Leeds Rhinos coach Rohan Smith assesses 2 years in charge, says 'we've accomplished quite a bit'

Smith was unveiled as Rhinos’ 10th full-time head-coach of the summer era on April 20, 2022 and his first game was a defeat at Salford Red Devils on May 15. They were fifth in Betfred Super League and beaten Grand Finalists at the end of his debut season, but finished eighth last year, missing out on the play-offs.

His record so far is 29 victories and 26 losses from 55 games, a winning percentage of 52.7. Rhinos have lost both their Challenge Cup ties under Smith and four wins from seven league games this year have left them eighth on the ladder going into Friday’s visit of Huddersfield Giants.

Of the 32 players who made a first team appearance for Leeds in 2022, only 14 remain at the club. Sixteen members of the current senior squad were signed - or given their debut - by Smith. Assessing what has been achieved in his two years at the helm, the coach insisted: “There’s a lot still to do, but a lot of gains have been made.”

He said: “We’ve accomplished quite a bit in some respects.“The 2022 run we went on was special and last year we had a lot of stuff to deal with off the field and behind the scenes. We actually did a pretty good job to be in the picture, given the amount of stuff that was going on.

“We did a reasonable job to be in contention all the way up until a few weeks to go into the season. While we were aiming much higher we actually accomplished quite a bit among the younger players and emerging players in our group.

“Certainly from a staffing and process point of view behind the scenes at Kirkstall [Rhinos’ training base], we accomplished a lot there last year. The development of our academy and players coming through the system, we have accomplished a bunch with that with a view to the future. Now it’s a matter of getting our season turning the right way this year.”

Rhinos’ last game was a 34-8 loss - their third in succession at AMT Headingley - to Warrington Wolves two weeks ago. Smith added: “We have played some really good stuff this year; not quite enough of it, but we are probably one win away from where I’d hoped to be in the league at this point, so we are not too far away and we have challenged some really good opposition.

“We have had a lot of tough games and we feel like we are hardened to use this break to come in fresh with some good work under our belt, ready to get this next little block of games started.”