This site is meant for fans to air their own views both positive and negative.
The thought police on here AKA moderators, and some regular posters who think they are the only ones worth reading, should not be dictating what can be said and they should start by stopping the bullying of those who disagree with the party line.

Rhinos were amazing in 2015 following in the steps of Saints and Bulls winning the treble - an amazing feat!

Neither if the above had such a dramatic callapse the following season as Leeds have this year so why is it

Well at risk of the attention of the bullies it's quite simply a mixture of things the club can do nothing about ie Sinfield,Peacock and Kylie going

But there are other things that the club needs to address and have the power to do something about ie
A coach who has no incentive as The big bully Hetherington gave his mate a job for life
Players who have lost interest and appear more worried about not putting their bodies on the line like our 3 departed heroes these players are for example Hardaker, Watkins, Hall, Briscoe, Burrow, JJB, Ablett, Achurch
Some poor recruits with no idea what Leeds are about eg Galloway & Faloon
Some injuries, but all clubs should plan for that
And some trainees that need guidance and there is no one with that skill to give the likes of Sutcliffe, Handley and Lilley that guidance because the senior players like McGuire and Burrow play only for themselves and a pay packet

So what is the answer

Well for me Leeds need an overhaul.
Move McDermott upstairs next year and recruit a new coach this year to work under him for the rest of the season.
Drop failing players like Hardaker and Watkins plus others and get them playing at a lower level to get their mojo back
Give the youngsters an opportunity to come good - let's face it Stanningley juniors could not have played worse yesterday
Finally
Ban all Hetheringtons from the city of Leeds - that way we may stop ludicrous decisions, signings and inept rants from rugby leagues equivalent of the Adams family

Bring on the thought police! I am off to a bunker

I would disagree regarding JJB not putting his body on the line and since his return I would argue his effort has been one of the few bright sparks. The guys got a heart of a lion you may not like him and find things about his game but the one thing I would argue you cannot question is his desire and attitude

Fairy snuff on JJB but yesterday with the line open and 8 metres to go he seemed to hit a pool of treacle

We don't need an overhaul. Just a coach and a stand off who can lead. Look at the halfbacks in Super League. Can you honestly say that Sutcliffe is a patch on any of them?

His effort and desire can never be questioned IMO - he is a true warrior with a very interesting view on life, perhaps if a few more realised this is only a game then the board would be better for it - IMO

I took a while to take to McDermott, it wasn't through the bad early start he made in 2011 but more how he came across that got me for a long time. Over time i have got used to his way and i think he has mellowed a fair bit from his early days thus being more likeable, at least imo. and whatever peoples thoughts on whether he should get credit for our recent success then for me if he doesn't then the same applies to Smith who arguably had a better, younger set of players to work with and certainly better imports.and of course Bluey too.

Anyway, at the start of last year i said i thought McDermott was coming towards the end of his cycle.He had one maybe two more years max as head coach and a new voice and Man to take the new generation forward would be beneficial, 5/6 years as RL head coach at one club is a hell of a long time these days after all,but having the year he did in 2015 all talk of how this would pan out obviously went to the wayside. Even as a big supporter of Mcdermott, i agree with the OP in many ways. Good things can't go on forever, and sometimes a change at the top is good for all concerned. I just feel right now Mac has earned the right to at least see this season out after all he has done for the club, the adversity that he has met at the start of this year, and if nothing else learning from not writing this team off too early as many have made the mistake of doing during his tenure and he has continually finished up having the last laugh.

Bottom line for me is, a few weeks in to a season coming off of a treble year people talking of tossing McDermott out like a piece of trash after all he has achieved with us just makes me agree with rival fans who are coming on here calling us spoilt brats etc...

I'm ok with people criticizing the team and the way things are,but surely some of them didn't expect the glory period to continue forever.We did say let's enjoy it while it's here it won't last forever.

Ken Morrison built up the family business over 30 years to one of the biggest firms in Britain - he had one bad deal and he was history.

If you are at the top you are paid to make the right decisions and take responsibility for those decisions. If they turn out to be wrong decisions then - no matter what has happened in the past - you will be judged in the present. I don't think that has anything to do with spoilt brats just a reaction to what is being served up as entertainment at the moment.

Don't worry about the bullies and the thought police.

They're all back in their boxes with collective tails between their legs and we know who they are.

Not even they can defend that shower of s*** performance yesterday on top of several other shower of s*** performances this season. And that applies to the rest of the SL clubs to a similar or marginally lesser degree of shower of s***ness.

I maintain that SL is of such a poor standard that it wouldn't take a massive improvement from Leeds to climb the ladder and finish in the Top 4. Just applying a few basics and a bit of leadership (there is currently none) and the team would be more than halfway there.

As for the bullies and thought police, perhaps they may like to dwell upon why the same squad of players alongside the Three Geriatrics managed to win the treble last season? I'll give them a clue. It was less to do with the utter brilliance of the Three Geriatrics and a lot more to do with the crap@rsedness of the rest of the SL competition.

[i"Ahh but we won the treble last season"[/i no longer cuts the mustard as an excuse for this season.

Personally, I can accept losses - it's sport, it happens. However, going from winning everything in 2015, regardless of quality of the opposition, to the shambles that is 2016 - how does that happen? Do we need a new assistant? More quality signings? Or does the buck stop with Mac? I dunno, I just hope we turn it around and soon - Leeds vs Championship tickets could be a hard sell for the club.

Jeff the usual suspects on here and jonny-cum-latelys like "Gutenberg" have their head in the sand as long as Leeds win stuff its doesn't matter.

If the standards continue to decline in such an alarming manner there wont be a SL competition for Leeds or anyone else to win.

