David Kidwell would be an interesting option - if his time with Bellamy has rubbed off half as well as it did to Maguire then he could be an interesting choice

For last couple of years, always had this feeling that it will be Kearney who will be next up at Leeds. Just seems to follow a pattern.

Sorry, probably didn't make it clear that I'm agreeing with you. Neither was I implying that you were one of those condemning McD out of hand. Point I was making was that that group of winning players would get behind a coach in the way that they clearly have if they thought he wasn't up to scratch.

Doesn't mean a thing in coaching.

Powell is exceptional, Cas seems to suit him as well.

Why would Powell want to come back to a club that showed him the door in a hurry as soon as a better option became available? He's on a low-expectation, no-lose project at Cas, making the 8 every year would be an achievement.

None of the better coaches in the British game are likely to be available to Leeds (Wane, Brown, Anderson for example) simply because their current clubs wouldn't release them.

So it's either an untried assistant from the NRL, or promote from within.

Don't completely agree with that, Powell was untried and obviously in need of more experience - which he got at the lower level. Didn't he move to the Leeds RU side initially - I don't think he was booted straight out of the club?

I do agree that Powell has little incentive to return to Leeds at this time. He looks at home at Cas and Cas seem happy with him. McDermott does have to go at some point (all coaches do), and he is already at or beyond the average shlf life in this game. It's not unreasonable to speculate that after 4 years the management of the club might be looking to their next head man. I can't see Mac being "sacked", and I hope that doesn't happen - definitely not this year, but chances are, based purely on probability, he hasn't got long left in charge.

Also, if Powell does win something this year do we say that's a one off or do we now expect Cas to do better than just a top 8 every year?

Granted he's tied to them for 5 years but doesn't mean he'll see it through. Even if it's not Leeds I'd be surprised if Cas hold onto him for the full duration he signed for (like we've mentioned about McDermott and shelf life, Powell would have been at Cas 6 and a half years if he stayed the whole contract).

Powell's started at Cas with a bang but let's see how the remainder of their season pans out before getting too exuberant about his coaching prowess. I'll be mightily impressed if they continue playing as well as they have but I suspect they'll dip badly.

He's a Cas lad though Printer and that will come into play for him imo or until the Tigers do what they've done in the past and keep losing their better players forcing a rebuild year after year.
Powell would be perfect for this next stage of our transition imo he did it so well after Lance had failed even though very much raw as a Head Coach.
Whoever has the task it's a huge one because as we all know whether its 1 2 or 3 years there is a lot of pivotal players & Club Legends to replace.

Granted he's a Cas lad but think it'll be hard to keep them competing with the current top teams. They're losing quite a few players for next year most crucially Clark. Might eventually consider their being a limit to how far he can take them and think one of the top 4 represented a better chance of winning a GF......and surely any coach would want to achieve that.

Powell is not a Cas lad at all. He is from ponte and so is his family who are fev fans through and through.

Did Powell not play for Redhill? The Queens of Cas rugby!!

Sorry just going off what the other poster said. I know he's from around that part of the world but not sure exactly where.

Point still stands though. Any coach over here in SL would find it extremely difficult to turn down a job offer from either one of Leeds, Saints, Wigan or Wire. Perhaps only not wanting to relocate would be a stumbling block.

....and Mcdermott is an Eastmoor lad who played for the Bulls for a long career and has coached in Leeds and London.

It's a living for these guys so why is everyone so hung up on where they were born and raised.

Hetherington has always looked after Powell and if Powell is an ambitious coach I'm sure he would want another crack at Leeds.

I also think Clearwing is right to sound a note of caution about Powell. Cas have gone very well but it's still very early this year. A lot could change.

True about things could change for Powell but at the moment he's the standout (if you're not looking towards the NRL). McDermott wasn't a safe bet when we plucked him from Quins all be it the London gig is quite a 'unique' one to fully judge someone's full coaching potential.

