ROHAN SMITH says he’s more than ready to take on the challenge of reinvigorating Leeds Rhinos.
Headingley chief executive Gary Hetherington has raised eyebrows by making the Australian the troubled club’s new coach on a three-and-a-half-year contract.
Richard Agar’s successor, who moves from Queensland Cup side Norths Devils, hasn’t previously led a club at the top level in either hemisphere.
But the 40-year-old believes more than 20 years of working in a variety of coaching roles at a string of different clubs, including stints in charge of the Tonga national team in 2009 and Bradford Bulls in the Championship seven years later, will help him not only steer Leeds away from relegation danger – but lead them to far brighter times.
And while the son of former Hull, Bradford and Wakefield Trinity coach Brian Smith and nephew of Hull KR team chief Tony Smith openly admits to gaining experience and taking advice from both, the ex-London Broncos, Newcastle Knights, Sydney Roosters, Penrith Panthers, New Zealand Warriors and Gold Coast Titans assistant coach insists he is very much his own man with his own methods.
“I was in my fifth season in the third-best tier of Rugby League in the world (with Norths Devils),” said Smith, who hopes to be in England by the time Leeds visit Salford on Sunday, May 15, with caretaker Jamie Jones-Buchanan taking the team for the crunch home clashes Toulouse Olympique and Hull KR before reverting to his previous role as assistant coach.
“I have spent time under some of the greatest coaches of our era, going back to Daniel Anderson when I started out at New Zealand Warriors (as a video analyst in 2003).
“I have experienced a lot in my coaching career and had a crack at a lot of different roles and competitions.
“You can only get experience of doing a big job by being in a big job, and plenty of coaches have come over from Australia with a similar background to myself – look at Kristian Woolf, Justin Holbrook, Trent Robinson and Michael Maguire.
“I have been chasing the dream of being a Super League coach for a long time.
“I understand the immediacy of the task, but I also have a vision of what can be created and my longer-term objective is to take Leeds as far as we can go.
“I want to carry on evolving, and I want to make sure we all have that mentality.”