Lessons learned as Leeds plot for next campaign

However, the Welshman equally questioned the actions of some squad members as the inquest began into the club’s disappointing exit from the Championship play-offs.

Leeds face Cornish Pirates this afternoon in their final game of a season which has promised much but delivered little.

Knowing they cannot qualify for the semi-finals, the West Yorkshire club have been left to ponder what went wrong during 2011-12 while the club have already announced 14 players will depart after today’s contest.

Those include experienced USA prop Mike MacDonald, Lee Blackett, Scott Barrow and Tom Denton plus ex-England winger Michael Stephenson, Kiwi Sean Hohneck and Australian fly-half Lachlan MacKay.

Edwards praised those who are leaving and pressed home the need to send them off on a high with victory this afternoon.

But he knows mistakes have been made during the campaign admitting: “We’ve had some very tough lessons to learn and we are bitterly disappointed.

“We’re determined to make sure we learn quickly from those mistakes and it’s important we right those wrongs.

“We needed to make sure we built stronger relationships with those individual senior players but also make sure they continued to set their own standards and didn’t wane from those.”

Leeds’s frustrating campaign saw them win just 13 of their 22 league encounters, finishing in sixth place which certainly hampered their chances of progression from the play-off group stages.

However, they defeated each of the three top finishing teams – Bristol, Bedford and Cornish – at Headingley Carnegie and actually drew with the latter two in the play-offs.

Victory in either of those would have seen them progress and it has left Edwards clearly frustrated.

“If that’s what is at the top we know we can win this division next season,” he said.

“When we play to our potential it’s obvious what we can do and the fact we’re not in those semis is very disappointing.

“We know we should have won at least one of those games and what it’s proved to me is we are capable of winning this competition.

“It’s just focused our attention now on what we need to do next year – in essence the building is for what needs to be a promotion winning campaign.

“But first we want to make sure we finish this season well against Cornish and send these guys out on a win.”

On reasons for their inconsistency this term, Edwards said: “It’s probably a reflection of how we’ve trained and behaved on and off field both as management and a group of players.

“We wanted to develop and create a focused, professional group of players, well-managed with strong leadership but we’ve not been able to do it consistently in our playing performance or as a management.

“When we’ve been good, we’ve been very, very good but when we’ve been poor we’ve been exceptionally disappointing.”

Given their yo-yo status, there is the obvious question about whether Leeds are truly sustainable as a Premiership club and whether this setback is the beginning of the end of those hopes.

Their budget will be severely tested now but Edwards maintains there is a positive future and points to recent European champions Wasps who are currently verging on financial disaster.

“In terms of recruitment we’ve done exceptionally well and we’re confident we will be a stronger team moving forward,” he said. “I’m confident about the future of our club. We’re not Wasps. I know where I’d rather be at this stage of the season looking at a club with long-term ambitions to regain status in the Premiership and continue to provide opportunities for the best young players in this county.

“We’re not in administration and we’re not Bradford Bulls asking for half-a-million quid in a week to stay sustainable.

“We’ve a lot to be pleased about and the players we’ve spoken to have come to realise that about Leeds. We’ll have some announcements soon.”

Edwards, who fielded more than 60 players this term, says the decision to cut so many was crucial and some more may yet still depart.

But he added: “It’s allowed us to look forward to look at things we feel we need to make the difference next season.

“I hope to operate with significantly less than 50 next season.”