Aidan Sezer takes “ownership” of Leeds Rhinos situation and states “the club is in good hands”

Ahead of Rivals Round which kicks off a massive five days of rugby over Easter, Serious About Rugby League spoke with Aidan Sezer as he prepares to take on former club Huddersfield Giants on Thursday.

Sezer swapped the claret and gold of the Giants for the blue and amber of Leeds going into 2022 having spent two seasons at the John Smith’s Stadium and even being a Man of Steel nominee in his first year with the club.

However, since joining Leeds things haven’t gone according to plan for Sezer and his team with just one win from eight games in 2022 prompting Head Coach Richard Agar to step down from his role.

A season which promised much with Sezer just one of four major signings made by the club ahead of the campaign is now threatening to come undone but the halfback is eager to turn things around at Leeds and took ownership of the current situation and Agar’s decision to step down.

He told Serious About Rugby League: “It’s a tough one because you feel pretty disappointed about Rich because it’s on us. It’s an unfortunate situation we found ourselves in and as a player I take ownership of that and the other boys do as well.”

Of course Agar’s decision to step down has led to seven-time Super League Champion and Leeds legend Jamie Jones-Buchanan taking over as interim boss and Sezer spoke very highly of him and the impact he’s had on the team: “Jonesy is awesome. I always watched Super League growing up and he was always part of successful Leeds teams. He knows the game inside out playing for 20 odd years.

“He loves the club, he’s a Leeds lad and there’s probably no one more passionate than him. He’s got an aura about him. When he speaks everyone listens, his word is where it ends.

“He’s made it his own. He’s addressed what he thinks we need to fix up which is a fair few areas at the moment. He’s been great.”

But there is a bigger picture for the club at the moment with Chief Executive Gary Hetherington set to return from Australia this week to review European based candidates for the Head Coach role at the club having reportedly spoken to a number of potential appointments down under.

On this, Sezer explained what it’s like to be a player in this situation: “We understand we need to start turning our season around. What happens in the future is above us but the club is in good hands.”

The Rhinos number seven missed Leeds’ defeat to St Helens last week due to a groin injury and he gave an update on this and how close he is to a return: “It’s getting there, it’s improving. A few hoops to jump through yet but hopefully we can get it right.”