Legend Danny McGuire makes Leeds Rhinos return as ex-Castleford Tigers boss lands new role

McGuire, who was axed as coach of Castleford Tigers in July, was today (Friday) unveiled as Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s first rugby league impact and growth manager. The 42-year-old, inducted this year into Rhinos’ Hall of Fame, will lead efforts to inspire more youngsters into the sport through the Foundation’s rugby league development plan.

Man of the match in Rhinos’ treble-clinching Grand Final win against Wigan Warriors 10 years ago today, McGuire began playing rugby league at the East Leeds community club and spent 15 years in Rhinos’ first team. The eight-time Super League champion is the fourth-highest try scorer in the club’s history, with 267 and only 10 players have surpassed his total of 424 games for Leeds.

Rhinos Foundation’s development plan is designed to drive participation in the sport at all levels and retain those already in the game. It will be governed by a newly-created rugby league development steering group for the city.

McGuire said: “People talk about community like it’s just an idea, but in rugby league it’s a reality. Our clubs are the beating heart of our communities, they live alongside us and offer us a chance of something else. They always have.

“I am proud to be a rugby league player. When I was growing up I watched my heroes and dreamed of being like them. I was lucky enough to live my dream and now I want to help every boy and girl have the same opportunity I had.”

He added: “Sadly, over the last 30 years the chance to play rugby league in schools and clubs has faced tough times. Cuts to spending and other hobbies have taken a generation away from the playing fields of Leeds, but the Rhinos Foundation want to change that.

“We want more kids playing the game, more adults coaching the game and more teams in the game. We want every child to know where their local team is and want to join it, no matter where they live. Rugby league changed my life, not just because of the career I was able to have, but the mates I made along the way and lessons I learned.

“In order for the Leeds Rhinos Foundation to reach as many children as possible, we need the support of the people of Leeds. It’s a simple equation: the more money we can raise, the more children we can reach. Through the rugby league development plan we can strategically bring the game back to those kids and help our clubs in the city to grow with more youngsters coming through their doors every year.”

Incoming Rhinos chief executive Jamie Jones-Buchanan played alongside McGuire. He said: “It is great to see Danny back at the club and for the Foundation to give him a chance to grow the game we both grew up loving.

“I am a product of the rugby league environment I was nurtured in. I was a kid in the South Stand cheering on my heroes, then a player on the field and now we have the chance to lead the club into a new era. That is the incredible opportunities the sport of rugby league gives you and I hope, through the rugby league development plan, we can pass that gift onto the next generation.”

Rhinos Foundation’s head of partnerships and development, Dan Busfield, added: “We are delighted to welcome Danny back to the Rhinos as a figurehead for a new era for the rugby league development plan. Through the passion of people like Sam Horner, our community clubs officer, we have seen numbers begin to grow in recent years, but we can go so much further, particularly when we look at the huge area for development in the girls’ and women’s game.

“By having a strategic plan and, hopefully, attracting new sponsors and partners, we will also be able to make sure we have the right resources to capitalise on new players coming to the game, with an emphasis on developing coaches and referees from the hundreds of volunteers, without whom we would not have a game.”