By LORRAINE MARSDEN
LEEDS coach Rohan Smith insists the increased pressure on him from the stands does not affect him as he remains confident his side can turn around their recent poor form.
Rhinos supporters once again made their displeasure known after the 40-10 defeat at St Helens on Friday – their seventh defeat in 13 competitive games this season – but Smith believes the new-look side just needs more time together and that things will eventually come good.
When asked after the game how he deals with the boos from the stands, he defiantly replied: “I don’t.
“I took the choice as a very young man to want to chase the coaching dream and every coaching job I’ve had, I’ve felt pressure every day to do my job as best I can.
“It’s a team sport and we are all involved in it.
“That stuff makes no difference to me. I feel the same pressure after a win, loss or anywhere in between.
“We’ve got a group that is still new, we are miles off playing to the ability we think we are capable of, but that’s just a guess because there’s a bunch of new players to the club this year and almost everyone in the club is in their first or second year of having a significant role in the team.
“The high-performing teams in this competition over a very long period of time have had a large amount of cohesion, chemistry and shared experience in the jersey together. We are miles away from that time together, but we are never that far away from playing a lot better than we did today.”
Smith also confirmed that as well as going off for, and later failing, a HIA, on-loan winger Matty Russell also suffered a knee injury in the same heavy tackle.
“He seems okay, but it’s another outside back that we have lost in the first half of a game – it’s been a conveyor belt there this year,” added the coach.
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