A bold gamble which didn't pay off: reflecting on Rohan Smith's 2 years as Leeds Rhinos coach

Appointing an inexperienced head-coach from the second tier in Australia was always a gamble, but in the early months of Rohan Smith’s time at Leeds Rhinos it seemed like a masterstroke. The Australian was confirmed as Leeds’ incoming boss on April 20, 2022, a month after previous coach Richard Agar’s exit.

When Agar left, Rhinos were 10th in Betfred Super League and facing a relegation battle, but their season ended at Old Trafford. Rhinos lost three of their first five games under Smith and were still 10th at the end of June.

After that, they rocketed up the table to fifth spot, winning nine of their final 11 fixtures in the regular season. They then won at Catalans Dragons in the play-offs and pulled off an incredible 20-8 semi-final victory away to Wigan Warriors, before St Helens proved too good at Old Trafford. Coaching a team to an elite-level Grand Final is a rare achievement and something Smith can still be proud of.

It looked like the beginning of a successful chapter after years of decline, but sadly for Smith, that win at Wigan proved the high point of his reign. Rhinos slipped back the following year to end the campaign in a lowly eighth spot, two places and four points outside the play-offs. Embarrassingly, they lost to the bottom two of Castleford Tigers - who beat them twice - and Wakefield Trinity in successive weeks midway through the year and suffered back-to-back 50-0 and 61-0 humiliations at home against Wigan and away to Catalans Dragons late in the campaign.

An horrific injury list didn’t help and there was also much internal turmoil with three of the side’s most influential players, Kruise Leeming, Nene Macdonald and Blake Austin, all leaving in strange circumstances before the end of the season. When Rhinos splashed out big money to bring in former Man of Steel Brodie Croft and England World Cup squad member Andy Ackers from Salford for 2024 it seemed they were set for a big year, but more than half way through there has been no sign of sustained improvement.

An 18-10 defeat at Hull last Sunday - the hosts’ second success in 15 competitive matches this term - proved to be the final straw. Fans began to turn against Smith towards the end of 2023 and protests intensified throughout Rhinos’ poor start to the latest campaign.

It was clear there were good individuals in the squad, but they were under performing as a unit. And, unlike the previous two seasons, this was Smith’s squad. While from the outside it appeared obvious Rhinos needed a big, metre-making front-rower to bolster their engine room, they went into the year with an even smaller pack than in 2023. Sam Walters’ departure to Wigan, in particular, was a move which upset many fans.

Players have to take responsibility for Rhinos making more errors than any other Super League side, but some tactics - for example short kick-offs - didn’t work. Smith was known as an ‘out of the box’ thinker from his spell in charge at Bradford Bulls, however ideas such as not appointing a full-time captain during his first full year and trying individuals in unfamiliar roles proved unpopular.

Overall, certainly after his first season, Smith - who was contracted until the end of 2025 - seemed unable to get the best out of a talented group of players. Though, as the son of famed NRL and Super League gaffer Brian Smith and nephew of ex-Leeds boss Tony Smith, he was steeped in the profession, his lack of experience as a head-coach at the elite level showed and he was unable to turn things around once they went wrong.

A career coach, he had been around NRL clubs all his life and won a second tier Queensland Cup with his previous side Norths Devils, but taking charge of Leeds was a massive step up and it proved too much. There were good moments, a couple of victories at Wigan, the play-off success in France and an unforgettable comeback at Catalans. Last year Wigan won away to St Helens, Wigan and Warrington Wolves.

Smith’s legacy will be introducing a number of youngsters to first team rugby. Academy products Alfie Edgell, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Ned McCormack and Riley Lumb all made their debut under him and others, including Jack Smith and Ben Littlewood, were brought into the senior squad. Smith is a thoroughly decent individual and may yet have a successful career, but in hindsight, what Rhinos needed two years ago was an experienced veteran with experience of ups and downs at the highest level, rather than an an elite competition rookie with unconventional ideas.