It's still early days yet, who knows whether the players will continue to respond to Arthur in a couple of years, assuming he can be pinned down (I hope he stays by the way). Yet despite the new regime it is disconcerting that Martin wants to go to HKR (it would feel better if we had an exciting replacement quota forward lined up).

N.B. Arthur needs to make the GF to match up to Smith's first run of games in charge - ideally he'll go one better and win it.

Hopefully, though Smith could have done him the courtesy of buggering off sooner to give Arthur the same amount of time he had. Has he then got to try reinvent the game and spectacularly screw the team up in the process to reach RS dizzy heights of achievement

my dad said never argue with an idiot. they drag you down to there level and beat you on experience

I would think money would be the main reason why Martin may be leaving, players have a relatively short career and a lot finish up with long term ailments when they retire. So make hay while the sun shines, he has been brilliant for us, best of luck to him. As for Smith forced out the club by a handful of fans? Your definition of small number may differ to the vast majority of fans. He was sacked because he was a failure, the senior management at the club sacked him not the fans. No doubt the management looked at the league table, plus the woeful on the field performances and thought we have had enough of this shambles. Not forgetting some of the dud players we are saddled with.

FWIW I was not seriously suggesting Martin wants out because of Smith's departure. I'm just not convinced that the supposedly increased prospect of winning trophies at HKR is the main incentive either. It is all speculation really, but we don't have to automatically pick the reason that puts Leeds in a bad light.

I suspect Martin has gone to HKR as he believes he has more chance of success there than at Leeds. Possibly, he has got a slightly better pay deal form it too, who knows.

Rhyse demands are not that high but the length of contract he wanted is at Leeds they offered him 3 years and more money. If he signs for Hull KR it will be less money and shorter terms.

It's not the reason that puts Leeds in a bad light though is it, it's the reason that reflects where we're are at, hkr are 10 points ahead of us sitting top of the table with a stable squad and quality coach who is progressing then year on year, we're outside the playoff's still in 'transition' needing an ove. haul of the pack and still don't have a coach confirmed for next year. I'd say HKR are obviously better places for success

Cooke report - I can believe a lot of things, but Martin signing for KR for less money and a shorter deal is horse manure. Maybe less money and a longer deal or vice versa, but both? He'll turn 32 at the start of next year, so this will be his last major contract. You can believe whatever you want about success being the cause of a move, but I'd bet the main factor is trying to maximise his remaining career earnings.

A player at the end of his career moves clubs for less money and a shorter deal.
Literally heard it all now....

Not a done deal to HKR according to latest reports, wonder what's going on there ???

The BA effect?

Make him captain for next year and match what KR are offering over 2 years when he then goes with Arthur to Perth.

Martin's a decent player but we need size and only have one quota spot. I know we'll miss his kicking, but when you take a close look we haven't won/lost on goal kicks very often at all, and we have a couple of options who might do OK if they train to kick goals.

As for going to Perth in 2027, really? Martin will be 34 then. There are very few forwards that age going round the NRL, and most of those are on their last legs.

We may not have won/lost many by goal kicks but, when we do get over the line, going up in 6's rather than 4's has a psychological effect on opponents when chasing the scoreboard, their decision making around running plays rather than taking 2 for example. And when it is close, having a kicker like Martin means taking 2 has the same impact on opponents. It's a massive part of the game in building scoreboard pressure that, as has been said elsewhere, is probably the only facet where we currently have an advantage over the rest.

If we want to be a top team, we need a kicker with an 85% success rate or so. We’ve not been good enough to be in enough contests where it would be a deciding factor, but under BA and with some more quality added to the squad, we will be in those positions and it will become a deciding factor.

Martin's goal kicking is invaluable, but I'm of the view that we need a bigger 2nd row when the other 2nd row will be McDonnell / Bentley / Gannon.

Goalkicking can definitely make the difference and it does build pressure going up in 6`s as opposed to 4.
There`s only Frawley or Miller imo that are capable but I would put them nearer the 65% success rate compared to Martins 80%+
Sinfield is probably the only other one who could get near Martin and he is unlikely to play more than 10 games.

Frawley isn't a goal kicker.

Momirosvki was goal kicker for Wests when he played, not sure of his success rate though. Miller kicked for Newcastle, again not sure on his success rate.

Now Im not for one minute saying they are as good as Martin, not many are, but we may have to go with them, I don't think we are in a position to recruit someone just for their goal kicking.

Yeh I saw a report saying that Arthur will be taking Dufty and Momirovski to Perth with him.
And Momirovski because of his goal kicking.
Granted it was Aussie press, but still he must have a decent record.

We'll miss Martin's goal kicking no doubt, but if we get a big powerful back row in his place, I can live with that.
As well as the 2 props we need of course.

I thought he went really well tonight against Catalan. He is really the only player in our forward pack who looks to be able to break the line. I think we will also miss his versatility to be able to move to centre which means we haven’t had to carry any backs on the bench for a long time.

Still not officially signed for KR. While I think changes are needed if he doesn't count on the overseas quota next year it seems mad to let him go unless a very impressive replacement has been lined up. Arthur has proved you don't need the biggest team, you just need to play as a team. Would like rhyse to be part of 2025 though.

Reece is gone mate. We need to look forwards…..

We should have looked forward 3 months ago and re - signed him

We did offer him a deal some time ago. He wanted more - whether salary or duration nobody knows - so he's leaving. One thing is absolutely certain, if we want to get back to the top we have to be utterly ruthless when it comes to cap spend - decide what players are worth and stick to it. Every £10k we give one player means that money can't be used elsewhere. We cannot go back to any player and go beyond what we think works under the cap.

He's about the best of our overseas players when his kicking is included. But we've loaded up on overseas backs and the only one that's leaving is Fusitu'a. Our biggest problem area is the pack, and Martin is one of a number of smaller forwards. He's quick and makes the odd break and can cover centre. But mostly he's stopped dead on impact, along with most of our other forwards. If retaining Martin would have stopped us signing a second high quality prop then IMO its not worth it, as we absolutely need two.