Leeds Rhinos Head Coach Rohan Smith has spoken of his desire for silverware in 2024 and highlighted what success will look like for the Headingley outfit next season.
Speaking to the media today, Smith spoke what success looks like for the Rhinos next season, following a disappointing 2023 season. “I don’t really like comparing season on season personally,” he said. “We want to compete, we want to challenge, we want to challenge for trophies. That’s where we’ll be setting out the season.”
He added: “Obviously, lots of things have got to line up to do that. History, the badge, external expectations, they don’t help with any of those things to succeed. So, we’ve got to start, we’ve got to work hard, we’ve got to build a really cohesive, connected group and attack it.”
The Rhinos last got their hands on silverware back in 2020, as they lifted the Challenge Cup following a narrow victory over the Salford Red Devils; but Rohan Smith has his eyes firmly focused on adding to the collection in 2024.
However, the Headingley outfit will need a much improved season next year if they hope to get their hands on a trophy. They had an inconsistent season in 2023, and missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Furthermore, they will be without key players such as Aidan Sezer, Blake Austin and now Nene Macdonald, after his exit was officially confirmed by the club yesterday.
Speaking on the overall quality of Super League this season, Smith said: “I think what this season has shown, that it is very close competition. A few teams have sort of poked their nose ahead of the others at the back end of the regular season but it’s been a very hard fought Super League this year and not big margins.”
He also added his belief the Rhinos need to improve. “We haven’t been that far away from definitely being part of that play-off series,” he said. “But we’re a long way away from where we need to get to.”
The lack of playoff action for the Rhinos this season does give them the chance to reflect on the 2023 season, and potentially make those needed changes. Smith commented on what the club will do differently ahead of the 2024 season, saying: “Yeah, there’s definitely some things we’ll do differently, but we’re also going to be a vastly different squad for the core group of players that are returning, which the majority of our squad next year is already here; there’s only going to be five, six or seven players coming in.”
Furthermore, he said: “There’s an established way of doing some certain things so the ownership of how we do that will be further down the track. I’m very excited by the roster proposition but also the staff that we have, almost everyone was in a new role this year as well, so we’re a better unit as a staff moving forward and the planning and the process stuff that we’ve been going through the last couple of weeks is exciting.”
