Leeds Rhinos sporting director Ian Blease, right and chief executive Gary Hetherington provide an update on their search for a new coach.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00It's a lack of experience as a head coach, are you going for someone who knows a role inside out?
00:04Again, I'm open to see what the market brings, so no preconceived ideas.
00:10We need a talented and probably established coach, I think that's for certain,
00:15but in terms of who it will be, I'm open to the views.
00:19Is Brad Arthur a coach you've admired from afar?
00:23Yep.
00:25Do you think he could be a good fit in?
00:27Again, I've not gone to that stage yet, and I wish I could share more with you,
00:31but I'm not at that stage yet, I could concentrate on someone around his game.
00:35Could you envisage, though, that someone like Brad Arthur will be on your shortlist?
00:40Yeah, probably envisage that.
00:46Right, Ian, I was just going to ask, in your opinion, what are the qualities that make a good coach?
00:52What sort of attributes were you looking for?
00:54Yeah, I think I've just touched on the experience side of it,
00:56I think we need somebody who's experienced, talented, tactically.
01:00Man management is always high on my agenda, it's a huge club,
01:05so you've got to be able to man-manage a lot, obviously.
01:07But I think the performances always reflect on a coach,
01:10which is what we've not really had this season here,
01:13so we'll be looking for good performances.
01:15And an identity that the coach will bring towards the club as well.
01:18Ian, you've said there's no fixed timeframe on things,
01:22with that in mind, does Shev and Scott have an opportunity to show what they can do,
01:25and have either of them expressed whether they'd be interested full-time?
01:28Yeah, we chatted yesterday, the talented pair of coaches,
01:31on their career journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they've done.
01:34I've watched them today, and I spoke to them at length yesterday
01:37about taking over in the interim to see where we get to,
01:40with nothing set in stone with them either, but show me what you can do,
01:44and I'm really interested to see what they can do.
01:46Was there any... I'm sure the defeat on Saturday was significant,
01:50but was there any one particular moment that made you mind upon
01:53a change of direction as needed with Rowan?
01:56No, I think just during the conversation, which will remain private,
01:59in a mutually agreed situation we got to, I think that was a deciding factor.
02:04You often see when a big job like this becomes available,
02:07there's a bit of a rebuild needed, but has Rowan left some foundation
02:11for someone to come in and hit the ground running?
02:13Do you think the young players you've got, some big-name players as well,
02:16is there potential for someone to come in and get to work
02:19and get the club at the table straight away?
02:21Yeah, and I think looking at not just Rowan, what Rowan's done,
02:24and the pathway, the scholarship, the academy is really good here.
02:28As we all know, the kids that are used to coming through,
02:30the players that are coming through, I'm very excited to see them.
02:33I've not laid eyes on them first-hand yet,
02:36but I've seen and spoken to a few of them, so that really excites me.
02:39I was speaking to John Bastie this week about that,
02:41and I'm going to meet with them next week.
02:43Not a chance really to get into the nitty-gritty of that,
02:45but that's one thing I've never had in my previous job at Salford,
02:48so I'm really excited to see how that pans out.
02:50And yes, I've got a couple in there tomorrow in the game,
02:54so that'll be interesting to see how they go,
02:56but that's one section of the club that really excites me.
02:59The expectation that Leeds belong at the top of the league
03:02is obviously partly founded on the success of the Golden Generation,
03:05in which Rob was a big part.
03:07What's a realistic timescale for getting back into that picture?
03:11And also, how big a part will Rob's legacy play
03:14in rebuilding to reach that point again?
03:18I think in sport it's really hard to put a timescale
03:20on when you're going to be successful.
03:22It's not given, is it? You've got to work hard for it.
03:24As we all know.
03:25So I wouldn't put a timescale on it, it'd be wrong for me to do that,
03:28but I think once we establish new coaches,
03:31whatever time that will be, whether it's interim or full-time,
03:35if you want to see a mark of improvement on performances,
03:37that's what I'll be looking for straight away,
03:39and the fans will be looking for that.
03:41And yes, obviously we've brought tribute tomorrow,
03:43first and foremost for his family and his wife and kids.
03:46That'll be great to see and watch,
03:48and we want to do tribute to him tomorrow,
03:49that's what it's all about for now,
03:51for the next 24, 48 hours.
03:53So I'm really excited to see how the boys perform,
03:55packed house here, which will be great.
03:57We need the fans behind us.
03:58We'll be looking for a great performance from the onset.
04:01Just more generally, how much scope is there
04:03for immediate squad improvements,
04:05not necessarily the same position,
04:06but a Jackson-Aisting-style signing,
04:10just to give the squad a boost?
04:13Yeah, there's a little bit of room for that.
04:15Obviously we've brought Sam Essayin from Wimbledon today,
04:17but that was up on the back of a pretty critical Monday morning
04:20when I walked through the door,
04:21and we had the four incidents that we all know about.
04:23So yeah, we'll have a look at that,
04:25but again, it's been such a rush,
04:26and the last four days have been pretty hectic.
04:29But if there's someone there that we see and we identify,
04:31we'll have a discussion on board level.
04:34There's been a lot of negative talk,
04:35the Leeds are the ultimate sleep and dream, aren't they?
04:37Now you're on the inside,
04:38how excited are you about what could be achieved here?
04:41Very, very excited.
04:42I think I used that in my first presser.
04:44And I think the staff and the people on the board,
04:47Gary and everybody, Paul Caddick alike,
04:50have been tremendous.
04:51I think the word thank you in your style
04:53I've used a lot of times this week,
04:54because people are so helpful.
04:56Obviously it's a big organisation,
04:59hopefully that'll fit into that pretty smoothly,
05:01but the help I'm getting and the people around me is tremendous.
05:04Gary, just for you,
05:05you were obviously here at the time with the right appointment,
05:07is this squad capable of going on a similar run to 2022?
05:11It is, and a few other squads around as well.
05:14Once again, I just come back to the fact
05:16that we have got a really competitive competition.
05:19We've got at least 10 teams that can win,
05:23beat anybody else on the day.
05:25And they can all win the next six games,
05:28or they might lose in the next six games.
05:30That is the competitive nature of the competition that we've got.
05:33We're flying under the radar.
05:35We're not telling enough people just how good a competition this is.
05:38And that means that Leeds and Wigan and St Helens
05:42and Salford, all these teams are competing.
05:46They're competing every week.
05:47And if a team's got a few key players missing,
05:50then the chances are it may well get beat.
05:52But we don't give enough credit.
05:54We're still looking at brands and names
05:56and saying that they should be winning and they should be losing.
05:59And that's not the case anymore.
06:01And nor should it be.
06:02That's one of the jobs of the salary cap,
06:05creating competition.
06:07And we've created a very, very exciting
06:10and a very, very competitive competition.
06:12Would you accept, though, that Leeds are held to a higher standard?
06:16I would accept that there is an expectation,
06:19certainly from the Leeds Rhinos fans,
06:21that Leeds Rhinos are going to be there every week.
06:23Absolutely.
06:24And I dare say the St Helens fans
06:26probably think the same about St Helens as well,
06:28and likewise other clubs.
06:30So there is a level of expectation, yes.
06:33And the bigger clubs have got an even heavier burden to carry.
06:37But as I said, that is the nature of the industry that we're in.
06:41And that's what makes it such a fascinating industry to be part of.
06:45Is it wholly realistic, then,
06:47for the new coach or the new interim coach to have...