This.

Not sure what I think to that. First reaction was "hang on, he was cr@p for 2/3 of the year", but then you realise that turning a mid table(ish) side into a champion team in a matter of months must take some doing.

If he wins then we'd better close this forum down.

Not sure I'd say that. He was implementing new ideas that naturally take a bit of time to bed in. It's just that maybe it was too much too soon.

I think it's safe to say that he's the third best coach on that list.

if tony smith had been the only coach nominated from super league we'd be moaning that he won nothing so didnt deserve the nomination
it looks like the selectors just got lazy

Hang on a minute, you cut the rest of my post off that basically summarised what you just said...

I really, really hope he wins it. It'll be bloody hilarious.

Do Wally Trollies still run RL specials ?

In terms of achievements this season I think he deserves it. Given the timing of the SL awards he was never going to win it, but this is feasible for him to pick up.

If you look at the end product. A challenge cup final and a grand final win. Then it is feasible he might win it!

This.

When McDermott came in he and most likely others decided to have a complete overhaul of the playing systems that had been in place for a long time. The players looked clueless in attack for large parts of the year and were obviously struggling to adapt. Who do you blame for that? They got there in the end. In a season of blooding lots of youngsters mostly as a result of a hefty injury list, we had a decent cup run and came up short as a result of a slow start and bad ref calls. We then hit peak form and won the GF. I think he deserves to be there tbh.

Macca's achievements this year make him an even money bet.

As previous posters have said the coach had new systems to implement, but it's worth noting that he did so in really adverse circumstances.
Pre-season was ill-prepared at best due to McClennan's late resignation. This gave even less time to implement new plans.
On top of that we were missing our key 'go-forward' player in Peacock, and a star back in McGuire. Right through to the latter end of the season Leeds had a massive proportion of the salary cap sidelined or returning from injury.
Given those circumstances I think the coach deserves whatever accolades are thrown at him.
He turned a disorganised team, lacking in confidence, into a team capable of winning back the trophy, whilst bringing out the best in a number of players whose performances (IMO) had started to wane in the previous season under McClennan (Bailey, Ablett and Burrow to name just three). He was also prepared to take and persevere with risks which came off (Sinny running the game from half-back, Burrow exploding off the bench, etc), despite very vocal criticism.

For me, the bottom line is that whatever reservations any of us may have had for much of this season, McDermott has proved himself to be a Champion Coach.

Two months ago I joked that it would laugh my cock off if Saints and Leeds got to another GF.

Des Hasler won the award.

A travesty ... McDermott should have won it for his interesting selections and spectacle at Harlequins the week before Wembley ( long after the " turning point " at Catalans ).

How's that working out for ya?

Thank you for that but we all are aware of your consistent poor judgement on this subject.

Just this subject?!!

Did this bit really happen?

I'm just doing some end of season tally sheets and have only had to make room for five debutants in total of which two were antipodean, one was a signing from the Championship, leaving just the two introduced via Leeds' own Academy and combined they (Singleton and Elliott) saw less than two hours 1st grade action.

__________

Re - McDermott, I have no idea if he's a good coach or not but Leeds are blessed at present with some seriously committed individuals with a wealth of experience who you can never write off. One of them has been allowed to leave though and it'll be interesting if that potential gaping hole in the squad can be filled without making a suitable signing.

Was thinking the same myself. What he did do though was show faith in some of the [iyounger[/i members of the squad when necessary, as long as they were up to the task.

I was at a property industry charidy dinner thing at York yesterday, the guest speaker is always some characterless yawnion has-been, it was that fine athlete Jason Leonard yesterday. But a number of Rhinos were there; John Bentley, who was compere, got Brian Mc up on stage unrehed. After struggling to think what to say his speech was fantastic. The best I've heard since Peter Fox, but more humble. It was interesting to hear the support he got from GH & Caddick during the dark days of June/July. Rob Burrow also got up for a spot.

Sometimes I wonder whether McDermott's self-effacing nature does him any favours when it comes to fan opinion. He's not one of those "blood and thunder" coaches (like a David Ward) who lets his emotions run away with him, neither is he a slick operator when it comes to manipulating the media (like a Doug Laughton). Yet he's managed to achieve something that was beyond both those coaches at Leeds, despite both being given large sums to spend on acquiring the best players.

Some of that may well be down to the players at his disposal, although I would argue that man for man this Leeds squad is no better in comparison to the competition than the ones either Ward or Laughton put together.

Bad coaches simply don't win championships.