Our club and our pathetic supporters celebrated this man leaving. 20,000 supporters are laughing at you right now, including myself. Still, at least we have Rob Powell.

Not all of them Listy. I was gutted when he left.

Brian did it really tough down here when plenty of others would have walked away. Gave his all for this club and I couldn't believe our supporters jeering him when he came back last year as oppo coach.

You can't help but wonder how things might have gone if Brian Mac had the luxury of this London team when he was coach.

Anyhoo, very pleased for Brian Mac even though I am sick to death of Leeds.

well done Brian, again! The main beef with Mac was that he failed to improve the side and it became very stereotyped. Good bloke but he ran out of ideas. Leeds seem to suit him but he is an archetypal Tyke!

damn what you saying listy?
If he had stayed we would have won the grand final
damn what fools we are

Sadly we'll never know, but well done Leeds for the victory. I suspect most of our 7 ex-Manly contingent went to see the game for inspiration for victory over Hull FC on Sunday.

Was glad to see the back of him! he should have been sacked well before he left, the coach who never could see anything wrong in his own performance!

In fact look what he did for the Rhino's at the start of his tenure there, he has a great set of international players there.

Small time thinking as always from RFL allowing Leeds to play the World Cup Challenge on their Headingley beach, sorry soil! and such a low capacity, even at Huddersfield they could have attracted 25,000 and more cash generated, but no perhaps it was to Leeds advantage, makes a mockery of the game.

What sort of crowds have we seen at neutral grounds over the years, such as Elland Road

Manly must have agreed to it you would have thought

Leeds must be some team to win with McD as coach.

Well done BM and the Leeds team for delivering another piece of silverware, really pleased for him……..but not so sure that Leeds would have won if Manly had had a few games under their belt and been better prepared. I was not able to see any of the after match interviews, but I bet BM would have been the first to admit that the victory was about a team effort and not just about him.

Of course your right Listy regarding your original post, but only if you choose to ignore all of the other factors surrounding his departure.

Brian left because he had a better job offer elsewhere where he could be head coach of a top 4 team i.e. his career path.

It was a widely held belief that his wife and family also wanted to return `up north` adding family pressure into the mix.

Do you honestly believe that David Hughes takes any notice of comments on a fans forum by a dozen or so people that would somehow help push BM out of the door?.........of course not, in the same way as he doesn`t give a toss about any comments concerning Powell`s appointment.

BM himself used to say that he took absolutely no notice of anything that RL fans had to say because it was not worth listening to and this was backed up by his general demeanour with fans and the media.

When he managed Quins he clearly did not have the tools (players) to work with nor did he have a boss that was prepared to throw money at the situation at that moment in time. He therefore had no choice (and to his credit) but to work hard along with the rest of the Quins development and coaching team to try and produce and bring through home grown youngsters, mixed with the other journeyman (for the most part) players at his disposal to make up a team.

With the tools at his disposal BM struggled throughout his tenure to produce any positive on-field results, of course the fans were sick of losing and started to get on his back (but in London that amounts to no more than a discontented mumble here and there…..nothing that would worry BM). You might recall that the Leeds fans were also unconvinced on his arrival and for a good part of the season, until they suddenly picked up in the latter part of last season and went on to win the cup…….where as if by magic all that had gone before was forgotten and he is now the new messiah.

Would he have stayed at Quins if the Leeds job had not come up?......maybe, maybe not, his family needs would have been a big consideration……but underneath that dour exterior lies an ambitious man and he was never going to pass up the job offer at Leeds. Would he have done a better job at Quins if he had been given the team that Powell has today?.....almost certainly. Will Powell make a go of the team we have today?...........who knows, fingers crossed.

What a lovely piece. Fair play to you sir.

Most Rugby League clubs would take the money and run if it is worth their while!

2002 Bradford Bulls 41–26 Newcastle Knights McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield 21,113

2003 Sydney Roosters 38–0 St Helens Reebok Stadium, Bolton 19,807

2004 Bradford Bulls 22–4 Penrith Panthers McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield 18,962

2005 Leeds Rhinos 39–32 Bulldogs Elland Road, Leeds 37,028

2006 Bradford Bulls 30–10 Wests Tigers Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield 19,207

2007 St Helens 18–14 Brisbane Broncos Reebok Stadium, Bolton 23,247

2008 Leeds Rhinos 11–4 Melbourne Storm Elland Road, Leeds 33,204

2009 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 28–20 Leeds Rhinos Elland Road, Leeds 32,569

2010 Melbourne Storm 18–10 Leeds Rhinos Elland Road, Leeds 27,697

2011 St George Illawarra Dragons 21–15 Wigan Warriors DW Stadium, Wigan 24,268

2012 Leeds Rhinos 26-12 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds 21,062

Look at the last three attendances Leeds appeared in, that is a lot more income!

