There may not yet be a business case for a change of coach, especially after the much elusive CC has been finally brought back to Headingley (I gather it is more lucrative in prize money than winning the GF).
Purely from rugby perspective, I think now would be a good time for McDermott to move on. Otherwise, I think he has a lot to prove as a coach:
1. Most importantly, is he the man to manage the transition from our current dependence on Peacock and the increasingly erratic trio of McGuire, Burrow and Sinfield?
2. Can he get the current squad to realise its obvious potential? Perhaps they are already punching their weight - which takes us back to question one. The golden generation have ticked all the right career boxes now (apart from the seeming impossibility of international success): I hope the coach is prepared to put aside sentiment and make difficult decisions if he feels deep down they are warranted. If not, players who are spending long periods in the treatment room alternating with long periods of ropy form ought to take a look in the mirror themselves (another cliché!).
3. Is he the man to develop/sign-up the next hopefully successful generation? The progress of some players has been non-existent (Clarkson comes to mind), whereas for others it has been slow and bumpy (Achurch, Singleton and Sutcliffe), or even worse, appears to be regressing in the case of Stevie Ward, and possibly now Briscoe.
4. Although 2011 and 2012 were great, the coach has yet to demonstrate that he can take a team full of big names, some of whom have allegedly accepted pay-cuts to stay at Leeds, to regularly perform week-in week-out during the league, which is what the majority of dissatisfied fans would like to see. This does not necessarily mean going out full-tilt and blowing the season by July (which seems to have been what happened outside the CC). If this is not possible a return to the fabled days of being play-off kings would suffice (personally it was nice for the club to win the CC but the GF is still the greater prize IMO).
Contrary to the tone of my post, I am not calling McDermott to be fired, but rather asking whether he himself feels he has enough to offer to turn around what has been a dismal last few months aside from a single result, albeit an important one!
Ultimately we've been spoiled at Leeds in this last decade - all of us who were around for the previous decade would have snapped the hand of someone offering a third of what we've gone on to win. Perhaps this means that the club are going to be more patient than they used to be with coaches and playing staff, after stability has paid off for so long. But this may soon be an option that won't be there for much longer if things continue as they have been, especially considering the regular season and play-off outings of the last two years.
