Jamie Peacock: Rhinos have got their man
23 Apr 2022
Leeds Rhinos have got their man in Rohan Smith.
Firstly, for the Rhinos, it’s good they have made a decision and now know who they want to take the club forward over the next three and a half years.
There’s a couple of pluses around it: it’s a fresh set of eyes on the club with a new perspective and a new take on things.
Also, with that, Rohan has experience of the British game before with Bradford Bulls and also has plenty of family he can lean on with respect to that - his dad Brian and uncle Tony.
That will give him a better understanding of the game here and how it works. It’s different to how it works over in the NRL.
I imagine the Rhinos will be looking for Rohan to have a similar impact to how Michael Maguire had when he first came to Wigan or Justin Holbrook when he arrived at St Helens.
They were both Australian coaches that weren’t head coaches at the time. But they came in and changed the dynamic and culture of those two clubs after they had been in the doldrums a little following some sustained periods of success.
You only have to look at Manchester United to see it is a difficult thing to manage after a long stint of winning. But you do need a catalyst and hopefully Rohan Smith will be the catalyst to allow Rhinos to be challenging at the top again.
The competition as a whole needs a strong Leeds side: people who aren’t rugby league fans recognise the name Leeds Rhinos.
Finally, on Tony Smith, what an achievement to coach 500 Super League games. It’s amazing. I’d say getting to 500 as a coach is more difficult than as a player just due to the challenges you face and dealing with everybody.
