Rugby League Talk - Super League Round 9 Preview with The Yorkshire Post's James O'Brien - video Dailymotion

Yorkshire Post

The Yorkshire Post's rugby league writer James O’Brien rounds up the latest rugby league news, including Brad Arthur’s future at Leeds Rhinos plus the Round 9 games between Leeds and Hull KR and struggling Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers

Transcript

00:00YorkshirePost.co.uk

00:02James, welcome to the, as yet, unnamed sort of short podcast

00:08that we're doing on a fairly regular basis,

00:10covering Rugger League around Yorkshire.

00:12Two or three things to get through this week.

00:15We'll start off with Leeds-Rhinos versus Hawkeye,

00:18one of the bigger games for us.

00:20We'll also talk about Brad Arthur, which I know you've written about this week,

00:23and the situation at Rhinos and how a sort of decision is needed

00:27one way or the other on its future as it's somewhat unsettling,

00:32not just for players, potential players, fans, et cetera, et cetera,

00:36and the future of the club.

00:38And then we'll also touch upon winless Huddersfield,

00:42who take on almost winless Castleford later in the week.

00:46But as I say, we'll start at Leeds-Hull KR.

00:50Big game, obviously, for both teams, both doing pretty well.

00:55Well, Hull KR have obviously had a great start to the season.

00:58They've had that bit of a setback against Wigan the other week at home,

01:02obviously.

01:02But they're coming up against a Rhinos team that is showing quite a bit of potential

01:07under Brad Arthur, aren't they?

01:09Yeah, yeah.

01:10It's always an intriguing match-up, Leeds-Hull KR these days.

01:14It's like the Fallen Giants against the new top dogs in Yorkshire,

01:20for want of a better phrase.

01:21I think Hull KR have taken over from Leeds.

01:24They're now our best hope, really, of success,

01:28especially under Willie Peters, who's taken on to new heights.

01:32Leeds are showing some good signs, but as you touched on the Brad Arthur situation,

01:35you don't know whether he's staying or going, so that doesn't help.

01:40But they are showing good signs, particularly defensively.

01:43In attack, they haven't clicked yet, and they're going to after this week

01:45against Hull KR, who had the tightest defence before leaking a fair few points

01:50against Wigan the other week.

01:51So it just feels a bit like Jake Conner or bust for Leeds at the moment in attack.

01:57So obviously, he needs to be on it, and he needs a bit of support as well.

02:00But yeah, you look at Leeds' record, they're going well so far.

02:04I think they've won five out of eight, haven't they?

02:05But four of those have been against the three sides at the bottom

02:09who are way adrift at the bottom.

02:11They have beaten Wigan as well, so they need another performance like that.

02:14But before they start playing these games regularly,

02:17you're not going to get a good read on Leeds and where they actually are.

02:21But it is a good test, all the same, this Friday.

02:24We mentioned the Brad Arthur situation at the top.

02:28Obviously, he's made comments about his wish to return to coach in the NRL.

02:32There are family issues which seem to be getting at him somewhat.

02:37His son's, or is it son, sorry, playing?

02:40Two sons playing back over in Australia now.

02:43He wants to sort of be around to support them and help nurture them

02:46in whatever way he can.

02:50I mean, Leeds were aware of his situation, presumably,

02:52when he first came in last year.

02:56Are they any nearer to sort of resolving the sort of long-term situation

03:02regarding Arthur or another coach?

03:05I think a decision's coming.

03:07It's got to come soon.

03:08It can't go on much longer.

03:11It seemed the other week when we spoke to Brad Arthur about it that he was leaning

03:15towards going back to Australia.

03:17But it's a real tough one for him because he loves the job, as he said.

03:21He loves being over here.

03:22But it's a very, very long way from home.

03:24And if it was on the next island, if the UK moved next to New South Wales,

03:30it would be a much easier decision.

03:31But unfortunately, it's a very long way away.

03:34So it does feel like he will go home.

03:37But there is part of him that doesn't want to leave this job behind

03:39because he's getting stuck into it and he's seeing results as well.

03:43So it must be a real tough decision for him.

03:45But for the club, I think he needs to make a call very soon

03:50or the club needs to push him on it just to get a bit of clarity

03:53about what's going to happen going forward.

03:56And if he does go, Leeds need to get a coach of a similar ilk

04:02to pick up where he leaves off.

04:07Is it essentially down to him to make the call and then Leeds?

04:11I mean, a Leeds is sort of a...

04:15They want him to stay, isn't it?

04:18Yeah, well, pretty much.

04:20They want him to stay.

04:21So the ball's in his court, effectively.

04:24But yeah, we're coming up to the end of April now,

04:26where there's a lot of decisions to be made on...

04:29I think most of them have been made on retention.

04:31But players coming to the club, if you're looking at a Leeds,

04:35if you've got a choice between Leeds and Wigan,

04:37and Wigan look pretty settled and you don't know what's happened

04:39with a coach at Leeds, you don't know who you're going to end up

04:41playing under next season.

