Rugby League Live Editor Matt Shaw spoke to Leeds Rhinos chief executive following the appointment of Ian Blease as the club's new Sporting Director.
GH: Kevin managed that role, he reported to me; all the executives report to me but as I've said before, they're people with a lot of ability and can make decisions and will inevitably get supported by me. When Kevin left, we didn't replace him with another Director of Rugby, I basically picked up those duties and shared them pretty much with the then-head coach, which was Richard Agar for a short spell.
MS: The men's first team will often determine how you are judged. Are you frustrated with the results and the league standing? I think there are ten clubs spending cap and a bit more through the marquee players. So in theory, we should have ten pretty equal teams. That's one of the purposes of the salary cap and for the first time we're probably getting there. It's fair to say for the last four or five years, St Helens have been the benchmark team, but that gap has closed.
GH: Every stakeholder, every fan, has a right to voice and give their opinion. I've had 28 years of it. We had similar chants aimed at Brian McDermott, he proved to be the most successful coach in the history of the game. There were times when if the fans had their way, he'd have been sacked many, many years ago. But he wasn't, and great credit to the club for sticking by what they believed to be an outstanding coach who would achieve great success.
MS: From a recruitment perspective, is it fair to assume this cycle doesn't give you the ability to be as prominent or active as last year?
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