What can change for Cas that would reduce Powell's stock? Nothing is expected of them. They will be one of the teams tipped for bottom each year, and will play above expectations in making sure it doesn't happen. Powell will have them playing above expectations. They don't have any pressure to win anything, and even now their fans would be delighted if they managed to get fifth spot.

Powell has been first team coach at three rugby league clubs, and has completely turned around their fortunes at each, putting them on a path for success, making them challengers.

He is as proven as any coach over here. So not sure where there is any caution on him. If anything I would say he is more established than the way we have gone previously, and probably why he wouldn't be left field enough.

It's right to flag. They won't be 'surprise package' material next season, be interested to see how they run next season and how they finish this season.

It'll be interesting to see how Cas do next year without Huby, Clark and Sneyd.

Quote from Powell "It's great to Coach this Club Cas are My Team"
He said it more than once after getting the job and has reiterated it since & it wouldn't be as easy to get him here as some would suggest imo.

True. It's hard to say at this stage if Powell is simply a skilled t*rd polisher or is able to train a thoroughbred to win the Derby (mixing metaphors but it's one of those mornings so far). He's certainly managed to put some sort of shine on Weller Hauraki

In which case one wonders why any coach has ever been sacked at Cas.

Of course a lot could change. At the moment they are going very well. They could be going not so well. They could lose every game. Would Powell's stock still be as high then?

As others have said, lets see how they go long term. In fact, lets see how they go next year when they lose the players they're losing and if they lose Clark.

this I agree with.

Aside from those coaches over here who have, you know, won the odd trophy or two.

I do not share this obsession with changing our coach. Just what does he have to do to make some people appreciate what he has done.

He took over a squad of proven past champions who had gone off the boil and were showing signs of being past their best. He also had to do without two of the key players who were out with long term injuries. He turned the poor form around at the right time making a Wembley final and then making history to become Champions from 5th spot when most had written off our chances.

In his second year he backed this up with a WCC win and a 2nd Championship win from 5th spot and again a 2nd Wembley final appearance. In his 3rd season he was faced with season long injury problems and key players getting older still.

So in this year, his 4th in charge, he has got the team to produced a performance that put us at the top of the table at the half season point. Now at the three quarter season point we are in clear 2nd spot and in the semi final of the Cup despite a mid season slump in form and yet again injuries to key players including both his hookers for 12 weeks or more.

Over this time Mac has lost a few stars (Web, Buderus & Ali) not to be replaced by big name signings like our main competitors. Therefore he has introduced several of our promising youngsters and IMO has handled them responsibly well. (check out his comments this week regarding Singleton)

In addition to the youngsters he has proven he can also handle the aging stars several of whom have been there and not just got several T Shirts but several Champions rings too. This last point is no mean feat. Many a big name coach has suffered at the hands of star players.

Powell is a credit to himself and the game both as a man and a coach and I am a big admirer. But I see no reason to consider a change unless Mac himself really wanted to go. From his successful time here under Tony Smith and over the last 4 years BM has shown he understands very well the Leeds philosophy and IMO he is well qualified to take us through the next few transitional seasons when he could well have groomed one of several candidates from the senior players who could take over the reins.

On Mac, whether you'd rather see him move on or retain him, you wonder how long he has left in general terms. He's in his 4th year in charge, do these coaching roles at one club last much longer on average? A different perspective with a set group could offer freshness and possibly new leases of life in old dogs.

As for Mac having the responsibility over-seeing handing the reins to over to obvious key member(s) of the current team, I'd like to see him working with an assistant coach first!

How many trophies had Smith or McDermott won before they came? How many has Brown won? or indeed Wane before he took the promoted job?

Powell would have had that tick on his CV had he got that needed bit of luck in 2003, and then of course many following had it not changed.

For me there is no caution with regards him. Not sure how losing Sneyd, Clark, and Huby is going to effect that, as the club Castleford I would guess will still be performing above their expectations, as their expectations are much lower than a challenging team. I am sure that whatever happens with Cas, the likes of Brown and McDermott wouldn't be doing anything better than what Powell is doing there.

You think we'd have sacked our coach if we were in your position, do you think anyone would