After going round in circles on who i want, im settled on Tony Smith, be a challenge getting him to join immediately, but dont think it would be impossible if we really wanted him.



Love the thought of getting the next hotshot coach from NRL assistant ranks, but in our current predicament, the safest bet could be the best bet, thats Smith for me.



At the stage now that if its not Smith, il be disapointed.

never go back.

sure thats what smith will be thinking. no pressure at rovers and looks settled and happy.

besides, he wont be the cheap option. and that worries me greatly.

This stuff about the cheap option puzzles me. Hetherington always drives a hard bargain but he's never really skimped on head coaches when needed - when they brought in Mclennan, Sinfield, Furner these were all very expensive decisions.

Can't see Smith walking out on KR. I also think the never go back thing works both ways too.....

Smith’s not going to come back, why would he?

I've no idea why Smith would want to come back now. When he was between jobs obviously he was interested, but it seems to be going very well at KR. He's got a team playing close to their best and everyone seeming to enjoy what they're doing.



Why come to the basket-case that is Leeds, where there's nothing but hard slog and even harder decisions to make to turn us around? That includes pushing a number of players and staff out of the club, which is always difficult for anyone with an ounce of empathy. Not to mention that if he never comes back he'll always be the coach who turned us into winners and kick-started the Golden Generation. Come back and fail and that will take some shine off his legacy with Leeds.



If I were Smith I'd not even think about it. Size of the club etc be damned.

Because we're a massive club, and if we started acting like one again, we would very possibly be too tempting to turn down. Unfortunately, we rarely act like a big club anymore, so your right, he probably wouldnt be tempted. He's who id be trying for if i was GH though.



People say theres no pressure at HKR, is there really that much here anymore, the expectation of the fanbase is at an all time low, finish top 5 every other season and avoid a relegation scrap in the others and the fanbase would be giddy. We'r arguably the biggest club in the country, but theres plenty that were happy enough with the 5 year rebuild thats just fell to bits, every year it was one more year until we'r ready to make our run, more relegation battles than title challenges.



Id say its an ideal time for a good coach to come in and build something, be that Smith or whoever else.



But again, thats on the prevision we start acting like a big club again, getting this appointment right and backing him with everything he needs.

I agree that Smith would be tempted back because when it comes down to it Leeds is always going to be a better long term bet for winning trophies than Hull KR. But this statement is silly - the club has been in much worse places before now.



Smith won't leave Hull KR mid season but he may decide to return next year because of the the apparent size of the task and the potential if he gets it right. This is a very different challenge to when he came in last time. Sorting Leeds out from where they are now after previously turning around Huddersfield, making Leeds and Warrington winners and now doing what he's done at Hull KR and his reputation and legacy as perhaps the greatest coach in British Rugby League history would be secure.

I'd say his legacy is more than secure. Best coach in the game I've spoken to.

The state of the club and the expectation of the fanbase are 2 different things.



Even so,If we'r going back decades, maybe, but thats probably you taking the statement a bit too literal, to paint a clearer picture, its certainly the lowest the fanbase expectation has been in recent history, possibly the last 20 year.

I’ve watched since 1972 and can’t think of many times when the level of quality, class and entertainment on the park was as low as it currently is. Early 80’s was pretty poor, 1987 was dire when we stayed up on points difference and 1996 again was grim when GH and Caddick came in. As a result, expectations drift down in line with that, so I generally agree that for Smith or anyone else it’s not a bad time to come in. If these young hopefuls have got it, Smith will get it out.



The current position feels similar to early 80’s to me, then it was Jack Myerscough who had lost his edge, now it’s GH and we seem to be drifting. In 1972 the backs were Holmes, Smith, Hynes, Dyl, Atkinson, Hardisty and Hepworth. Even though a few of those were still around in 1982, you’d pick all 7 from 72 v 82. Feels about the same for 2012 v 2022.

