured, move it wide with a fullback coming into the line and going through the line or throwing the final pass. Myler is a good player at doing that, as he was a halfback.

That isn’t how Smith wants to play, I would say it is clear as day that isn’t his style. As such the effectiveness of myler will diminish (he is also getting older and his biggest weakness is he lacks pace).

In terms of the signings, given what was available and when Smith came in I would say Sangare was a good signing. Big body, looked decent in the World Cup and SL last year, good impact player and isn’t old. Lisone I am less sure about but in terms of style and attributes he is the kind of player we should have been looking at.

I’m not sure who you were expecting us to sign? Can you for example name a player we didn’t sign who moved in the off season, was in a position we needed and was available when smith came in?

The test is the end of year. You have 4 quota spots opening, big money players, one a marquee and two half backs all OOC. Additionally you have Bentley who won’t be cheap.

There is some absolutely rubbish that gets posted on here. Some people need to be more like Rohan! When you win it isn’t as great as you think, when you don’t win it isn’t as bad as you think. You inherit what you inherit and you cannot just magically get rid of contracted players, especially when you come in mid season.

Well if you are talking about rubbish posted on here , well one Myler does have pace and two no he did not do the same from half back , as for Sangare he looked that good in super league last year he had playing spells about the same length as Kylie did in his last year (without the same effect)

Not sure on your ability to read and understand. I said he was good at doing that (passing) as he was a halfback. At no point did I say he did the same from halfback.
However, as a half back he was required to pass the ball, more than say a centre or a winger who might transition to full back. Secondly, name a full back in SL who myler beats for pace? Myler wasn’t our best player - you said he was and offered no external evidence of it. I said he was one of our best and that was because of how Agar wanted to play. I also said Smith doesn’t want to play the same way and Myler’s effectiveness will diminish.


Sangare - what a daft point that is. First year in SL, playing for Toulouse who are at the bottom, inexperienced player and you are saying oh he doesn’t do long enough minutes. He had an impact when he played, he had impact at the WC for France. He has had impact for us and given time and patience (which you seem to lack) he will do longer minutes. So now your point has moved from he is a rubbish signing to he is rubbish because he doesn’t do long enough minutes?

What is telling is that despite asking you a fairly simple question which directly related to the point you decided to make, you weren’t able to even offer a basic response or name any player. I have set the question out below for you. So please enlighten me with your thoughts…….

I’m not sure who you were expecting us to sign? Can you for example name a player we didn’t sign who moved in the off season, was in a position we needed and was available when smith came in?

This seasons signings have been a bit of a mixed bag.

Kind of what you’d expect considering that maybe only 3 of them were earmarked as First Choice 17 in Sangare, Macdonald and Lisone (in my opinion of course)

Olpherts has been crap, and we’ve not really seen enough of the rest. McDonnell has been a pleasant surprise.

As others have said it’s too many of the big money signings who aren’t performing consistently. We’ll have some good games, we’ll have some games like the other night, but I think we’ve seen enough to say we should see what Smith can do with the cap and quota.

Agree with all of this

What is most concerning regarding Smith`s current coaching abilities is his lack of Plan B. When he saw the conditions in Hull on Friday , it was obvious to all but Smith that we could not play a free flowing game with a passive defence . The match would be in a hard fought forward battle , backed up by a good kicking game - exactly how KR played it.
We had a poor kicking game , and most importantly of all ( and totally down to Smith ) made no attempt to put any pressure on the current best kicker in the league - absolutely brainless !!! To accompany this with our passive defence on such a night was a recipe for disaster . A coach needs to adapt to both ground conditions as well as the other teams strengths - on Friday night , Smith failed badly - he needs to learn quickly .

We just played rubbish on Friday. Don’t think anything to do with the coach or pan. Dropped ball, incorrect play the ball from Cam on our only attacking chance of first half, then of-course two players who’s confidence was completely shot under high ball, and no bench replacements after Fusi’s bad injury. Will be a completely different type of game vs Hudds. Draw a line and move on……

it's happened to often for it to be a coincidence. let's see what sunday brings

There's been a lot of drawing lines so far this year. 2 good halves in a row would be a treat wouldn't it.

