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
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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.