How Leeds Rhinos new coach views the sport after a 3-year absence

After three years out of the sport, Jamie Langley has returned and taken on the job of Leeds Rhinos assistant coach and he’s now spoken on what has changed during his absence.

Langley made the move to rugby union to join Sale Sharks in 2021 but returned to the 13-man code recently after being hired by the Headingley club, who he previously explained his strong connections with given that his father formerly played for the Rhinos.

He’ll take on the responsibilities as the team’s defensive coach, an area that Brad Arthur certainly tried to tighten up after being appointed to the club midway through the season.

In the ten games that Arthur led Leeds Rhinos, they conceded an average of 17.2 points per game which was a minor improvement on the 18.58 average prior to his appointment. Now that he has a full pre-season, it’s clear the focus will be on reducing that further with the elite clubs such as Warrington, Hull KR and Wigan all closer to 12 points per game conceded.

As such, the pre-season is about preparing bodies for a long 27-game season and Langley has spoken on how far the players will be pushed when talking to BBC Sport West Yorkshire.

Langley explained: “For us, it’s how far can we push performance with these players, in terms of the exposures, the contact exposures, the running exposures, in terms of the amount of detail and the shape and the structure that we’re giving the boys early doors.

“So we’re not dipping us toe in here at all, we’re going to throw them in at the deep end and see how you cope with that.

“There have been some sore bodies this week and I think the boys have said they’ve not felt that for a while, which is a good thing in my opinion. So we’ll start there and then we’ll see where we can go.”

Leeds Rhinos new coach on how rugby league has changed in three-year absence

Perhaps, more interesting were his comments on how much the game has changed as the ex-Bradford man noted law changes and sports science as major ways in which the game has changed.

Asked if he thinks there has been a change during his hiatus from the sport, Langley said: “I’d say so, definitely a lot of rule changes, law changes obviously that’s essentially changed the dynamic of the game.

“The six again and those sort of changes has massively sped the game up. The ball in play (time) is higher, the bodies are not as big now, so you’ve got to be a lot more athletic, you’ve got to have much higher aerobic capacity to deal with the demands of that.”

The Six Again rule was introduced midway through the 2020 season with Langley crossing codes less than a year later meaning he hasn’t seen it in its current guise. He also noted the ways that sports science and player welfare have changed the game.

“I think, yeah, certainly the game has changed,” Langley asserted.

“As sports science and the performance side of the game becomes more prevalent, we’ve got to be careful with that as well because it’s still ultimately a tough, physical, contact-based collision sport and you’ve got to get exposure to that. There’s no hiding away from it.

“You’ve got to tread that fine line between player welfare and safety, but also preparing the boys for some really hard battles and a long 30-game, 11-month season, essentially.

“So we can’t shirk on the work, but we’ve also got to be mindful that the demands of the game in this day and age are really high, so we’ve got to get that balance right.”