Really Pleased for Leeds and such as Kevin Sinfield who does not get often the plaudits he deserves.

Would there not be additional cost of using Elland Road compared to there home etc There must be a reason why they chose not to use the soccer ground

Probably, but this has nowt to do with this forum nor with BMcD appreciation, which he well deserves for Leeds performance last night.

jaybs, if you want to talk about the RFL's policy re WCC, there's a suitable forum, the Virtual Terrace.

No thanks, it was just part of my Non Appreciation opinion of Brian Mac who was just a one of many coaches in the Past! and not a successful one.

Yeah...he's assembled a good squad up there

People were waxing lyrical about the squad that Powell has assembled, strongest for years etc. Yet on the pitch, they are absolutely awful. McDermott has turned an average, flat Super League side into the World Club Champions, an unbelievable achievement. He has been given the players after dealing with the dross at our club for previous seasons, and proven his coaching ability. Leeds supporters have questioned many of his decisions, including those made in the team selection for the WCC, but have seen them turn into masterstrokes.

Probably a bit late now seeing as so many of the 'regular' posters appear to have got in first, but here's a scenario...

We have a team full of international superstars who have had consistent success for several years. Problem is, they're all getting older. And some of their buddies have moved on. The Head Coach (who probably had ginger hair at some point and may well speak with a foreign accent) decides (seeing as he's done nothing except tinker with his predecessors team) that it's time to employ a new assistant coach. The Head Coach then decides it's probably best to move on a year early despite his contract (And who wouldn't). Oh dear. This means the newly appointed Assistant Coach is now Head Coach. Bummer!

As expected, the first few games do not go according to plan. Hmmm, where have we heard that before? Nonetheless, the new Head Coach turns things around and wins the Title at the first attempt. And follows up by winning the World Club Challenge. This was totally unexpected and caused Media headlines.

Dammit! Where could we possibly find a Coach like that....

Seriously?
Leeds record over the last 6 years would describe them as anything but average....5th and winners, 4th and beaten by the winners, 1st winners, 2nd Winners, 2nd winners and 3rd and play-offs...........4 wins making them the best team in the comp since 2006.

What Mac has inherited is a team that knows how to raise it's game for Knock-Out footie as they showed last year.......the spine of his team and the vast majority of the current Squad have been together since well before he rolled up.
Not taking away enything from his achievement and I agree with those that say he gave 100% in the capital, but IMO, the GF win last year had more to do with leadership on the pitch than direction off it and Manly's demise at the weekend was down to them being undercooked...........

....come back when the likes of Sinfield, MacGuire, Burrow, JJB et al have retired/moved on and he has assembled a squad of second row journeymen

I'll have a half ounce of what Listy has been Smokin'........................

Leeds a Flat Team! LOL Sinfield, Peacock, Burrow, Hall & Maguire, Yea all average players that Mac has made into stars!

In Fact a coach like Ian Millward makes Mac look like an amateur team coach!

Leeds have a squad which is far worse on paper than Wigan, Wire & St. Helens. BM is doing a great job up there.

Burrow
Webb
McGuire
Sinfield
Peacock
Griffin
JJB
The other JJB!!!!! on the wing

To name a few who are internationals

Like he said, far worse on paper than Saints, Wigan and Warrington...

I think Listy has a point.

McD did not have the troops to win a war. He may have won the odd battle, but that showed great resilience. Soon as a couple of the front line fellas were injured our reservists were inexperienced in the battlefield and it showed. I've always said that. It was obvious from over here. But, the coach will always be fired first. It will always be his fault. It's ultimately his responsibility. Irrelevant of the fact and to quote a coach I once worked with "as soon as they cross the white line, there's fuçk all I can do for 40 minutes bar send out the odd message". McD wasn't fired, but got a job at a larger, more famous, more successful club.

However he did go to another club with a better armoury. He still had to beat the others, which he did. This despite there being protestations about his ability and about his letting players go during the season. There was a clear out. This shows great vision and courage in my opinion as it's disruptive. After that, they go on and win the title.

Did they because they were a band of great players?
Did they because of the coach?

Obviously none of us are in a position to say whether he can coach or not as we have never been coached by him, but I did work last season with someone who was, and he said he was a good coach.

I think that having the right coach is not just a good thing for a current team, but good to attract future players. I'll give you an example that's relevant to us. Tony Rea was going to bring in a very good friend of his to play for London. A former Australian international, a NSW Origin forward. A great player. Our coach was John Monie at the time. The player didn't want to play under him. So he signed for another SL side instead.