For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past week in RL land, Leeds Rhinos coach Tony Smith has been named as the new Great Britain chief.The Aussie, who will see out the remaining six months of his contract at Leeds, will take part-time charge of the squad for June's friendly with France before taking on the role full-time.
Opinion appears to be divided on whether the 40-year old is the right man for the role. RFL Chief Exec Richard Lewis hopes that Smith's track record of success with a young, British squad at the Rhinos can be transferred to the Lions to break a 37-year duck without a test victory against Australia.
In his three and a half years at Leeds, Smith has walked out at two Grand Finals, winning one as well as a Challenge Cup Final. He also led the side to a World Club Challenge victory over Canterbury in which of all the points scorers, all bar Willie Poaching had come from the Leeds academy.
But there are some dissenting voices. Since his first season in which Smith brought home the Super League trophy, the side has progressively gone backwards. Runners-up in 2005 could be attributed to some bad luck but an early play-off defeat at home to Warrington had many at Headingley calling for Smith to be shown the door, as has the side's indifferent performances thus far in 2007.
But of all the possible appointments, this is probably the most logical choice. Smith has handled International players and has played a part in the development in much of what may well prove to be the GB side in November. I still don't think it's enough to beat the Australians, but in the current setup, I don't think any coach would achieve that feat.
2 comments:
Excuse my nitpicking, please, but:
* Richard Lewis is the RFL's Executive Chairman.
* GB have won a test in that time, but not a test series.
* Willie Poching, not Poaching.
* international players, not International players.
* set-up, not setup.
Do they not teach you to check your own copy at TASC?
Silly me, of course they don't - I studied there for my own NCTJs many moons ago and was shocked by some of the standards... I can only hope they've improved.
Crikey, who was the bloke before my good self in the comments??
Must watch union, its the only answer.
Back on topic, I'm not sure about the appointment, He has had Leeds playing some lovely football at times but I have always thought that their fatal flaw has been they aren't quite a team, you know when the sh*t hits the fan.
Reading the Rhinos board on RLfans a lot are quite pleased he's clearing off. I wonder who you'll get in. My hubby is hoping its not Justin'Timberlake'Morgan :)
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