If you draw enough lines on an Etch-A-Sketch then eventually you’ll get a Plan B.

What can you positively about that performance. Are you suggesting that if you don't have anything positive to say - no matter how constructive - say nothing? This would be a very dull board indeed.

I have said it before it seems to me Smith is using Leeds as an experiment to polish his style. Odd pre-season, signing Championship players, passive defence, weird attacking options, strange team selections etc.

Hopefully he will be vindicated - in the meantime when it goes badly he needs calling out, when it goes well praising with the same vigour.

My point is - for some there is never anything positive. The long winning run that resulted in the journey from the bottom of the league to the GF last year - a mere fluke! The win against Saints - only because they'd been out partying! It seems like some have made up their minds and will never change them. I'd rather go on what I see, when actually attending games, week after week. Smith still has plenty of credit in the bank for me, I don't regard his signings or selections as odd or weird.I think he's also done a great job of moving on a significant group of very average players from the club. I really enjoyed the rugby the team produced last year, which might be a little unorthodox, but is miles better than some of the tripe I have endured since 2015. I'll be there at Headingley on Sunday hoping for good weather and a good performance, and far less of the terrible individual mistakes which have lost us games so far this year. If we win I'll be happy, if we lose I won't. I just think some are happier when we lose. I can't fathom that one out.

The board will always be more lively when the team is not winning - more to disect etc. Winning every week would lead to a dull board - what can you say? One of the things about the golden generation is how average they were during the regular season - kept the board lively. I personally think he is a strange individual who will be an acquired taste - what his interviews!! Having said that as supporters we must trust that those in the know are making the right decisions. This is a tough ask when you look at the two previous coaches and the succession of distinctly average recruits. The idea that you can take average Championship players and turn them into SL players because you coached them previously is lost on me? Smith is still finding his feet as a coach and as supporters we have to accept that.

I do watch his interviews and I find his lack of enthusiasm for some of the incredibly lazy journalistic questioning refreshing. He doesn't seem strange at all to me - clearly loves his family and kids and treats players with fairness and compassion. Those bemoaning recruitment forget to mention that we had very little money to spend last year. Next year we have a huge chunk, and then we'll be able to judge with fairness.

I agree with the last part - hopefully he will improve recent recruitment. I am not one of those calling for his exit - his removal of JJB from the rugby side of the business was long overdue.

Spot on re the journos.
Has any enquired about the thinking underpinning the perceived passive defence, for example?
Instead, last week's gems included: Rohan, you must be pleased to have a near full squad to choose from...

Some of them look and sound as if they have just crawled out of bed. I'm sure Matt Shaw was wearing a onesy the other week.

Peter Smith just repeats the questions that have already been asked

I still don't really understand those having a go at the signings. Most of the 'Championship players' we signed are young with a view to the future but adding to the depth of the squad. Macdonald is the exception because he's clearly way above Championship standard, but Roberts, Hooley, McDonnell, Ruan and Warren were never intended to play most weeks, except maybe McDonnell.

So was Sangare (a player with the potential to be something really different). Lisone has been a bit underwhelming but its not at all unusual for coaches to bring in players they know. Sometimes it works, others not (Furner-Lolohea for example...). Olpherts was an odd signing and may not be playing well but was signed from SL.

As for players Smith let go? I don't think we miss any of them except maybe Hardaker as reserve fullback and Leeming. Sutcliffe and Dwyer helped Hull beat us - to nobody's surprise - but Hull are 2 wins from 7 games. The rest are either past it (Briscoe, Thompson, Prior), crocked (Walker), bog average (Mellor) or haven't done much to suggest they would get in the squad (Mustapha, Broadbent).

I'd take the ins over the outs any day of the week. The reason we're inconsistent and losing is down to the team as a whole, and particularly our highest paid players, who seem far too often to be among our worst performers when we lose.