04:43It can make a difference.

04:44I think they do need to make a call one way or the other soon.

04:47Yeah, yeah.

04:48Between us.

04:49Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

04:51In terms of other games this weekend,

04:53one that we'll just touch on before we go is,

04:56as I mentioned at the top as well,

04:58Huddersfield versus Casford.

05:00Two of those teams that you mentioned earlier were struggling,

05:03that Leeds have got the better of.

05:05Leeds beat Huddersfield last week.

05:07Winless Huddersfield at the moment.

05:09Cas are not faring too much better.

05:12They got beaten by Wakefield, if memory's certainly right,

05:14last weekend.

05:17Who needs it more this weekend?

05:20Well, you'd say Huddersfield, wouldn't you?

05:22Yeah, because they're winless,

05:24they're the only winless side in the competition.

05:28So they're desperate.

05:29Cas are obviously desperate as well.

05:31Cas were much improved, especially in that first half

05:33at Wakefield.

05:34They look like a team again.

05:35Yeah, they had the right kind of intensity.

05:40Rowan Milnes was pulling the strings in the first half.

05:43If they play like that at Huddersfield,

05:44I think they'll have it more than enough to get over the line

05:47for Huddersfield.

05:48They've just got a load of injuries, haven't they?

05:50They've got key players out in key positions,

05:53makeshift combinations,

05:56a few kids playing as well.

05:57So it's a great opportunity for Cas to go there

06:00and get the first away,

06:03we can get only the second win.

06:05But obviously for Huddersfield as well,

06:06they're seeing Cas come to town

06:08who aren't faring much better

06:09and it's a great opportunity for them as well.

06:11So I don't think it'll be a great spectacle,

06:14but like I say,

06:15it's a great opportunity for one of those sides

06:17to get a morale-boosting win.

06:19You did a piece, I think a couple of weeks ago now,

06:22about how patience was required

06:24with these coaches at both clubs,

06:26Huddersfield and Cas,

06:27that made somewhat what some people would regard

06:31as a bold calling going with the coaches that they have.

06:35That might be down to there not being much choice

06:38for anyone else anyway, I don't know.

06:40But how patient can both clubs

06:44or both organisations afford to be?

06:46I mean, how long do you go on, for example,

06:50not looking for Luke Robinson to be moved on

06:54or Danny Maguire,

06:55but how long conceivably or realistically, sorry,

06:58can the clubs wait?

07:01Yeah, no, that is a good question

07:02because like I mentioned in that piece,

07:04once you do go down that route,

07:06it's not going to be overnight success,

07:07they're not going to fix it up straight away.

07:08So once you go with a rookie head coach,

07:11you need to give them a bit of time, don't you?

07:13You can't perform miracles

07:15and especially in Luke Robinson's case,

07:16he hasn't had his, well, his first choice side at all,

07:20nowhere near to that available so far.

07:22So there is some mitigation for his circumstances.

07:26Danny Maguire one was always felt like,

07:28not an odd one,

07:29but it was a gamble from Martin Jepsen coming in.

07:31I think he wanted to make a statement,

07:33but Craig Lingard has done a very good job

07:35in really challenging circumstances.

07:38So Danny Maguire has obviously got an amazing rugby league brain.

07:41You could tell that when he played

07:42and when he speaks about the game as well,

07:44but it was a sideways step,

07:47maybe even a backwards step,

07:49given Craig Lingard's experience as a head coach.

07:53But once you go down that path,

07:55you've got to continue down it.

07:56You can't, not just because it looks terrible

07:58and the optics aren't great,

08:00but because you've got to invest in the coach

08:03that you put your faith in.

08:04So to answer your question, I don't know,

08:07but if it's halfway through the season,

08:09like, well, there's a good example

08:11at Wakefield a couple of years ago.

08:14Well, probably not a good example,

08:15actually, because Wakefield stuck with Mark Applegarth

08:18after he lost his first 14, 15 games,

08:20whatever it was.

08:22Big getting upturned in performances and results

08:25for a brief period,

08:26looked like they might stay up,

08:27but they went down anyway.

08:28There's obviously no relegation this season,

08:30but yeah, I mean, it can turn,

08:33but like Mark Applegarth found,

08:36if you don't have the resources,

08:37you don't have the players at your disposal,

08:38you're going to struggle at you,

08:39and that's what they're finding at the moment.

08:40So I think they should stick with them,

08:43and particularly in Danny Maguire's case,

08:45back in with better quality players

08:47and then go from there.

08:48But certainly I'd like to see both coaches

08:51until the end of the season

08:52and get another chance next season once.

08:55In Robertson's case, injuries settle down,

08:57and in Maguire's case,

08:58fingers crossed for him,

08:59he gets a better squad with higher calibre players.

Rugby League Talk - Super League Round 9 Preview with The Yorkshire Post's James O'Brien

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