Richard Agar says it was “not difficult at all” to leave Leeds Rhinos

Richard Agar left his an indelible mark at Headingley, that is unquestionable.

He saved the Rhinos from relegation in 2019, led them to the Challenge Cup in 2020 and took Leeds as close as they’ve come to the Grand Final since they last won it when he guided them to the semi-finals last year but a tough start to this year resulted in him choosing to step aside opening the door for Rohan Smith to take charge who in 12 games has won eight matches which is very different from the 11 games prior to his arrival in which Leeds won three.

The original plan was for Agar to stay at Leeds despite his decision to give up the Head Coach role earlier this year and this was something Leeds put in place before a ball was kicked in 2022 and was reiterated when Agar stepped down but will no longer be the case as Agar takes up an assistant coach job in the NRL with New Zealand Warriors.

Speaking about the decision to leave on Sky Sports, Agar admitted it wasn’t a tough decision in the end: “If you’d have asked me that 12 months ago, I’d have said it was really difficult. In the end, it wasn’t difficult at all. Again, that’s around the circumstances. I really enjoyed every minute except for maybe the last four weeks of my time at Leeds.

“I was contracted to go back but when I signed as a head coach, I didn’t anticipate I’d be in the job for three years. I took the job on a temporary basis. I think if we’d have made the transition to a new coach in an off-season it would’ve been a smoother transition but I think coming out of it at the start of the year the way I did just makes it a bit more difficult to get back in there in a different role having been a head coach for so long.”