The point I made Dave is that Brian inherited a side who finished 5th and made the Grand Final year after year and he has maintained the club at more or less exactly the same standard as when he found it.
I'd suggest that Brian Mac and Brian McClennan have both done very well out of the side that Tony Smith built.
Whilst Brian has promoted from within the clubs ranks players like Kallum Watkins was already highly regarded prior to his appointment whilst Stevie Ward was featured in Rugby League World several seasons ago as a potential Great Britain Captain and has been with Leeds for many years as you would know. They would have been successful regardless of who the Head Coach was.
He's done well with Hardaker, Clarkson, the German student centre Keinhorst and one or two others who were more unexpected. I consider a great Coach to get more out of the player than what he has showed in the past and with these guys this is definitely the case.
But his senior signings have not been successful and he's already released several promising forwards like Pitts and Amor and given the old veterans new deals - the average age of the seventeen is greater than when he arrived and yet I see it implied within his mandate to build for the future rather than be signing more Richard Moores, Darrell Griffins and their like.
He's a very lucky coach who can get squeeze a lot out of what he has, the problem is there is nothing left after you do nothing but squeeze.
I just remember him leaving our club in a very sorry state indeed with a 20% win record over his last 40 games and mainly dross in the ranks and poor coaches and found him to be pretty rude and yes I don't like him particularly, well it would be fairer to say I don't mind him, because I like Leeds as a club. Not enough to wear their shirt at the Stoop but reasonably!
His record in the regular rounds of Super League must be the worst in the past 10 years at Leeds but what a one off coach he is proving to be. In semi final football mainly.