The Mole reckons it will be Ryan Carr

You’re spot on re not acting like a big club anymore.. our standards have most definitely slipped. Time to get back to being a big club again.

It’s looking like it isn’t it.. I’d be happy with that

Does he really fit GH 'seniority' description?

GH could spin anything to fit his criteria. ‘Novice’ in his eyes possibly means never coached at first team level so Carr fits his narrative nicely given he did so well at Fev and assisted Agar for a time here whilst still coaching Fev so knows the club a bit so not a complete stranger. I think Carr impressed the powers that be during his brief spell assisting here and there were rumours of the arrangement becoming more permanent before he went home for his Wife’s career

Ryan Carr is my preference so id be happy with it.



Knows the club, has a lot of respect, and wants to further his career.

Carr would be ideal but whoever it is they have to be allowed to build his own team and culture and that means the removal of all the dead wood - JJB, Davidson, Bletsoe, Long, Chev, Butterill etc



Unless we have a clean break from the past the shambolic output from the club will continue as it has since 2015

Carr would be 2 on my list, so cant complain.



Had Fev TV subscription ever since our duel reg, So watched every game of his Fev tenure, they were a very well coached team with a clear plan, massive emphasis on dropping players off on inside angles, forcing defenders to make 2/3 tackles a set.

The last thing the club should be doing is getting rid of Butterill.



Agreed on Long and JJB, a young coach like Carr certainly dosnt need JJB hovering around in the background for a few reasons imo and Longs just useless at his job, only reason needed.

I doubt whoever the new coach is he will change the backroom staff in the short term if im honest.



But as Matt says getting rid of Butterill shouldnt be on anyones agenda.

One of the problems the club has had is the development of young players - they get the pick of the youngsters in west yorks yet seldom do any progress to the standard we need - when was the last time the club produced a SL standard half back, hooker or loose forward? Butterill has been around youth development at Leeds for years and as such has to shoulder some of the blame for this.



Part of the stagnation of the team in recent years is down to the lack of youth development - things need to change surely?

Not sure about that. The club continues to produce excellent young players who then seem to struggle to maximise potential on joining the senior coaching set up. That's on the JJB's, Walker's, Long's and Agar's. Would be silly to throw out the baby with the bath water.

The problem hasn't been the development of young players, it's been the transition into the first team and maintaining the development. I'd say this has gone back years (Sutcliffe the perfect example, Stevie Ward - whilst being quality wasn't developed into the player he could have been, you could even question if Watkins reached the levels we expected).



Johnson is a quality hooker. Smith is a quality loose (if he switches on his brain a bit more), granted there's been a lack of half, but that could be down to who we could attract.



Not disputing there need to be changes in the club, but there doesn't need to be an over reaction and total clean out. There are some good things going on which shouldn't be over shadowed by the poor performance further up in the club.



And Butterill is a quality bloke with the right ethos and mindset to the game. He's the perfect person to shape you players

Butterill does his job and does it extremely well, players regularly leave our scholorship regarded as among the best players in the country, the start of this season has been an outliner, because throughout his tenure his teams have beat everybody convincingly and the players have looked very good doing it. An example that springs to mind is Brad Martin, iv rarley seen a better 2nd row prospect coming out of Scholorship, he was exceptional, got to academy and just didnt kick on atall.



The problems with development have started once they leave Butterill and get to Academy and first team level imo, some of our players look more intelligent rugby players at 16 than they do at 18 and god knows what goes on with our S+C at Academy level.



Some of the time its not the clubs fault, as simple as this sounds, at times players just dont have the growth spurts needed, the pack containing Hird, Parsons, Watten, Atkinson, Gibbons, Wallace were brilliant at Scholorship, big and full of Skill, but 3 seasons later, none of them look much taller than they did at 16, certainly not compared to the players they played against at 16, Parsons has had a long term injury...Injury also has a bearing, we couldnt really have worse luck, if our best Juniors arnt injury prone then they're not a proper Leeds Junior.