Maybe he was, we don’t know who else was interviewed. Whether he turns out to be the right choice Agar must have something going for him as he’s never out of work in the game

outstanding candidate?? really?? that's laughable. say he has done a good job and want continuity but outstanding. thats ridiculous

What are you expecting the club to say?

Putting out the spin is fine. Its the decision that's the problem.

Nothing different whatsoever the Rhinos BS Spin machine is in full swing.
The e-mails for corporate ,sponsors & dearer seats will be full of it.

they could have said he has done a fine job and deserves his chance, and he is the ideal man to bring the youth through.
not that I agree on either mind

I think we have to give the bloke a chance. No coach would've come in this season and turned us into title challengers again overnight. Given time, a full pre-season and hopefully the chance to make some changes to the squad that he wants, it may well work out. The players seem to like him and if that brings out the best in them, fair play. I don't think anyone in the game has a bad word to say about him either.

thats ok then, he is a nice bloke.
I myself would like a coach with a track record of success and bringing youth through

How dare the club try and get revenue and market themselves! It’s an outrage

And if it turns out to be a good decision?

Maybe see how it goes, there’s no guarantees with any appointments in sport.

coukdnt agree more.
but you get what you pay for in life. agar is bargain basement

Of course I'll see how it goes - we all will. Right now I think its a bad move. If I'm wrong great.

Apart from that I'm worried that the bar to define success will be set so low that a season barely better than this one will see Agar get another year.

Just like Brian McDermott..........

I think the bar has to be set realistically

And you could argue Tony Smith, what were his coaching credentials before joining us?

Didn’t he get Huddersfield relegated?

What would you say is realistically?

Challenging for the playoffs

In a 12 team comp with at least three really poor teams what is a 'realistic' objective? 5th? 6th?

Its hard to say. My worry is that we'll keep making excuses and find 8th or 9th or worse are acceptable as that's not really a long way from 5th, player X got injured etc etc.

Outstanding candidate! of course he is, depending on who you are. A director of Rugby who wants a yes man who won't ruffle feathers or someone who usually invests ££££££'s in corporate or season tickets?

Well it depends if you think Kevin Sinfield and Gary Hetherington are just egocentric and looking out for themselves or you think they are actually doing what they think is best for the club.

It’s a real shame that you and some others fall into the former category in my opinion.

Christopher, saying that doesn't make your view the right one. People are entitled to their opinion. In terms of Gary Hetherington, I have been dealing with him as a business for 20 years. I also have social times with Rob Oates. I can say with confidence that Gary's views have changed a lot over the last 6 or 7 years, and he most certainly looks after himself now. I don't know enough on Sinfield to say the same.

Quite, that’s why I said in my opinion. And if were talking about posters who think their opinions are the correct ones.... erm, bit of irony there!



Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion I don’t see where I’ve suggested otherwise.

Regarding what's realistic, in my view we should be able to achieve 5-8th. Better than 5th would most likely need more quality in the squad an lower than 8th would represent a significant failure. I have no expectations in the cup as it depends entirely on the draw.

I'd say we really need to have a strong push for the playoffs next year, to me that means still in contention (practically not just mathematically) with 2-3 rounds to go. If we don't do that, then there would have to be some very good justification for continuing with the same set up the year after.

It's very important to start to introduce some of the kids next year, they will be the future, and they need to be surrounded by better quality players (either the same ones performing much better, or new additions) to give them a realistic chance to develop.

It will be an interesting 12 months.

That all sounds reasonable.

What I would like to see next year is P&R suspended, and then we can really use the time to do whatever is best for the academy lads coming through and build for 2021 onwards, without worrying too much about a result one particular week.

We will still want to be winning though and I think somewhere around 5th would seem like progress. Everything is relative and it depends how the other teams strengthen or weaken for next year too.

Our squad flat out lacks star quality at present. We have some good players who could raise a level with better individuals around them.

KS and RA will earn their stripes over this pre-season with contract negotiations etc.

Rob Oates is a top guy - no one could be more committed to the club than him. Unfortunately he is not selecting the coach, if he were I doubt Agar would be top of his list.

However it could be that the club are going to bring in a huge signing over the summer - hopefully not Gale - to appease the fans and help Rob with the corporate sales. Would fans prefer a top coach and the same squad or Agar and a better squad? The money can only go so far.