Leeds Rhinos boss not threatened by Sporting Director

Leeds Rhinos’ struggles on the field this season are well documented. The Rhinos sit outside of the top six in Super League with six wins from their opening six games. The run of poor performances has led to questions around coach, Rohan Smith’s future at the club.

Earlier in the week, Leeds announced that they were undertaking one of the most significant pieces of off-field restructuring in several years. The club will appoint a new Sporting Director, a role which has remained vacant since club legend, Kevin Sinfield, left the club in 2021 to take up a role in Rugby Union.

Leeds Chief Executive, Gary Hetherington stated that the club were hoping to make an appointment as soon as possible. Leeds are searching for a candidate with significant experience to fill the role. The new Sporting Director will work across both the men’s and women’s teams, leading the strategic direction of the club’s sporting operation.

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Leeds Rhinos coach welcomes new appointment

Speaking in his weekly press conference, Smith has now offered his thoughts on the impending appointment at Leeds. Smith revealed it is something that he has previously discussed with the club and it is an appointment he welcomes.

Now, Smith has had his say on the club’s decision to appoint a new Sporting Director.

“I think it’s a great, great idea that there’s someone working on things that aren’t directly related to the training field, and taking care of that as their sort of primary focus.” Smith said.

“I welcome things to get better, you know, that’s always what I’m striving to do and I love working as part of the team” he added.

“I’ve made a bunch of recommendations to Gary and the board since I’ve been here about things that aren’t specifically related to what goes on in the training field or on the field on game day.

“This is one of the things that I fully support. I think in most clubs, the title might be different to sporting director, but there is someone doing that type of role”.

Smith sees no threat from the incoming Sporting Director

Smith also stated that he does feel threatened by the appointment. He believes that the role is essential in an organisation as big as the Leeds Rhinos. Smith also confirmed that the Rhinos were looking for a candidate with significant experience that he could learn from.

“I think it’s a great appointment, great decision by the board to seek a new appointment there. I think as an operation, it’s only growing, the Leeds Rhinos, so having more intel and experience and the club have made it very clear that they’re going after someone that’s very experienced and prepared for such a job.

“It won’t be a rookie, so it’ll be someone that I can get support off and learn from and support them and work on the operation together.”

Leeds face a crucial game against the Castleford Tigers at Headingley on Saturday afternoon. The game will be shown live on BBC2.