Exclusive: ex-coach Rohan Smith 'proud' of Leeds Rhinos achievements, predicts 'very exciting future'

Smith, who left the club two weeks ago, admitted he is disappointed not to see out his full contract, but “proud” of what was achieved during his spell at the helm. Though some vocal fans turned against him, the Australian believes Leeds’ overhauled squad is in better shape now than when he took over and the quality of young players coming through means Rhinos have a bright future.

“I think 2024 will be a successful season, nothing changes there,” Smith told The Yorkshire Evening Post. “There’s less noise right now so they can get on with it; they are a good group of players and people and they are connected together.”

Smith stepped down on Wednesday, June 19, 25 months after joining Rhinos from then-Queensland Cup champions North Devils. At the time of his departure, Leeds had a 50 per cent winning record from 14 Betfred Super League rounds and were seventh in the table, two points outside the play-offs.

Smith, who was under contract until the end of next season, admitted: “I am really disappointed and frustrated it didn’t work out. We were probably a few results short of being in a good position to build off this year.

“I am very proud of what we have been able to do with the restructuring of a quality staff and the development of all the young players, as well as the evolution of the roster so we are in a much better position than where the club was two years ago. The club is in a good position for the future and it’s a very exciting future, I think, which is certainly part of the disappointment from my point of view.”

Relegation candidates when he joined, Rhinos finished fifth in Smith’s first season before being beaten by St Helens in the Grand Final, but came eighth last year, two places outside the play-offs. Assessing his three campaigns in the hot seat, Smith said: “If you look at the seasons together, that tells you one story, but if you separate them, in 2022, by the time I signed for the club, people had given up on that season.

“There wasn’t a lot of external noise or real ambition, even from within the club, that the season could be salvaged; there was a roster that was already in the process of dismantling and a bunch of players who had already agreed to deals elsewhere. That roster was always going to be a very short-term one, but from a staff and playing point of view we got together enough to have a bit of a run at it, it was a very exciting time and we played some free-flowing footy and didn’t disgrace ourselves in a Grand Final at Old Trafford against St Helens.

“The next season was always going to be potentially a turbulent one, with minimum cap space to make a big shift to the roster, as well as a huge number of key players off contract. It was always potentially going to be an up and down year unless it all went smoothly, which it didn’t.

“We actually navigated it very well, I thought, to be in play-off contention up until a couple of rounds to go. That leads to a major overhaul of the roster, not so much as in number of people, but the positions. Really, we are 14-15 games into a new roster in 2024, one that’s scheduled to stay together for two years and then allow the evolution of the kids coming through to progress in.”

Smith insisted the current campaign was far from a lost cause. He added: “2024 was a season of great excitement and still is one of excitement and great possibilities. One or two wins are going to separate third from sixth all the way through; that’s the reality of the competition and it’s an exciting competition to be in.

“2023 was a turbulent one and 2022 turned out to be an exciting one and one of real accomplishment on the back of little to no ambition by fans or administration alike. That shows what you can do - footy was the only real focus then, there was no noise.”

A new generation of home-produced first team players could be Smith’s legacy. Alfie Edgell, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Ned McCormack and Riley Lumb stepped up from the lower grades to make their senior debut on Smith’s watch and numerous other teenagers have trained with the first team squad.

Rhinos last week announced new contracts for 15 academy products, on deals done while he was coach and Smith pledged: “There’s even more behind that. Some of the kids in the under-16s and the scholarship - there’s five or six kids there that are exceptional.

“The club is in a very strong position, but it takes time to build a home-grown team. It took Penrith [Panthers, who have won three successive NRL Grand Finals] seven or eight years to get a Premiership on the back of their process, now they can’t stop winning it.

“It is an exciting possibility, but also it is a new regime so their perspective on things may be different to what Gary [Hetherington, Rhinos’ chief executive] and I have spoken about every day for the past two years. There’s a lot of young kids there who are very good and have already been contacted by NRL clubs and have got NRL interest, so to secure their future in the club long-term is testament to them thinking it was the best way to develop their career.”