Gary Hetherington should probably skip the flight to Australia and do his interviews on Zoom because on this evidence, Leeds Rhinos don't have 24 hours to waste in their search for a new head coach.
The scary thing is that there was a begrudging acceptance of a 28-0 score line among some supporters because they feared it would have been much worse. Truthfully, it could have been had Saints not become uncharacteristically error-prone and ill-disciplined. They gifted Leeds set after set in their half and yet the Rhinos rarely, if at all, looked like scoring.
The Rhinos now have one win from eight matches and their season is hanging by a thread. The season is only a quarter of the way through but even now, it's going to take a pretty drastic upturn in results for Leeds to sort this mess out. To sort the score lines out they need an enormous change in the level of their performances that simply will not happen overnight.
Read more: Highlights as Leeds Rhinos kept to nil by St Helens
Perhaps Hetherington and the hierarchy are aware of that. Maybe, internally, they think it is already too late for the incoming coach to be expected to sort out the mess they find themselves in this year. It would certainly explain why there doesn't appear to be an urgency to get someone through the doors.
Hetherington flies to Australia this weekend with the objective of coming back with a coach. Even if he is successful, there's a good probability that the person put in charge will have to wait some time to get on with the job. Visas take time, booking flights takes time. It's unlikely that Richard Agar's successor will be warming up the hot seat in the next four weeks or so. Who knows where the Rhinos will be by then.
From the start, the Rhinos chief executive has insisted that the appointment will be made with long-term thinking behind it. Given that, the team's current plight will not change his approach to the appointment. You do wonder, however, whether the most recent performances have changed his thinking somewhat.
Because the truth is, Leeds Rhinos are joint bottom of the league and are really, really, struggling. The Rhinos have been in this position before and come through the other side, but hoping for the best is also playing with fire.
What's for certain is this - Hetherington must get this next appointment right. Whether Leeds fans know it or not yet, it is likely that the next incumbent of the position will need at least this season and next to get Leeds anything like. There is no quick fix and no recipe for instant success. Look at Warrington right now, look at Huddersfield's first year under Ian Watson. It simply takes time.
The issue is that a lot of time has passed between Leeds' last Grand Final victory and now. It will have been five years come the end of this season, the longest they have had to wait since first winning it in 2004. Get another coaching appointment wrong, the wait will last longer again.
Ultimately, Hetherington was right when he described this appointment as the biggest since Tony Smith, who succeeded Daryl Powell and took the club to the Promised Land in 2004. Like Powell, Richard Agar has done the unfashionable job of steadying the ship and putting some foundations in place to build upon. Now, a new coach is needed to capitalise on the progress that has been made before it is too late. If the next coach doesn't work out, Leeds will be further away from success than they have been in a quarter of a century.
For now, Jamie Jones-Buchanan has to start getting the house in order. The Rhinos don't have a game this week yet it feels like the biggest of their season. They have some time to address many of the sizable issues plaguing them. Whether they are technical, tactical or cultural, Leeds have to be markedly improved by the time they play Huddersfield.
If not, forget worrying about new head coaches, worry about Super League survival.
