Leeds Rhinos fans back Rohan Smith, urge team to pull together for Giants clash and ponder rugby union merger

With Leeds Rhinos having no game last weekend, our fans’ panel have been contemplating wider issues and Iain Sharp believes a reunification might be on the cards.

Our panel have also considered Rohan Smith’s position as Rhinos coach, congratulated Leeds’ women for reaching a Challenge Cup semi-final and looked ahead to Friday’s visit of Huddersfield Giants.

TOM GOLDSWORTHY

Following our poor defeat to Wakefield I am rather surprised by the lack of communication from the club regarding the current situation.

Thankfully we did not have a game last weekend, but due to current form I thought I would be discussing a potential new head-coach for the team.

However, Leeds seem to be sticking by Rohan Smith which I believe is the right decision. He said turning Leeds Rhinos back into a top level team would take at least three years, so sacking him a year into that would just push us back into the horrible cycle we have had with head-coaches recently.

In an emotional rollercoaster of a season so far, I believe we have seen signs of how good life could be under Smith’s leadership.

Wins against Saints, Wigan and Catalans prove we have the ability to compete and that last season’s run to Old Trafford was not a one-off.

However, things do need to change. Too many players are not pulling their weight or doing the basics and that’s where we get unstuck against hard working teams like Wakefield and Castleford.

Maybe the club could have done more to move these players on or recruit a higher standard, but that is easier said than done.

Looking ahead to the Huddersfield game on Friday, this is the biggest game of Rohan’s tenure in charge of Leeds.

I do not think a loss will get him the sack, but if performance levels do not improve drastically from the previous two games, I really do fear for his position at the club.

BECKY OXLEY

So we are halfway through the season and had a week off due to not being in the Challenge Cup.

Reflecting on the season so far, my honest opinion is we have the skills, we just need to use them and be consistent. We need to come back to basics and work as a team

We have been making too many errors and not working as a team. Yes, we have had injuries, but we still have a squad of players with the calibre and ability to be higher in the table than we are.

Supporters are calling for a change at the top, but that in my opinion isn’t going to alter anything.

If we can’t work as a team then we need to look at why and work it out together. There has to be a reason why we are doing the same things week-in, week-out and that’s what needs to change.

We have Huddersfield at home on Friday in our MND awareness game. It would be nice to get a win and see Headingley bouncing, especially with Rob Burrow and his family being the guests of honour. Let’s get climbing the table and be a force to be reckoned with coming up to the business end of the season.

IAIN SHARP

The good news a blank week brings Leeds fans is that they can’t ‘fall over’ somewhere and blow two league points in the process.

For those of us who have been around the block with the Loiners, the current run is merely a minor blip and one that doesn’t even register on the Richter Scale.

There has been far worse than this and probably will be again. If you joined during the Golden Generation, then the last few years might have been a bit of a culture

shock and revealed the reality that the success in the first 15 years of this century might have been the exception, rather than the rule.

The next few years are crucial for the game, including the next TV deal. The current Sky coverage looks stale compared to Channel 4 and the game as a whole misses out on regular terrestrial coverage.

I hope IMG can turn things around, but already there is interference in their ideas, with clubs complaining about removing Magic Weekend.

With three top-flight English rugby union clubs going to the wall this season, who knows - might we have a reunified rugby code within my lifetime?

SAM BROCKSOM

Since the men’s team didn’t have a game last week I can write about something positive for once.

The women’s team performed excellently against Leigh on Saturday and are now 80 minutes away from Wembley.

They face Wigan in their Challenge Cup semi-final, in what will form part of a double header with the men’s at Headingley next month.

Despite losing key players such as Fran Goldthorp and Georgia Roche, as well as the injury to Caitlin Beevers, the girls have stuck together and are building a squad full of new stars such as Ruby Enright - who scored two tries on debut on Saturday and - Caitlin Casey.

My favourite moment of the game has to be Izzy Northrop’s tries from 40 and then 50 metres out, stepping the full back in the process. She will be barred from the prop forwards union after those efforts!

My only suggestion would be that going forward we see more double headers. Get more eyes on the game and give people more for their money. Leeds’ men, women and academy all travel to Warrington in two weeks’ time. Surely making two of those a double header would entice people more and get more eyes on different games.