'Wish I'd coached him years ago': why Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur is 'so proud' of star man Jake Connor
Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur admits he wishes he had the opportunity to coach Jake Connor earlier in the scrum-half’s career.
Connor joined Rhinos from Huddersfield Giants ahead of last season and was Man of Steel in his first year with Leeds. He has been hugely influential again this term and was at the heart of the round 13 fightback which overcame St Helens and maintained Rhinos’ place at the top of Betfred Super League.
At half-time Rhinos trailed by eight points and looked to be heading for a ninth successive home defeat to Saints, but a kick by Connor got them on the front foot early in the second period and they went on to win the game 24-16. Connor was involved in most of Rhinos’ best moments and Arthur admitted they’d have lost it without him.
He said: “I’m so proud of him, his team-mates are proud of him and his family should be proud of him too. He’s a very good person and an extremely good father. His composure showed in the second half and if he wasn’t out there we wouldn't win that game. I can only give him some guidance and talk to him about what he can do in those pressure situations, ultimately, it’s up to him.
“He has got to make those choices and he has done a great job, really thrived in it. It’s tough to go from the role he had previously to being a seven; guys take years and years to get on top of that and he has taken months. I said to him [after Thursday’s game] it would have been nice if I could have got my hands on him when he was 25.”
Arthur, who has signed a new contract keeping him at Leeds until the end of 2028, felt fans’ favourite Connor got “frustrated” in the first half when things weren’t working out, but stressed: “The good thing about Jake is I can just be honest and frank with him - that’s how he likes it. In the first half, things weren’t quite working out for us and he probably took his frustration out on the ref and had a bit of a word with the opposition, but in the second half he didn’t do that. He just focussed on his performance and on the team and when he did that his composure won us the game.”