I know the majority on here feel very good about RS going, but this is yet another sunset on a failed appointment. We have been on the doldrums nearly 10 years now from the back end of Brian Mac's reign. I know we won two trophies in that time but neither season was convincing and I think we were frankly lucky to win either.



We can keep changing coaches, and we have, but it hasn't worked for a very long time now. Either we keep appointing the wrong coaches, or there is something else deeper and more systemic holding the club back.



I don't expect us to win the league every year, but there is really very little excuse for us not to be up there regularly challenging. It's OK GH talking about competitive leagues and salary caps, but the truth is that clubs DON'T all spend the same as each other, because they either don't spend up to cap, or they spank it on the Marquee allowances.

There are some other assistants over in NRL with good reps such as Jason Ryles, but it would be an exceptionally brave move for Leeds to appoint someone else without top-flight head coach experience now.



Bottom line is we need a competent pair of hands and the right cultural fit for where the club is at. Needs to be someone who can work well with Blease. Anyone coming in needs to be super confident too because this is one of the hottest seats in world rugby league.

Indeed a very interesting question. Trouble is at the moment not many outstanding coaches are available . Not forgetting who will take over until the season end, that’s presuming we can’t find a permanent coach in the next few weeks. Whoever takes over will face a massive challenge, half the team are extremely average to say the least.

A coach with a proven, sustained pedigree in top flight RL, no nonsense, with a record of bringing players through. Preferably available now, as filling on an interim basis basically writes this season off and puts us back to square one at the beginning of next. Step forward Brad Arthur.

nobody's happy smith was a failure.

but the fact is he was. you can't keep going when something is obviously not working.

I don't blame smith.

I blame chev for recommending him and GH for appointing him. another cheap appointment

I don’t understand the clamour for Brad Arthur. I thought his 10 year NRL record has a win % of just 52%

The NRL is a high quality competitive league, not like SL which is low quality competitive. Parra haven’t been one of the glamour teams since the 1980’s and were wooden spoon candidates when he took over. Their improvement on the ladder, 5 times into the play offs and 1 GF beaten only by the incredible Penrith team, shows how far he took them. He’s a very strong candidate and would be exactly what we need.

GH says Super League is competitive too

Who would Leeds fans like to see as their new head coach.

Danny Ward for new head coach?

I can kindof see where GH gets his thinking from - Agar was a good bloke and so was RS. Both have not delivered as coaches though and so we've lost 4-5 years to these decisions ultimately.

People read too much into statistics and win percentages etc sometimes. We need to appoint the person we think best fits our needs now, technically and culturally. A coach doesn't have 100% control over their win %, I keep saying it but results are multi-factoral (e.g. injuries, player form, squad they inherit for the first year or two, quality of opposition, luck... it goes on).



Win % is maybe an indicator, but it's not the only consideration. To be fair in Arthur's case his win % is probably more indicative of his performance than some other coaches because of his length of tenure.



The main thing for me is that Blease appoints, and gets funded to appoint, the best person for the job. Not the cheapest, not the best value, but the best person we can afford. One area Leeds should be able to OUTperform our competitors in is the coaching staff.

Agree Jim there is no salary cap on coaching/ rugby department but compare

Rohan Smith, walker & Grix to

Shaun Wane, Peet, Tommy L, O’loughlin, Joel Tomkins and John Duffy.



We are not even trying to compete.

Good blokes yes



Good coaches no

It's a rugby club not a stag do. Keep your good blokes I'd rather have a good coach.

Why is everyone so obsessed with Rowley?

Looking at the other SL clubs:



No Chance - Wigan, St Helens, Warrington

No Thanks - London, Cas, Huddersfield

That leaves - Leigh, Salford, Hull KR & Catalan



Why is Rowley so much a better option than Lam or Peters that they don't even enter the conversation?

I'm sure our new DOR will pick the best candidate for the job but I would like to see Danny Maguire as assistant. I think he will make a good head coach in the coming years and he know the club inside out and with the passion for the club.

I'll tell you why: Leeds probably can afford to prise Rowley out of Salford and continue to pick the bones of them, whereas Leigh and KR have the finance to keep their coaches.



At least Arthur is a free agent and we know why. Some of the reporting on his style concerned me a little bit (leaving players on the bench until the last 5 minutes, shudder...). With what Blease was saying today, I wonder whether we might appoint Arthur to the end of this season, take a look at each other and then extend if both parties happy. If he doesn't do so well, or doesn't settle, we could make a more concerted move for Rowley or someone else.



I don't really want to see Chev and Grix take the side to the end of this season to be honest. If we can get a proper head coach in soon, it will help form the squad, retentions/signings necessary for 2025. Which as I keep saying is the "no excuses" year for me.

It’s the brand of rugby for me with Rowley. Lam wasn’t very successful at Wigan. Willie Peters, needs more time to see how he goes.

From the teams I've seen this season, Leigh's attacking shape is as good as any team in the league. Lam wouldn't be a bad appointment IMO. And if he could manage to swap Lachlan for Frawley, even better

Arthur with Mags assistant is my dream ticket.



Honestly if you look at the form, everything points to Rowley. Ackers, Croft, Blease, Rowley is basically an asset strip.

Justin Holbrook?

Richard Agar return?

I found the press conference with GH and Blease interesting. GH going on about how difficult it is to get a coach, how winning can cover a dysfunctional club and vice versa (incidentally both sides of that happened on GH's watch....), and Blease far more direct and to the point, and again talking about focusing on getting the club back to the top.



I didn't know much about Blease, but I like his style - blunt and to the point. Having put him in place, GH needs to leave this stuff to him now. Its like having your granddad wittering on about the good old days when you're trying to talk about what to do about the cost of living today.

No Agar, hell no

Rowleys massive plus, is he clearly get's the most out of bargin basement players. Quite the opposite to RS. How they've brought in Cade Cust to replace Croft without looking much worse is pretty incredible.



The bonus for Arthur is you get the impression his players would run through a brick wall for him. You can see from his behind the scenes coaching vid on Youtube (which is a brill watch) that he's a natural born leader /communicator and man manager. Again, this isn't something I ever witnessed in RS.