In the rivals day we used to argue about the relative merits of the NRL and SL - the gap in those days was large it is now a chasm - some drastic surgery is needed if SL is to maintain any shread integrity.

Anyone who says - and there are many on here - who say they prefer watching SL to NRL need a guide dog. It may be more structured but they can at least pass, catch, tackle run planned plays etc.

I'll admit Sal, up until recently. I preferred SL to the NRL, I understood the difference in skill, but for me added focus on attacking play made up for it.

Recently though the skill level seemed to have fallen off a cliff for most teams, and some coaches/teams have resorted to a dull boring five drives and a kick style of play.

Needless to say I'm watching more NRL these days.

As i supported Leeds through the eighties our present predicament is a mere blip compared to that decade.
I have however a growing concern that if our present situation is not handled properly, we could easily slip back to several years of obscurity.
Could the recent brigade of rhinos supporters handle that scenario ?. As they say interesting times are upon us.

Sal, the salary cap in its current guise is a policy of enforced austerity. It isn't working in the economy as a whole and it certainly isn't working in SL. It's killing the game just like it's killing the economy. The only one's benefiting are those at the top.

Leeds can thank the salary cap for all that silverware they've won during the past decade more than any other reason. They've benefited more than any other SL club from austerity. There's no player transfer market between the top clubs (Peacock to Leeds and Fielden to Wigan being the most recent transactions in 2005/06), hence why Leeds have been able to hang on to all their best players for so long during the past decade paying them sod all.

It's all a stitch up and I stick by my prediction that Leeds will make the Top 4 even if they have to scrape the barrel of mediocrity to get there. They've got plenty of previous in that regard finishing 5th after all.

I think the club should be closed down with immediate effect, the ground bulldozed, and a new club - Leeds Limas formed, who can started life in the National Conference.

Sorry to butt in, I always enjoy the Leeds board, especially at the moment



Just to make an obvious counterpoint to your rather ridiculous statement above - so you'd have sacked Alex Ferguson in 1989 would you? Are you really in favour of sacking a treble winning coach eight games into a new season? And Wigan fans are accused (sometimes rightly) of arrogance!

I'd be interested in who you think is a manager/coach who has never made any 'wrong decisions'. I'd like him at my club.

Bring back Tony Smith.

Your comparison to Ferguson is equallybut ridiculous. Ferguson had his golden generation just appearing over the horizon not disappearing over it as McDermott has. I think the majority of coaches have a limited life span at any one club - that applys to all sport. The Ferguson's are a very rare breed, Dave Brailsford is another even Guardiola knew when his message was no longer impacting the likes of Messi and Iniesta. Brian has had a good run but I don't see him as the guy to take the club to the next level - so why waste the rest of the season?

Wrong. Ferguson's golden generation didn't appear for another 4 seasons. They weren't even at the club in 1989.

When you say Brian Mac can't take the club to the next level, what on earth are you talking about? He's already taken you to the highest level. What makes you think he can't do it again?

When you've got a good bloke you keep him.

Just like Tony Smith at Warrington. Mind you some of their 'fans' wanted shut last winter. Not now though.

How many years did the new England RL coach do at Brisbane Broncos and did they stop listening?

He's back there again and Broncos are once more one of the favourites and he's just signed another contract extension.

Do we really need a dozen or more threads all saying the same thing?

Wondered how long it was going to take until some posters tried playing the role of 'victims'.


They eagerly shoot down anybody who say things like the team needs time, injuries, coach deserves the full season etc.....but they are just realists who are just giving their honest view on things apparently.

When people challenge their views back though they are being "bullied" by "thought police" and have the hypocrisy to say they aren't allowed an opinion on here yet instantly dismiss others view as only based on following the party line.

God it'd funny if it wasn't such sad sanctimonious hypocritical BS.

Awwww

there there, I didn't make any of you cry now did I with my nasty "bullying?"

I thought the penny would have dropped for most of you by now, this is a plan to win EVERYTHING...... Last season we did the treble in the current format, now we are just moving on to a new challenge, I'm not sure yet whether it's the million pound game or top of the qualifiers we're going for this season but by the end of 2017 we will have completed the challenge of winning Everything at the top.



In all honesty, ls28_rhino is right, it's not the losses, it's not the poor displays and sheer mindless stuff we're seeing for me, I can't take a defeat a whole lot easier if we're outplayed by a good performance, but at the minute it just seems so easy. IMO (note that) the 'star players' need to step up, the recruits need to show why they were recruited and we need some direction, I'm happy with giving Mac a chance, but he has to show that he's giving some tactical direction and some coaching, I think our last tackle plays are a great example of this perhaps not currently happening, at the minute it's like there's a team being picked and just being told to go out and play. Sinfield said in an interview last week this is a team built for summer rugby, I'm not sure whether that's just saying the only tactic we have is to get it to our back line on some firm ground and we have to hope they produce something or not, but that's kinda how I take it and highlights there is no real plan. I'll probably get some stick for suggesting that is the case but hey ho!

The SL table doesn't make happy reading for any Yorkshire RL fans at present. We collectively make up half the teams involved yet the best placed non Lanky side comes from Southern France and the only Yorkie thiefdom is the bottom five.

Im not sure who the thought police are in this one, which side they are taking, are they pro or anti McDermott and the squad?

Either way its only 8 games in, can we win 8 or 9 of the next 15? yeah.
Can we win 3 more games than one of Widnes, Saints, Les Catalans, and Hull FC out of the next 22? Yeah probably

Would we even have to be brilliant to do so? not really. Fact is we could lose our games against Wigan, Wire and Saints and still be comfortably challenging for the 4. then if we win 5 or 6 of 8 in the super 8's and sneak in.

15 of 22 is probably what we need to get in the 4. Thats not even brilliant form.