Brad Arthur or Jason Demitriou fit that bill.

Was JD highly regarded and tipped to be a top NRL coach?

Not sure what’s gone on at souths though.

The rumour is that at Souths he treated a couple of players - Cody Walker and Lattrell Mitchell - with kid gloves, and they weren't being to the same standards as other players, with cliques emerging in the squad. Burgess apparently wanted them bringing into line and the row that developed led to him leaving. They've been awful this season under Demetriou, but Souths had allowed their roster to age badly, with a poor front row (sounds familiar...) and letting Adam Reynolds go being seen as really poor decisions.

Arthur was Ok at Parra I think but had probably just run his course. Not helped this year by injury to Moses, but they've taken a few hammerings and it looks as though the players had stopped listening.

Right now I'd say Demetriou would be higher risk, but who knows? Arthur would send a big message of intent at least.

Not sure either of them have covered themselves in glory recently.
I do think Cartwright will go well at Hull.
Whilst I watch some of the NRL there`s nobody that springs to mind that would be available.
Briers might be worth a punt and maybe Holbrook if he fancies another shot are 2 that might be interesting.
Or Ryan Carr but don`t know how he is performing over there tbh.

No they haven't. Demetriou was seen as one of the next generation of coaches to come through, but its really gone poorly at Souths. Arthur is more of an established name and would maybe fit the bill of wanting to show the club's intent? If we're in the world of assistant coaches then anyone's guess. Gus Gould has even suggested Parra should look at Brian Mac.....

Demetriou seems like too much of a gamble to me. I think there are two clear "statement" options - Arthur or Rowley.

Im not convinced Rowley is the answer, I think we need someone whos used to the kind of pressure that comes with coaching Leeds

So Brad Arthur, who has already said he would be happy to come to SL, is the answer. I’d punt Smith now, give Arthur the rest of the season to recharge, and let’s Wane stand in with Arthur overseeing the recruitment.

In reply to Christopher's earlier post - Not many will. Leeds is right up there with the most high pressure coaching jobs in the world, and unless it's a head coach from the NRL (Arthur fits the bill) the normal assistant coach type Aussie options remain a risk. Pros for Rowley are that he knows the comp, he knows some of our existing players very well, and he's right at the top of his game. Take your point about his lack of experience at big club though. There's also the other "Arthur" but I suspect GH might balk at my wage demands.

Can’t see Wane wanting s bit part role, he’s happy coaching England for 3 games a year, he also hates us doesn’t he?

Long term I agree, but I’d think he would be interested in a short term role if the money was right. His approach is also what we need, won’t stand for any crap, will let those not pulling their weight know.

17 wins out of 41 games is appalling. Not one for knee jerk reactions but this can't continue. If Brad Arthur could be persuaded to come over then not only would it would be a huge statement of intent by the club, but in my opinion we'd have a proven, top class coach for the first time in a long while.

Rhinos DNA, culture, brotherhood, hand in brothers on 3, breathing circles, 'the struggle ' coffees together....it all looks overly contrived and they could look any less connected as a result. It's a really hard moment for smith as he must surely be questioning his own philosophies

They COULD look less connected as a result?

Oh well that’s good, it means they’re not at the lowest ebb of looking connected.

There’s a lower unit of looking disconnected than where they are currently at, they still have room to manoeuvre in the field of looking less connected, they’ve not hit rock bottom.

Or did you mean, they COULDN’T look less connected? On the scale of looking disconnected, they’re at zero, and since you can’t have negative connectedness it’s not possible for them to be any more disconnected, they’ve bottomed out. Is that what you meant? Or could you care less.

...that's a pretty long reply for a pretty obvious typo.

Wow 17 wins out of 41 games. Didn’t realise that is his record. That’s disgraceful for a club like this

In fairness (and I think his time is up) that's his record over the last season and a half. First year he was 14 wins out 19 and a GF.

Yes, I was quoting a Lot Pod stat on his record after reaching the GF. However, this in my view makes it worse. We had every expectation of kicking on and building on that initial success. Yes, there'd be bumps in the road, but our record is simply awful.

I can't see what Wane would get out of this other than a pay cheque .Why would the players respond if they know he's only short term.If there was to be an in coming coach next season I'm sure they would want to make the decisions on who stays once they have arrived.Plus I don't think we have that many off contract which as we know makes it harder to move players on.For mine the new coach has to come in now or we stick with Smith this season then bring in the new guy.

Agreed. In some ways the stats don't bother me. It's the actual performances that make me want to scream like an extra in a cheap horror movie. Just the same excruciating script every week. Very sad, when you consider the hope that the last six months of 22 engendered.

Agree entirely with that Arthur. Its the performances. Even the early wins this year came about through miracle plays which covered up some basic flaws.

That's why I jumped off the Rohan bandwagon a while ago. We were 'only' a couple of points off the top but clearly going backwards, and I reckon every side in the comp looks forward to playing us. We gift position and possession and have no punch up front or in attacking positions.That gives every other team a chance against us. Its the same issues every week and nothing changes except the players seem to be losing belief. Again.

Just on the players with coaches. They have always been fickle. You occasionally see them stand up for coaches at risk to themselves, but it's generally only very senior players who can or will take full responsibility for performances. Most of the time they'll back the coach to the point where blame starts being pointed at them, and then they let the coach fry. Why admit to playing badly when you can blame the coach? Not sure if we've quite reached that point, but we can't be far off. Once that happens its game over for the coach.

I agree that we need a reset and Rohan and most of the back up coaches need to go as our performance levels over the last 18 months have fallen well below whats acceptable for a club of Leeds size. Smith is getting all the stick but many players are underperforming and not standing up! In the glory days we had multiple leaders in the team now they are sadly lacking. Currently the only players I see any consistency and leadership from are Handley and Martyn. We don't look bothered by defeats.
Back in the day Sinfield Peacock and Maguire dictated the culture to the rest of the squad and if you were not willing to stand up you wouldn't last long!

Looks like all the foroum are in general agreement that Smith has failed. The main talking point should be how much damage has Smith done, I can think of 3 players that should be out of the door immediately. Obviously that will be difficult because of contractual agreements. Potentially Smith has set us back at least 2 seasons. No point in immediately sacking him , let him continue to the end of the season. That give us ample time to find a new coach.

The decision on a new coach depends on who's available and when they might want to come over, but leaving a 'dead coach walking' in place if a decision has been made to get rid will simply make things worse. If its reached that point you have to get them out of the club, as much for their own benefit as the team. The players would have zero respect for a coach in that position, and they'd still get the blame for every poor performance, with no upside.

Far better put a caretaker in, but if it is a caretaker they have to know they will not get the gig long term. No Agar-style fudging and ending up with someone out of their depth because they win a game or two. It would put the assistants in the shop window for future head coach roles, and also show us all whether some of our squad are as bad as they currently look or are playing poorly in a messed up team.

While we as fans might think its all over I'm not sure GH has reached that point yet. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see no announcement in the near future, and we just bumble onwards, because the club bet a lot on Smith being the right man. They followed up a poor season with splashing the cash, which showed they had faith at the start of this season. I'm sure faith is wearing thin, but its not just Smith's ego at stake here....

Agree with most of that, especially the ego comment. Smith failure also reflects on the senior management that appointed him, which in reflection was a big gamble. Think Smiths main fault is signing average to poor players and thinking he can transform them into top class players. Finally the players have to accept some responsibility for this mess. Saw the first half of the Catalan Warrington game, Warrington defence absolutely rock solid bags of courage and commitment. Contrast that with our performance at saints especially Newmans attitude. Probably highlights the difference between Burgess and Smith.