Saints legend Sean Long joins Leeds Rhinos

Sean Long will return to rugby league in 2021 to become the assistant coach of Leeds Rhinos.

The 44-year-old arrives at Headingley following a 16-month spell at Premiership Rugby outfit Harlequins.

Prior to that he was assistant at both Salford and St Helens, as well as working with Samoa at international level.

Long brings a wealth of experience from a trophy-laden career in Super League, playing the majority of his games for Saints where he became an iconic figure.

He ended his playing days at Hull FC working under current Leeds head coach Richard Agar, with the pair staying in touch ever since.

Speaking on his appointment, Long revealed he spent time working with the Rhinos squad ahead of this season.

“I have kept in touch with Rich over the years, he is a good friend, and he asked me to come in and look at some of the structures he was implementing for this season,” said Long.

“I tweaked a few things and the boys really took it on board. I loved getting back on the field and coaching Rugby League.

“I am looking forward to working with Richard Agar again after our time at Hull. I have a massive amount of respect for Leeds as a club, they are one of the biggest clubs in the world and as soon as I got the call off Kev and Rich, it was a no brainer to join the club.

“I am looking forward to working with the half backs at the Rhinos. It is a massive part of what I do. As an ex half back, I want to pass on what I have learnt to them and hopefully we can all get to a better place as a team.

“Game management, the kicking game and reading defences is something that excites me. Leeds have always had great young players coming through and I am looking forward to developing them but also working with top class talent like Luke Gale, Rob Lui and Richie Myler.

“I know all the boys and I really enjoyed it. I have been watching them throughout the season and how they have implemented those ideas and it has been good to see how Rich has stayed on top of it and the team have gone from strength to strength.”

Leeds Rhinos Director of Rugby, Kevin Sinfield, added: “Last winter Sean regularly joined us in pre-season and gave valuable insight to the group and especially our half backs and it is great that we can now bring him in on a full time basis.

“Because of the protocols in place for next season, our current assistant coach James Webster is not allowed to be part of two club’s training environments so he will solely be at Featherstone Rovers as Head Coach and Sean is a direct replacement for James.”